Yankees Daily

When I heard that Posada was out with a fractured foot, it really didn’t bother me much because we have Francisco Cervelli who is probably the best back up in the league. I like Cervelli as the starting catcher for the New York Yankees.

If you look at this year’s stats, Francisco Cervelli is more than a capable back up. He could start on any team in baseball. He played 22 games and Posada played in 26. Cervelli is batting .373 and Posada is batting .326. Cervelli has 17 RBI and Posada, 14. Cervelli also has a higher on base percentage at .442 to Posada’s .406. Cervelli has a .417 BAbip meaning when he hits the ball in play, he has that average. That’s how many balls go through. Posada has a .343 BAbip. Cervelli has also hit into one double play all year meaning he doesn’t kill rallies.

The most impressive stat of Cervelli’s is his batting with runners in scoring position. He’s hitting at a .611 clip. Posada is hitting only .217 with men in scoring position. With two outs and men in scoring position, Posada is only hitting .154. Can you guess Cervelli’s average with two outs and men in scoring position? .750. Wow.

Neither player will sustain those averages over the course of the year because catching is a difficult position but Cervelli’s clutch stats are what separates him from Posada so far this year. To say we are going to miss Posada is true but we won’t miss him as much.

Stats and clutch stats from Baseball-Reference.com

Jorge Posada is giving advice to the young catching prospects in our system. That’s good.

The Yankees have so many catching prospects I wonder where they are all going to fit? I remember when the Yankee system was bare of catching prospects but now they most likely have the best in all of minor league baseball.

Austine Romine, Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero were all in camp today. I wouldn’t mind having Francisco Cervelli be the full time catcher once Jorge can’t do it anymore.

I was never the biggest fan of Jorge Posada because I’ve always wanted a defensive catcher to catch the Yankees. I even went as far as saying that the Yankees would never win again with him catching. Then 2009 happened. I had to bite my tongue and admit I was wrong.

Still, I believe in defense up the middle. I wouldn’t mind having a great defensive short stop, second base man, catcher and center-fielder and then fill in the rest of the club with hitters. That’s how I would build the Yankees.

I didn’t think Jorge Posada was a good game caller. I still don’t think he’s the greatest game caller. Before the World Series started against the Philadelphia Phillies, I predicted to myself that the Yankees were going to lose because of Jorge’s game calling and his ability to call a baseball game.

That prediction was wrong. Jorge did a pretty good job during the World Series. He won and that’s all that matters. He has five World Series rings so he must be doing some thing right.

I’d still like to see Francisco Cervelli get more chances behind the plate next year so Jorge could play more DH. Francisco is an excellent defensive catcher. The Yankees will always have big bats in their lineup so you don’t have to worry about having less bats.

I really hope Joe Girardi uses his brain in the playoffs and realizes that Posada and A.J. Burnett just don’t click. It would be a wasted game if Jorge Posada catches Burnett. I’m wondering how much lower Burnett’s ERA would be if Molina or Cervelli caught him all year. The New York Yankees would be better off.

I personally feel that the Yankees are at a disadvantage with Posada on this team. We don’t need him. We have enough hitters and Posada is a terrible game caller. It seems to me that not a lot of pitchers like working with him. I’m even starting to think that the Yankees might of won more world series in the 2000′s if it wasn’t for Posada.

A lot of Yankee fans want to know why there are times when Yankee hitters will hit well but the pitching won’t and then when the pitching pitches well, the hitting won’t. It’s easy. It’s the wind tunnel at the new Yankee stadium.

Fans will ask, why is it when the Yankees score runs, they can’t pitch? I looked at stats from ESPN and the Yankees have 66 home runs when they play at home. They have 583 total bases and 200 runs scored and 190 RBI. Opponents have hit 53 home runs against the Yankees at home and 562 total bases with 187 runs scored and 180 RBI. Because of the wind tunnel, both teams are scoring runs so it looks like the Yankees are hitting but not pitching well when in fact they aren’t pitching well and it’s because of the wind tunnel.

Fans will ask, why is it when they pitch well, they can’t score runs? When the Yankees played away, they hit only 39 home runs and have 542 total bases with 178 runs scored and 169 RBI. They’re not hitting well away at other stadiums because of the lack of wind tunnel. You can see the Yankee pitchers pitching a lot better on the road then at home and that’s the best proof of the wind tunnel effecting play for the Yankees.

On the road, the Yankee pitchers have a 4.39 ERA. At home, they have a 4.91 ERA. The Yankees have the worst home era in the American League. They have the third best ERA in the American League when they play away from home.

So there you have it. I thought it was “all” Jorge Posada’s fault for the bad Yankee pitching but his poor catching gets exposed more when the Yankees play at home. There are times when the Yankees will score more runs away than at home but overall, they score more runs at home, pitch poorly at home and pitch better away but hit worse away.

You might ask, well if the Yankees are a good team, why have they been losing lately? Well, the home team will usually pitch better than the away team and naturally, that’s why the Yankees have a 17-17 record away from home. They have a winning record at home but made some bad errors and mistakes that could of led them to an even better home record.

It took me forever to get home today and I’m still a little po’ed over it.

We already know the argument of Joba as a starter compared to him being in the bull pen but is it time to put him back in the bull pen?

I say this not because he doesn’t have the stuff to be a starter but because he’s being babied.

How much longer can you baby some one and treat him like he’s not a major league player? I was a little bothered by the fact that he was taken out of the game on Tuesday and Joba let himself be taken out of the game when he was hit in the knee by a hit pitch.

There were no problems with his knee and he made his next start.

In his next start, was taken out after four innings. To me, this is nonsense. Joba has pitched seven innings just once this year. I don’t imagine Nolan Ryan or Curt Schilling being taken out after six innings after every game when they played.

It’s time to take the training wheels off of Joba or put him back in the pen.

Wang is coming back and Hughes has been solid. One person has to be the odd man out. I’m usually sure about my thinking on certain situations but this isn’t one of them.

Maybe we need more patience? After all, he’s only 23 years old.

Joba has started 10 games this season and only has two wins to show for it. The Yankees are 5-4 when he starts. Maybe in our dream world Joba will be an ace but I’m not in a deep sleep right now.

A good recent argument on why Joba should be in the bull pen.

Jorge Posada is coming back tomorrow and I don’t like it. The Yankees were 11-10 when Jorge was behind the plate. The Yankees are 14-7 without Jorge. That’s seven games over .500 compared to one game over .500. Is it just a coincidence that the Yankees have taken off in his absence? He plays one of the most important positions in baseball and to me, Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash are more than up for the job. They save more runs than with Posada behind the plate.

They definitely don’t need his bat. The Yankees have scored five or more runs 12 times since his absence but that has more to do with the wind tunnel in Yankee stadium. Still, the Yankees score runs with or without him.

A good recent argument on why Jorge Posada shouldn’t be the starting catcher.

Nick Swisher. Sure, he’s a team guy that’s great in the club house but he can’t hit. He’s batting just .123 since May 1st. He’s a career .243 hitter and he’s not going to get better.

If Melky has a starting outfield position, which he has earned, I want to see him moved to left or right field and have Gardner start in centerfield. Gardner is a much better outfielder than Swisher and he makes things happen when he gets at bats. Gardner doesn’t get on base on a consistent basis but you have to give him more experience so he becomes a better player.

The thing we don’t have to worry about right now is who to put where because Melky Cabrera is going to miss 5-7 days with a bruised right shoulder. So it looks like Gardner is going to have to make the most of his opportunity.

Yankees win

The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals by a score of 4-1. Andy Petttitte pitched 7 innings giving up 1 earned run on 3 hits along with 6 strikeouts for the win. Mariano Rivera got the save.

I was thinking after I watched Andy Pettitte mow down the Kansas Royals lineup that I shouldn’t get too excited because this is the Kansas Royals we’re talking about. They’re still a professional baseball team and started the day in first place.

How about that Andy Pettitte though? He was making lefties look stupid. His breaking ball was like a 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock pitch. If he continues to pitch like this and him and Joba are going to be the 4rth and 5th starters, the rest of the league is in trouble. Andy could be a number 1 or number 2 starter on a lot of teams.

Andy Pettitte was injured last year so he’s going to be a better pitcher this year.

Jorge Posada went 1 for 4 and had 2 RBI.

I think that Posada is trying to prove that he still has it especially for a 37 year old catcher. You know he heard the whispers around the league that his time could be over because he got injured and 37 year old catchers can’t hit well. He’s doing a great job so far of proving his critics wrong.

I don’t know what’s going on with Hideki Matsui. He went 0-for-4 and struck out twice to lower his batting average to .071. It’s going to be hard for Joe Girardi to decide who to start at DH with Nick Swisher in right-field. You know Xavier Nady wants to play.

In fantasy baseball, I’m disappointed that CC Sabathia is going to start tomorrow and not Joba Chamberlain because Joba is on my fantasy baseball team.

Jorge Posada

The doctor who performed on Jorge Posada’s shoulder said Jorge needed surgery and it was inevitable.
He tried every thing he could to not have the surgery,” Dr. David Altchek said yesterday via phone.
“But there was no other choice. It was a significant problem, and if we kept trying things there was going to be no chance he would be ready for next season.”

• DOC: JORGE HAD TO HAVE HIS SURGERY - GEORGE A. KING III – NY Post

Jorge

The Yankees have to be feeling pretty good about themselves especially after their All Star Break performance and they can’t let the game against the Orioles last night be a deterrent.

• Losing Jorge Posada is no big deal in big picture for Yankees - Vic Ziegal – NY Daily News

Molina vs. Posada

Wallace Matthews, sports writer for Newsday, writes that he believes the Yankees are better off without Jorge Posada. Matthews says, Losing Posada doesn’t have to mean they lose the postseason because frankly, the way he was playing and feeling, they weren’t going to win with him, anyway. Matthews believes Molina saves more runs than Posada behind the plate and Posada being hurt is a blessing in disguise because Girardi doesn’t have to make the decision of playing Molina over Posada. Had Posada been catching Sunday’s game against the Athletics, Rajai Davis probably would have stolen second in the ninth, putting the tying run in scoring position.

• Yanks better off without an ailing Posada - Wallace Matthews – Newsday