Pettitte: It's On The Pitching

From the NY Post:

Andy Pettitte says with Alex Rodriguez absent for the start of this season, the pressure to perform falls to the Yankees starting pitchers.

“I feel like this team is going to win if we pitch well, whether Alex is here or not, to tell you the truth,” the left-hander said. “Everybody’s lineup is so good. It’s tough to pitch in this division. I think we’re going to win because, hopefully, we outpitch the other people.

“We were banged up last year at the beginning of the season. So we need to find a way to get it done,” Pettitte said. “Hopefully, we can get everybody going as far as the rotation and we pitch well.

“We know Alex is going to drive in a lot of runs, but that production might not be there. We’ll just have to pitch a little bit better.”

Andy is right on target with these comments. No matter what comes from the offense, the success or failure of the 2009 Yankees will be predicated on the pitching. If they can keep all five guys healthy and effective, they should have the deepest staff in baseball, with a decent chance to win every night. Once October rolls around, Yankees fans and the media will see that the reason for the failures of the last few years had nothing to do with A-Rod, but rather with a dependence on offense due to pitching issues. As Joe Torre likes to say, pitching wins championships, and the Yankees have an abundance of it.

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