Andy Pettitte Breaks out the Cutter, Unretires

Turns out, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter won't be the only active members of the Yankees' vaunted "Core Four" in 2012. No, Jorge Posada isn't coming back. Rather, we haven't seen the last of Andy Pettitte giving hitters a piercing stare over his glove as he gets the sign. After sitting out 2011, Number 46 has returned to the Bronx on a minor league deal reportedly worth $2.5 million.

Last we saw him in 2010, the lefty was limited to 129 innings due to a groin strain but was still highly effective when on the bump. He struck out seven hitters per nine, walked 2.9 and boasted a 46% ground ball rate, good for a 132 ERA+ that trailed only CC Sabathia among Yankees starters.

The key for Pettitte was the cutter. That darting low-80s offering, thrown about one-fifth of the time, limited hitters to a .132 average, a .187 on-base percentage and a .271 slugging percentage. By contrast, batters hit .263/.322/.410 overall against cutters in 2010.

Pettitte uses his cutter as a chase pitch, going to it 44% of the time in two-strike counts. He gets ridiculous chase and whiff rates with the cutter. Check out hitters' swing rate by pitch location versus Pettitte's cutter in 2010, and then the league average:

Hitters' swing rate by location vs. Pettitte's cutter, 2010

Average swing rate by location vs. cutters, 2010

Opponents chased 47% of Pettitte's cutters off the plate in 2010, tied with Cleveland's Josh Tomlin for the highest rate among starting pitches. And those chases led to lots of empty swings. Look at batters' contact rate by pitch location against Pettitte's cutter, and then the league average:

 Hitters' contact rate by location vs. Pettitte's cutter, 2010

Average contact rate by location vs. cutters, 2010

Hitters missed 40% of the time they swung at a Pettitte cutter, the second-highest clip among starters (Washington's Craig Stammen was first).

If the now 39-year-old Pettitte still has his cutter, he'll eventually join an already-deep starting mix including Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia and prospects like Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Brett Marshall, D.J. Mitchell and Adam Warren. So much for that whole, "the Yankees don't have enough pitching" meme.

Can Ibanez Lay Off Soft Stuff in Pinstripes?

The Yankees used some of the bucks saved in trading A.J. Burnett to the Bucs, adding Raul Ibanez Monday on a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Ibanez, 39, is expected to take on right-handers as part of a DH platoon with lefty-thrasher Andruw Jones.

Ibanez comes cheaper than Johnny Damon, who is reportedly seeking around $5 million, but he also comes with some of the same questions regarding his suddenly diminishing plate discipline. The former Phillie started lunging at breaking and off-speed stuff from righties last year, and his on-base percentage took a tumble as a result.

Check out Ibanez's chase rate against "soft" pitches -- curveballs, sliders and changeups --  thrown by right-handed pitchers in 2011 compared to 2009 and 2010.  His chase percentage against breaking and off-speed pitches from righties was below the league average in '09 and 10, but it ballooned last year:

Ibanez's chase rate vs. "soft" stuff from right-handed pitching, 2009-11

Pitch Type	2009	2010	2011	3-Yr. MLB Avg. for LHB vs. RHP
Curveball	23	18	32	27
Slider	30	28	39	31
Changeup	33	34	43	35

Overall, Ibanez's chase rate against soft stuff from righties spiked from 30% in 2009 and 29% in 2010 to 39% in 2011. The average for lefty hitters versus right-handed pitchers is 32% over the past three seasons.

Ibanez went golfing last year, trying to club pitches near his ankles into the cheap seats. Take a look at his swing rate by pitch location vs. soft stuff from righties in 2009-10, and then 2011:

Ibanez's swing rate by pitch location vs. soft stuff from right-handed pitchers, 2009-10

Ibanez's swing rate by pitch location vs. soft stuff from right-handed pitchers, 2011If Ibanez gets back to his more patient approach and posts an OBP slightly north of .350 against righties like he did in 2009-10 (.353), then the Yankees may cobble together a cheap DH platoon. If he keeps trying to club low pitches from righties and has an OBP barely above .300 like in 2011 (.307), however, there will be a blight in the juggernaut Bronx lineup.

Cheap Muscle in the Bronx?

The Yankees' search for a righty bopper to pair with Andruw Jones at DH seems to have centered on Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Eric Chavez. But it's possible that Russell Branyan, signed to a minor league deal last week, could provide some cheap muscle from the left side of the dish.

A typical Branyan season involves little exposure to lefties, ample walks, lots of whiffs and some tape-measure clouts. But Branyan lost one of those Three True Outcomes -- power -- during a 2011 season in which he was released by the Diamondbacks and played a bit role on the Angels. The Muscle managed just a .197/.295/.370 line in 146 plate appearances, with four home runs.

Maybe Branyan's "old player skills" finally aged too much, but the 36-year-old still has an impressive body of work against righty pitchers over the past three seasons. In 775 PA versus righties since 2009, Branyan has a .250/.346/.507 triple-slash. Right-handers go out of their way to keep the ball outside against Branyan...

Righty pitchers' location to Branyan, 2009-11

Forty-six percent of righty pitchers' offerings to Branyan have been thrown on the outside corner. But that plays right into The Muscle's strength. Check out his in-play slugging percentage by pitch location against righties over the past three years:

Branyan's in-play slugging percentage vs. righty pitchers, 2009-11Branyan is coming off a lousy, abbreviated 2011 season, and he hasn't gotten near the same number of plate appearances against righties as Damon, Matsui and Ibanez over the past three years. Still, he has been the best of the bunch on a per-plate appearance basis against righty pitching since '09:

Hitter	AVG/OBP/SLG	PA
Branyan	.250/.346/.507	775
Matsui	.271/.366/.433	1234
Damon	.270/.348/.439	1410
Ibanez	.266/.337/.464	1351
Chavez	.242/.301/.345	279

Damon certainly offers a more well-rounded skill-set, as he doesn't have a platoon split (.273/.345/.425 against lefties since '09) and could possibly play the outfield in a pinch, though you wouldn't necessarily want him to. If the Yankees are strictly looking for a righty masher, however, they may already have a better option under contract in Branyan.