Andy Pettitte: Bad Luck in 2008 Could Be Good for Yankees in 2009

All of the Yankee pitching talk centers around Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and Joba, but Andy Pettitte may quietly be the pitcher who determines the true dominance of the Yankee staff. Due to his constant Clemens-esque threats of retirement, people often forget that Pettitte won't even turn 37 years old until June. He struggled through shoulder woes in 2008 and all reports indicate that he is healthy this Spring. More importantly, Pettitte had an extremely unlucky 2008. His BABIP was .339, while the league average for pitchers is .301 and his career average is .316.

This stat has the potential to be a warning sign for a pitcher if his strikeout rate decreases at the same time. However, Petttitte's K/9 was 6.97 last year, representing his second-highest K/9 with the Yankees, and higher than his 6.60 career rate. The only explanation is that Petttite was extremely unlucky last year and the balls that were hit fell in for hits. That, or maybe he was serving up a lot of grounders in the vicinity of shortstop. By now, we all know that most of those balls are headed into the outfield.

To further enhance his bad luck, Pettitte's strand rate (the percentage of baserunners left on base by the pitcher) was 68.2% in 2008. The league average for this stat typically hovers around 70%. As mentioned previously, Pettitte had a very good strikeout rate, so that is not a valid explanation for this below-average rate. His career strand rate is 71.3, so Pettitte has hovered just above the league average throughout his career. He even earned the reputation as a "grinder" who battles out of trouble, based on some of his seasons with strand rates in the upper 70's.

If Pettitte can make 33 starts this year out of the 4th slot in the rotation, he has the potential to provide the performance of a number 2 or 3 starter. The idea isn't too far-fetched, and if it happens, the 2009 Yankee rotation will be unmatched by most teams in MLB. Read the full post, after the jump

Pettitte comes crawling back, brings his dynasty prowess to the new Stadium

Word from the Yankees is that Andy Pettitte has signed a one year, incentive-sweetened deal that could earn him over 12 million. The base pay is around $6 million - a far cry from the $16 million that he earned last year and that his agents were sure he could get.

Perhaps Andy was on the sidelines watching the Joe Torre book drama unfold and realized how easily his Yankee legacy could be ruined? The franchise, his teammates and most importantly the fans of New York stood behind Andy during last year's PED fiasco, and he owed it to everyone to come back and be a piece of the puzzle in the quest toward World Championship number 27.

Andy Pettitte's distracting offseason prior to 2008 was likely a contributing factor to his 2nd half fade and should issues. As Yankee fans, we can only hope that Andy has been working out hard back in Texas (WITHOUT THE HELP OF ROGER CLEMENS), preparing for the 2009 season and let his agents deal with all of the drama of his next contract.

The important parts of the roster are now set. For the nostalgia crowd, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada will carry the dynastical torch to the New Stadium for position players, Mariano will represent the great bullpens of the 90's, and Andy Pettitte will represent the starting pitchers who toiled away to bring the City of New York 4 championships in 5 years.

80 days until the new Stadium opens its doors!

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump