Sunday, March 26, 2006
Notes: Mussina sharp, feeling good
03/15/2006
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Mike Mussina was in midseason form on Wednesday, but the veteran isn't going to let a solid outing on March 15 fool him into thinking that he's ready for the season just yet.
Mussina allowed one run on three hits over five innings, walking one batter while striking out eight. He threw 78 pitches -- a spring high for any Yankees pitcher -- including 60 strikes.
"I did everything and anything I wanted to do in any count," Mussina said. "When you go to the mound, you hope it feels like that, that your stuff is like that. Ninety percent of the time, it isn't; but on the days it is, it's really a lot of fun to pitch."
"He was great today," said manager Joe Torre. "He had real good command, got a good workout and seemed to do whatever he wanted to. I know he's got to be really satisfied with himself."
Mussina is now 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in three spring starts, though he also tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the team's intrasquad game. His elbow, which has caused him problems at some point during each of the past two seasons, has not given him any trouble.
"I'm just glad that I'm throwing the ball like that, that it feels good and that I'm healthy," he said. "That's what is important to me."
Mussina will make three more starts this spring, including road starts at Detroit and Tampa Bay and a home start to close out the Grapefruit League season against the Devil Rays. He knows that it will be difficult to top this outing in five days, but he still has some things to work on before the regular season arrives.
"To think that I'm going to take what I did out there today and improve on it much the next time, there's not much else I can do," Mussina said. "That's as good as I've got right there, so we'll go out and try to repeat it. It will happen from time to time, but it's not going to happen every time."
Pavano progressing: Carl Pavano threw a 45-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday, his fourth of the spring. Pavano will throw a light 'pen session on Friday, then throw batting practice for the first time on Sunday.
"I've felt good consistently every time out," Pavano said. "I'm not hesitant at all. I would throw more, but this is the program."
Pavano said that his stamina is not an issue, though he spent some of his session on Wednesday working on slowing himself down between pitches.
"Seeing a hitter in there will be good," he said of Sunday's BP session. "I think there's some benefit to it."
Torre said that Pavano will probably need "a few" batting practice sessions before pitching in a game. If Pavano can't pitch in a game until the final week of the spring, he would pitch on the Minor League side in order to keep the date of his DL stint as far back as possible.
Who's on first? Jason Giambi, who has started the past two games as the designated hitter, will be back in the field on Thursday against the Astros.
Giambi hasn't played first base since March 6, the day he strained his left calf muscle. Torre was going to play Giambi at first on Wednesday, but decided to wait until Giambi was back at Legends Field on Thursday.
"I feel more secure playing him at first base on a field I know is good," Torre said.
Source: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Mike Mussina was in midseason form on Wednesday, but the veteran isn't going to let a solid outing on March 15 fool him into thinking that he's ready for the season just yet.
Mussina allowed one run on three hits over five innings, walking one batter while striking out eight. He threw 78 pitches -- a spring high for any Yankees pitcher -- including 60 strikes.
"I did everything and anything I wanted to do in any count," Mussina said. "When you go to the mound, you hope it feels like that, that your stuff is like that. Ninety percent of the time, it isn't; but on the days it is, it's really a lot of fun to pitch."
"He was great today," said manager Joe Torre. "He had real good command, got a good workout and seemed to do whatever he wanted to. I know he's got to be really satisfied with himself."
Mussina is now 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in three spring starts, though he also tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the team's intrasquad game. His elbow, which has caused him problems at some point during each of the past two seasons, has not given him any trouble.
"I'm just glad that I'm throwing the ball like that, that it feels good and that I'm healthy," he said. "That's what is important to me."
Mussina will make three more starts this spring, including road starts at Detroit and Tampa Bay and a home start to close out the Grapefruit League season against the Devil Rays. He knows that it will be difficult to top this outing in five days, but he still has some things to work on before the regular season arrives.
"To think that I'm going to take what I did out there today and improve on it much the next time, there's not much else I can do," Mussina said. "That's as good as I've got right there, so we'll go out and try to repeat it. It will happen from time to time, but it's not going to happen every time."
Pavano progressing: Carl Pavano threw a 45-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday, his fourth of the spring. Pavano will throw a light 'pen session on Friday, then throw batting practice for the first time on Sunday.
"I've felt good consistently every time out," Pavano said. "I'm not hesitant at all. I would throw more, but this is the program."
Pavano said that his stamina is not an issue, though he spent some of his session on Wednesday working on slowing himself down between pitches.
"Seeing a hitter in there will be good," he said of Sunday's BP session. "I think there's some benefit to it."
Torre said that Pavano will probably need "a few" batting practice sessions before pitching in a game. If Pavano can't pitch in a game until the final week of the spring, he would pitch on the Minor League side in order to keep the date of his DL stint as far back as possible.
Who's on first? Jason Giambi, who has started the past two games as the designated hitter, will be back in the field on Thursday against the Astros.
Giambi hasn't played first base since March 6, the day he strained his left calf muscle. Torre was going to play Giambi at first on Wednesday, but decided to wait until Giambi was back at Legends Field on Thursday.
"I feel more secure playing him at first base on a field I know is good," Torre said.
Source: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/
