5 BOROUGH SPORTS

Tomorrow afternoon, Andy Pettitte will announce his retirement after 16 seasons in the MLB (13 with the Yankees). Last season, Pettitte was one of the Yankees most reliable pitchers going 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA. He will always be remembered for his postseason heroics and leading the Yankees to five World Championships. Personally, Pettitte was my favorite Yankee pitcher growing up. I don’t think there was anyone more intimidating on the mound when Andy tilted his head and stared in for the sign (see below). I’m not sure if Pettitte will make the Hall of Fame, but he was definitely one of the toughest pitchers to ever play the game.

Now with the Pettitte gone, what does this mean for the rotation? Here’s what the rotation would look like if the season started today:

1. C.C. Sabathia (21-7,  3.18)

2. Phil Hughes (18-8, 4.19)

3. A.J. Burnett (10-15, 5.26)

4. Ivan Nova (1-2, 4.50)

5. Sergio Mitre (0-3, 3.33)

Depending on what happens during Spring Training, newcomers Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Prior could beat out Nova and Mitre for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation. Honestly, this isn’t a bad rotation…if everyone plays up to their potential. I’ve already said that the Yanks need Burnett and Hughes to have 18 wins to win the division. But they will also need Nova and Mitre to give five consistent innings for most of the season. Not sure if everyone knows this, but when Nova and Mitre are on, their stuff is electric. Nova can throw 95+ with sink and Mitre has a great sinker and changeup. I have to admit, this is the most depleted rotation the Yanks have had in a long time, but it doesn’t mean they can’t win with these pitchers. Ten days until pitchers and catchers.

The Greatest Stare of All-Time

This entry was posted on February 3, 2011 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Yankees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.