Andy Pettitte‘s much-anticipated comeback for the New York Yankees won’t officially kick-off until he gets his first start of the spring, but according to the New York Post, the Yankees legend is set to do so sometime next week.
Pettitte made his comeback announcement on March 16th, and given the normal month and a half or so it takes most pitchers to get ready for the season, the 39 year old won’t be able to take the mound until May 1st at the earliest.
According to the same report, Pettitte threw 20 pitches in batting practice on Tuesday (3/27) and then went on to throw 13 more in a simulated game. He faced four batters during the simulation.
He is expected to have another session similar to Tuesday’s on either Friday or Saturday of this week.
Look for Pettitte to take the mound for his first start of the spring on either Tuesday (4/3) or Wednesday (4/4) of next week.
In that start, Pettitte will likely throw two innings—depending upon how many pitches he throws to the first three batters he’ll face.
However, the Bombers could be taking a slower approach with Pettitte. After all, unlike his fellow starters in the Yankees’ rotation, Pettitte didn’t pitch at all in 2011 and that might force the Yankees to bring him along a little slower.
Pettitte should get four starts in the minors during the month of April and one or two during the first week of May.
If all goes well, he should be ready to go by the second week of May, give or take a few days.
It isn’t clear, however, what the Yanks intend to do with him if their starting five should happen to be solid at that time during the season.
But that’s another story for another day, and at this moment, the only concern the Bombers should have is getting Pettitte ready for the season.
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