Bruney Close

Our Minor-League Man, Chad Jennings, has the scoop:

Brian Bruney said he will pitch one more inning on Saturday, but Thursday's outing made him think he's ready to rejoin the New York bullpen.

"I feel like I'm OK now. Prior to today, nobody really asked me, they just kind of told me to go here, but if they would have asked I would have said I think I need one or two more to really get comfortable and get to the point where I feel like I can go up there and contribute instead of just going up there and working on things. Today was a big step for me and I'm really excited about it. Looking forward to throwing Saturday so we can continue on what we've been building."

“It was probably the best day I’ve had all together,” Bruney said. “First five were kind of shaky. Still trying to build some trust on the foot and trying to work on my mechanics. I feel like I was rushing through a lot stuff. I got here and worked early with (pitching coach Rafael) Chaves and got back to some of the things I was working on in spring training, and really feel like I went out there and attacked the zone and threw my pitches with conviction.

I'm not going to delude myself into thinking that Brian Bruney will make the Yankees into the pitching juggernaut I expected them to be, but he sure can't hurt.

When he got hurt, Bruney looked ready to pass Kyle Farnsworth on Joe G's depth chart.  I suspect he'll have to re-earn that position; on the other hand, no one in the Yanks' bullpen is really lighting it up.

Knock Joe G all you want (I sure do), but he has managed to avoid overworking any particular arm.