Joe Girardi says Andy Pettitte was suffering from injuries during the ALCS
New York Yankees head coach Joe Girardi said on Tuesday 26 October that starting pitcher Andy Pettitte was bothered by injuries during the American League Championship Series.
Girardi stated that Pettitte suffered an injury to his back during the American League Divisional Series against the Minnesota Twins when his back seized up during a game on 7 October. Moreover, the left-handed pitcher struggled with his abductor muscle
in his leg, which started causing a problem during a bullpen session two days later.
Girardi said that the injuries to Pettitte are what led to the veteran getting the extra day off and pitching in game three, instead of game two in Texas.
“In talking to doctors and trainers, our staff, we thought we had to give him those extra days,” noted Girardi. “Andy had some leg problems. Down the stretch, he had some back issues and it was unfortunate and he pitched a great game. Who knows what would’ve
happened if he had been able to pitch game two? We just felt that after having that issue on [9 October], we better give him an extra couple of days.”
Despite the injury Pettitte pitched a brilliant game against the Rangers in game three, allowing only three hits in seven innings. Unfortunately, the veteran was up against Cliff Lee, who had an even more impressive outing, silencing the Yankees’ bats.
Conversely, Pettitte’s replacement in game two and game six, Phil Hughes, struggled in both starts. Hughes played to an 11.42 ERA and lost both contests.
“Sometimes as a manager you have to do things for certain reasons and as I said before, there were a lot of factors that went into lining up our rotation,” said the Yankees skipper. “Sometimes you’re going to take heat about it or people are going to question
things that you do about it because you’re trying to protect the player, protect the strategy in the game.”
It is unclear whether or not Pettitte will be back for the Yankees next season, as the 38-year-old is said to be considering retirement.
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