Why Andy Pettitte Is the Key to the Yankees' Postseason Hopes

Andy Pettitte will turn 40 on June 15. He spent 2011 in retirement, watching games on TV.

Pettitte had an extended spring training and then found his groove making several starts for the Yankees Triple-A team in Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Now, after only four starts since returning to the Bronx, it has become clear that Pettitte might well hold the key to the Yankees' postseason hopes.

He might even be the reason they make the playoffs in the first place.

Even though Pettitte gave up five runs in his most recent start against the Los Angeles Angels, he has provided the stability and consistency that the Yankees' rotation sorely needs.

He is 2-2 with a 3.49 ERA—more than respectable in the hitter-friendly American League. Pettitte has also pitched deep into games, averaging seven innings per start. That is important for a team that lost closer Mariano Soriano with a torn ACL. And setup man David Robertson has been on the disabled list.

The season-ending injury to starter Michael Pineda deprived the Yankees of a projected No. 2, behind CC Sabathia. Raise your hand if you think Ivan Nova, Hiroki Kuroda or Phil Hughes is reliable enough to be trusted as a No. 2?

Didn't think so. All three are capable of pitching well and have shown flashes this season. But as Forrest Gump might say, the Yankees' rotation is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get.

Nova is 5-2  and has become a strikeout artist, but his ERA is 5.46. Hughes is 4-5 with a 5.64 ERA and Kuroda is 4-6 with a more respectable 3.96 ERA.

The won-lost records are more deceiving than they look. Hughes, for example, has defeated the Kansas City Royals twice, as well as the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins, all bottom-feeders in the A.L.

He lost twice to the Angels and once each to the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays, all currently playoff contenders.

It mirrors the Yankees' overall performance as they rolled over the Oakland A's in slump-busting style, but then were outscored by the Angels one night and out-pitched the next.

The Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals will not be in the playoffs. So while the Yankees should continue to pound the also-rans, they will have to raise their game in October.

Pettitte gives them a co-anchor at the top of the rotation. He is 19-10 in 42 postseason starts, including a 5-4 World Series record. If the Yankees struggle and have to play a wild-card play-in game, they can take comfort in handing the ball to Pettitte or Sabathia.

The Yankees may be able to bludgeon most teams into submission, but the postseason is a different story. It's about pitching.

Unless general manager Brian Cashman makes a trade, which is a possibility, the Yankees will hope that Nova, Hughes, Kuroda and perhaps David Phelps will provide enough quality starts to complement Sabathia and Pettitte.

The Yankees supposedly weren't interested in Roy Oswalt, who signed with the Texas Rangers, perhaps to be close to home. If Oswalt is healthy, I'll take him over any of the Yankees back-of-the-rotation starters.

As improbable as it may have been last year at this time, Pettitte may be the most important Yankee on the roster. 

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