Nightly Links: Hughes, Pettitte, Cuts

• Aside from all the Andy Pettitte news today, the Yankees actually played a baseball game, a 4-3 win over the Nationals. Starting pitcher CC Sabathia went 3.0 innings and gave up 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Rafael Soriano relieved the big lefty with an innings worth of zeroes, but then Phil Hughes came in, and well… damn was he good. According to the YES gun he was sitting around 92, but at times reaching 94 and I seem to remember a 95 in there. He was hitting spots with his fastball too, as long as they weren’t up in the zone, but most importantly his curveball looked devastating. For all those complaining about the lack of an outpitch, his curveball saw plenty of swings and misses along with first pitch strikes looking. He finished the day with 4.0 innings, 3 hits (2 of which were hard groundballs off infielder’s gloves), and 3 strikeouts. Cesar Cabral also looked strong in 1.0 inning drawing 2 strikeouts. Offensively, Alex Rodriguez hit an absolute bomb, and Cano looked much better today, hitting the ball hard and earning himself a double. (Box Score)

• As you know, I broke the story of Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankees this afternoon. (not really) If you missed Pettitte’s interview during the game today, here is the link. Brian Cashman also joined the booth to discuss the signing. Apparently he offered the lefty an 8 figure contract back in December to which Pettitte passed on, but the talks grew from there.

• The Yankees also made their first series of cuts today. Notably, Manny Banuelos, Gary Sanchez, and Zoilo Almonte have been reassigned to the minor league complex, which doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see them again this spring.

• Shockingly, Chad Jennings has today’s workouts here.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

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