Good Things Come In Pettitte Packages!

Andy Pettitte was made for pinstripes, and now maybe his youngest son, Luke Pettitte is too! It’s another one of those “like father, like son” cliche moments….or is it?

We don’t need to talk about how great Andy was. We all know. Luke could be a great pitcher too, but there’s some differences. Honestly, much needed differences so he’s not living in the shadow of his dad. I keep seeing on  X everyone is talking about how Andy was a one of a kind, and we shouldn’t compare Luke to him.

And we shouldn’t. That I agree. Andy was a left handed battle tested pitcher with a pick off move that was unmatched. Luke is right handed so he might not have the same pick off move but he’s still talented. He’s a two-way player that organizations drool over now that some guy named Shohei Ohtani came in and changed baseball as we know it.

But the Ohtani comparison stops there. They both are two-way players but that’s it. Luke started playing at Dallas Baptist College as a pitcher, but Tommy John surgery forced him to step away from the mound. Instead of treating his time away recovering as a lost year in his journey he turned his attention to hitting in his junior year where he hit .337, with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs in 42 games. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Hell, he would be an instant upgrade to the current lineup right now considering some guys are hitting .150 right now (here’s looking at you Austin Wells), sometimes the truth hurts.

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward. Does Luke even sign? There’s no guarantee that he will. No matter what does happen, he already has some bragging rights compared to his old man. Andy was picked in the 22nd round of the 1990 draft, but Luke was picked in the eighth round of this years draft. No matter what happens, he gets that for bragging rights. Honestly, Tommy John or not, scouts have a lot to say about his good command, so I like the pick.

The Yankees need to learn how to evolve and honestly, in more ways than one. Their “run it back” philosophy and overly analytical decisions have not helped this team win anything. There isn’t a ton of risk with this draft pick, even with a recovery from Tommy John. Luke has something unique to add and we certainly need something.

We’ve been saying we are tired of “more of the same” and this isn’t it. It’s about time! Welcome to the Yankees, Luke!

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj