- In better news, Andy Pettitte threw a simulated game on Saturday and apparently everything went smoothly. Here's a little more on Pettitte from Dan Martin:
“I felt good, it was a good day,” Pettitte said after the session. “It was another step in the right direction. I am trying to push it as far as I can with feeling a chance of injury.”- Ivan Nova came off the DL last night and instead of being inserted into the rotation the Yankees decided to to put him in the bullpen.
Pettitte is expected to have the ankle examined tomorrow in New York and could be cleared to run, which is one of the final hurdles he must clear before he rejoins a beaten-up rotation.
Barring a setback, the lefty would be able to field bunts and cover first base the next time he takes the mound, which should be in Boston this week. That session should last roughly 60 pitches and may be his final rehab appearance
“He is in the bullpen for now. Our bullpen has been used a lot,’’ said Joe Girardi, who as of Friday had not made a decision on who would start today. “We will put him down there for now and then we will make some decisions.’’Personally, I'd much rather see Nova get back into the rotation over Freddy, but the Yankees seem to like to make bad moves all of a sudden.
Asked if Nova was a candidate to take David Phelps’ start Wednesday in Boston, Girardi danced.
“We are not that far ahead,’’ Girardi said. “With these tricky weather conditions, I am not sure what we are going to need.’’
But at some point, Nova is going to start.
“We have always considered him a rotation guy,’’ Girardi said. “He is not a guy who has pitched out of the bullpen a lot. Our concern was to get him back healthy.” I had the rotation set — that’s Freddy. We didn’t know what we were going to have in Nova.’