Pettitte: I could still do this (but I won’t) — plus camp photos

It was a nice surprise to have Andy Pettitte show up in Yankees camp today. The lefty, retired for more than a year, is in town to see what life is like as a Yankees celebrity coach. He’s lobbying to throw a little batting practice tomorrow, and Joe Girardi says he just might let him. Why not? Pettitte has been keeping his arm in shape throwing to his sons’ teams in Texas — in fact, he says he pitches more now than he ever did with the Yankees.

Being around camp, putting on No. 46 again, and watching the ageless Mariano Rivera still attack big league hitters all woke something up inside Pettitte. He admitted there were pangs of the old excitement, feeling like he could be running around with the likes of Phil Hughes and Manny Banuelos instead of watching them from behind the batting cage. But there won’t be a comeback — Pettitte doesn’t want to open that door even a crack.

“Then you take a step back, you evaluate where you’re at, what you’ve been doing and the reasons that I retired – to be with the family and spend time with them,” Pettitte said. “Things are good. Things are really good; just loving life. No doubt, when you get around here and get close to it, you’re like, ‘Man, you’re 39 years old and Mo is 42.’ It’s just good to be here and be around the guys.”

Andy Pettitte chats with Alex Rodriguez during workouts.

The Yankees have set their pitching for the first run through the spring rotation. It’ll be — 3/2 Adam Warren, 3/3 Ivan Nova, 3/4 Freddy Garcia, 3/5 Michael Pineda, 3/6 CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes, 3/7 Hiroki Kuroda.

We’ve already seen some of Pineda earlier today, so let’s take a look at some of the other photos from today’s workout:

CC Sabathia deals live BP.

Joe Girardi signs for early-arriving fans.

Phil Hughes delivers that 'easy cheese' A-Rod talks about.

I didn't realize how quickly Hiroki Kuroda works.

All eyes were on Michael Pineda this morning.

One more look at Andy Pettitte.