TAMPA – The only similarity between the elbow problem Andy Pettitte experienced in 1996 and the one that kept him from throwing batting practice Wednesday is that it’s located in the left hinge.
“In 1996, it was for three months,” Pettitte said yesterday after long tossing in the outfield with Yankee legend Ron Guidry and feeling no discomfort at all. “This just happened because I hadn’t been on the mound and I started spinning curveballs too much in my first bullpen [Monday].”
Pettitte, who pitched through the problem in 1996 doesn’t expect the tightness he experienced to keep him from throwing BP tomorrow although if he feels anything at all in the elbow the Yankees will smartly hold him back.
“I took [Wednesday] off and it felt good,” said Pettitte, who took part in all the pitchers’ drills yesterday at Legends Field.
Naturally, Joe Torre is taking it slow with a hurler the Yankees need to improve upon a 16-11 record and 4.24 ERA of a year ago.
“I assume everything will be all right, he felt fine today,” Torre said. “But I am not sure he is going to throw for a couple of days.”
Pettitte, who is Torre’s lone lefty in the rotation, learned a lesson from the minor setback.
“Basically, it was don’t take it too fast, too soon,” Pettitte said. “I hadn’t thrown off a mound before I got here. I had long-tossed for three weeks. Spinning curveballs was a different motion.”
While Pettitte is a day away form tossing BP, Roger Clemens throws to hitters today for the first time this spring. Since he arrived in camp Saturday, Torre gave him extra time to move into the BP phase of getting ready.
“I am looking forward to it, but I am not sure the hitters are although he would probably throw good batting practice,” Torre said.
Two hurlers who were very tough on hitters yesterday were closer Mariano Rivera and setup man Jeff Nelson. Rivera shattered Mike Figga’s bat and had hitters howling about Rivera getting in on their hands.
“I was hitting fungoes but he sounded good to me,” Torre said of Rivera, whose fastball moved as if it was July instead of late February. “And he had aggressive guys in their swinging against him, too, in [Derek] Jeter, [Chuck] Knoblauch and [Mike] Figga. His ball was moving all over the place. Nellie’s was too. He was good.”