I always look forward to doubleheaders. As a fan, double baseball means double fun, but you also get to examine a different type of managing. The Yankees won both games yesterday, Ichiro Suzuki came up big with an incredible 7 for 8 day, and best of all, Andy Pettitte returned from the disabled list. It doesn’t get much better than that right now.
In case you missed it, Pettitte opened up game one, and we expected him to throw anywhere from 50 to 75 pitches. Optimistically, I thought that 5.0 solid innings would be a possibility, and that’s exactly what he gave. He wasn’t exactly lights out, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks in his 5.0 IP, but he also didn’t allow a single run. For a guy who was rushed back from his fractured ankle, and hadn’t pitched in a game since June 27th, he looked as if he didn’t skip a beat.
| Pitch | Count | Velo | VMvt | HMvt |
| Cutter (Pre) | 217 (25.6%) | 87.3 | 11.11 | 0.19 |
| Cutter (Post) | 6 (8%) | 87.7 | 9.90 | 0.28 |
| Slider (Pre) | 208 (24.5%) | 80.6 | 3.61 | -3.18 |
| Slider (Post) | 17 (22.7%) | 81.6 | 3.82 | -3.86 |
| Two-Seam (Pre) | 145 (17.1%) | 87.9 | 9.50 | 7.63 |
| Two-Seam (Post) | 20 (26.7%) | 88.3 | 9.14 | 7.59 |
| Four-Seam (Pre) | 117 (13.8%) | 87.7 | 11.80 | 2.76 |
| Four-Seam (Post) | 13 (17.3%) | 88.0 | 10.72 | 2.71 |
| Curveball (Pre) | 99 (11.7%) | 73.3 | -0.46 | -7.33 |
| Curveball (Post) | 9 (12%) | 74.3 | -0.06 | -8.49 |
| Changeup (Pre) | 63 (7.4%) | 79.3 | 4.59 | 8.41 |
| Changeup (Post) | 10 (13.3%) | 79.6 | 3.71 | 8.23 |
Looking at the PITCHf/x numbers, you’ll see just how similar the movement on his pitches matched up to the rest of his 2012 season. There is the issue of small sample size here, but according to the YES gun and PITCHf/x, he was throwing harder too. Control-wise, he did suffer from a couple of walks, but part of that was from being squeezed by the homeplate umpire.
Of the few issues Pettitte had, he looked a bit rusty on his timing. Compare his mechanics below between a well located pitch in June, and a fastball that got away from him yesterday.
Rust is to be expected, but overall he looked like the same Andy Pettitte. The combination of consistent movement, strong velocity, and no signs of leg issues in this start makes me extremely optimistic. He’s now lined up to start a possible one game playoff, assuming the Yankees enter the playoffs in a wildcard spot, and I would feel very comfortable handing him the ball.
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4 Responses to Analyzing Pettitte’s Return
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Cashman’s acquisition of Ichiro may atone for his other Seattle fiasco of 2012 (Pineda). But, the Orioles won again, surviving King Felix, so there is no respite. Note that Baltimore owns any tie-breakers over the Yankees since they split their series but Baltimore has the much superior record vs the AL East. Girardi almost blew game one with his automatonic changing of pitchers when not necessary (Robertson), so nothing’s changed on that front.
The Yankees now have a better record than the A’s. Does that mean if the Yankees lose the division but hang on for a wild card, they’d have home-field advantage in the play-in game?
Only if they have a better record (or win the tie-breaker) vs. the other wild-card. But if they tie for the division with Baltimore, Baltimore gets home field for the one-game playoff due to better AL East record. What would be really confusing is if all three tie. Then the loser of the Yankee-Baltimore game would be a wild-card candidate (hopefully). However, I don’t know if the home field would then go to Oakland (0.5 game better record) or the winner of the season series. And if the latter is a tie, maybe then AL record or else common games (since they’re in different divisions)? If the three-way tie was for the second wild card, then I suspect the loser of the divisional championship would have to play Oakland just to get into the one-game playoff, but who would get home field may be the same as above. Ideally, the Yankees win the division outright and avoid the whole mess. But Baltimore is not cooperating. The Yankees get their shot at Oakland this weekend and owe them big time (it was Oakland’s four-game sweep that started the whole collapse).
OK, so it is important that the Yankees pulled ahead of the A’s (even though it’s hardly a lock that they’l stay there). Thanks.
Yeah, the Yanks owe the A’s a good thrashing.