Their projected No. 2 starter has been out of action since March 7 when Andy Pettitte’s left elbow began to hurt. Hideki Irabu, pegged as the No. 5 hurler, has been relegated to the last arm on a 10-man staff.
So, how good will the Yankees’ rotation be when Pettitte and Irabu rejoin it? Not any better than Roger Clemens, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Ramiro Mendoza and David Cone have been across the first six games of the season.
If everything went well in Pettitte’s Single-A start last night for Tampa in Sarasota and there is no problem with the elbow or his right ankle today, he could surface Saturday in Tiger Stadium and start against the Tigers.
Meanwhile, Irabu waits until Mendoza gets hit hard in order to receive another (final?) chance to show his teammates he has the mental toughness to pitch effectively in the big leagues. Mendoza makes his second start of the year tonight against the slumping Orioles at Yankee Stadium and if it’s anywhere as good as his first against the A’s last Wednesday (eight shutout innings), Irabu could be planted in the bullpen for quite some time.
“We are ecstatic with how the first six games have gone,” GM Brian Cashman said of his starters, who have held opposing hitters to an anemic .128 (18-for-41) average. “Oakland and Detroit are very respectable lineups.”
While the A’s and Tigers aren’t the muscle-bound Indians, they do offer pitching hurdles. Yet, not one of the four Yankee starters has been scuffed. The only drawback through the first six starts has been Cone walking seven and hitting a batter last Friday in 51/3 innings when he allowed one hit.
“It’s been a great first trip through the rotation and now we are into the second one,” said Cone, who starts tomorrow night against Scott Erickson. “Roger Clemens was better the second time and so was El Duque. It’s sort of contagious.”
If the starters follow the early path and receive the run support the hitters have provided – seven runs per game – three-game sweeps like the one the Yankees took from the Tigers this past weekend will be commonplace.
El Duque, who doesn’t like the raw conditions he has worked in during his first two outings, is holding batters to a .106 (5-for-47) average. Lefties, who gave the Cuban refugee problems last year when they hit .271 (76-for-280), are batting a pathetic .074 (2-for-27) against El Duque this year.
Clemens is holding hitters to a .143 (7-for-49) mark, Cone is at .059 (1-for-17) and Mendoza is limiting batters to a .179 (5-for-28) average.
And with Pettitte on the mend and ready to jump in Saturday for the first time the Yankees need a fifth starter, the best rotation in baseball – yes, better than the vaunted Braves collection – becomes even stronger.
“I think that’s a good sign of a team, that’s why we are a good club,” interim manager Don Zimmer said.
The Yankees’ quick start has reinforced that you never believe what you see in spring training when it comes to veteran pitchers. Sure, the numbers weren’t pretty but Zimmer put it best when he said in the final days of Florida, “If we have to worry about Clemens and Cone, we are really in trouble.”
Of course, those doing the worrying didn’t need to be chewing their fingers raw. And with Pettitte on the horizon, things may actually be improving.
