Giambi And Pettitte Look To Make Improvements For The Yankees

Two Yankees are trying to return to their peak in the first part of Spring Training, Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi. Giambi is trying to become a premier batter again after missing half of last season with a bad foot injury. Pettitte is hoping to focus more on baseball after admitting that he used human growth hormones and dealing with his son's serious car accident.

Giambi went two-for-three with a home run, an opposite-field double and 4 RBI's. His double off the left field wall could be traced to the work he is doing to counter his tendency to pull the ball. He also hit a 3-run homer to right field off left hander, Cole Hamels. This is the first time Giambi has to earn his keep since joining the Yankees in 2002. He has competition from Shelley Duncan and Morgan Ensberg for the first-base position and from Hideki Matsui at DH.

The Yankees hope Giambi can play first base without hurting them too much defensively. This would allow them more flexibility. Giambi is a .309 hitter with a 1.008 on base plus slugging percentage as a first baseman. As a batter, he has hit .246 with an .864 OPS. Giambi says that he likes being in the field and thinks that recovering from the torn plantar fascia in his foot and being in better shape allows him to do that.

Pettitte pitched two scoreless innings in the Yankees' 7-7 Grapefruit League tie with the Phillies. He had one hit and one walk. He's just trying to stay healthy and improve his pitching. His 2nd inning was much better than his 1st. He walked Jayson Werth with one out in the 1st but got Chase Utley to hit into a double play. In the 2nd inning, Pettitte threw to Giambi and picked off Pedro Feliz after his infield hit. He struck out Val Pascucci looking to end the inning.

Pettitte has reported still feeling a little behind because of his hectic off season and his late arrival at spring training. However, he expects to make 5 more starts before the regular season and be up to 90 to 100 pitches by then. He's also hoping that his steroid incident will begin to die down.