Andy Pettitte turned in another ho-hum performance last night, giving up 5 ER on 9 hits in 6.2 innings of work. Since coming off the DL, he's posted a 4.91 ERA in 25.2 IP, with 30 hits allowed in those innings. Like CC, he's been much more hittable since coming off the DL, but why? Is the back still bothering him? Has he lost some of his stuff because of it?
Hard to say. Pettitte's FIP for June is just 2.66, a full 2 runs lower than his ERA. He's walked fewer batters on average than he did in April or May, and there's nothing in his June contact splits to suggest he's getting knocked around the park by opposing hitters. He's got a .341 BABIP against this month, so there could just be some bad luck in play here.
The Yankees need more from Andy, there's no doubting that. But to turn his June struggles into a bigger story might be a bit premature based on his overall statistical and PitchF/X profile. The only thing that stands out to me is a slight trend in him leaving his cutter up in the zone a bit, and even that is registering him a better whiff rate on the pitch than he had in the first 2 months. If Andy's back is still giving him problems, there's really not much other than the ERA to support it. It could just be a case of him needing a few breaks to go his way.
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2 comments:
Maybe let him go back to the two side sessions he's used to - sharpen the control?
I'd rather have a sharp, dominant Andy for 2 months than last night's for the entire season.
Not a bad idea. Have to think the coaching staff is hesitant to let him do that with all the back problems though.
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