The First Official Workout
ByPitchers and catchers officially report to Tampa for the time today, but as we already know, just about everyone is there already. PeteAbe has a list of who’s throwing in the bullpen today:
Burnett (Molina)
Chamberlain (Cash)
Kennedy (Romine)
Sabathia (Posada)
Pete also says that Brian Bruney, Dan Giese, Jose Veras, Jon Albaladejo, Kei Igawa, David Robertson and a handful of minor leaguers will also take the mound. Oh, and apparently no one’s told CC to lose the beard yet.
Now here’s a question: Given the concerns about Posada’s shoulder, would it be prudent for the Yanks to let Molina be the personal catcher for say, Burnett and Joba this year? My highly unscientific reasoning is that 1) Burnett can be wild, so it would be nice to have the better defender back there, and 2) Joba has better splits throwing to Molina (.178-.264-.228 against) than Posada (.231-.300-.307). This would also split up the chore of each guy having to learn two new pitchers. Posada’s familiar with Pettitte and Wang obviously, so now he can focus on CC while Molina tackles AJ.
There’s also the added benefit of Posada working with two lefties, who are naturally better at controlling the running game. Given the uncertain state of his shoulder, that’s a pretty big bonus. A “catcher rotation” like this would put Posada on pace to catch about 98 games this year (basically 60% of a 162 game season), but skipping a few Joba starts will put him up around 105-110 games caught, right about where they want him. It would also keep him fresh for the stretch run, theoretically.
Eh, I guess I’m just thinking out loud.
makes sense to me
That’s a good plan Michael.
Jorge wants more.
I like it. I like all of it. Makes sense to me. Sign me up. Sounds good…
Thinking out loud but thinking correctly. Someone e-mail cash.
I will be surprised if Posada catches more than 80 games, so a third pitcher may have to be added to Molina’s list.
You’ll be surprised if he’s more than a half-time catcher? If they don’t have to put him on the DL, he’ll be out there more often than not. The only way he catches that few games is if he spends time on the DL.
Agreed. If he doesn’t catch at least 100-110 games, I will be dissapointed.
Yes, especially if he catches (and throws) in the cold weather in April. He will have had only about nine months to recover from what has been described as extensive surgery at an age (almost 38) when the healing process can be a little slower. I really think they need another catcher (and not Cash).
If they make sure that he doesn’t throw in cold weather, I would be a little more optimistic.
Very sound reasoning. I like it.
When i first read I was like no way, but after some thought, its a great plan.
one other thing to consider is molina’s serious splits.
his career triple slash is:
225/262/309 against rhp
263/304/400 against lhp
basically the only way to keep him from being an automatic out is to bat him against lhp.
obviously if he catches close to 60 games, a decent portion will be against rhp, but i would like to see him face as many lhp as makes sense.
Jesus and Cervelli aren’t catching anyone?
They’ll get their catching in, no te preocupes. there are many pitchers needing throwing
Bad news!! Melvin broke Jesus’ hand with a 110 MPH curveball.
Pardon my ignorance, but, is Melvin Crousett real? If so, why is he pitching in the Dominican Summer League, instead of the GCL or something?
Because Melvin chooses to do so. Melvin is a little behind the other pictures at this point. He was in Australia rescuing Koala Bears from the terrible wildfires down under.
other pitchers..
Yeah, can someone shed some light on this? What’s the deal with ths guy and all the “inside jokes” anyway?
Melvin Croussett symbolizes all the Hopes and Dreams of Yankee Prospects in the Yankee Universe.
His makeup consists of 25% guts, 25% heart, 25% brains, 25% talent and 50% cojones. Yes, he 150% pure man.
How about this? GOOGLE HIM, Jesus is it that hard?
Thanks for your wonderful insight. You’ve done an amazing job explaining it. You are truly brilliant. I’ve seen his small-sample stats before. But does that really justify him being God #2? I don’t think so. Hence, my question regarding the “inside joke”. But thanks for contributing, putz.
Here ya go:
http://riveraveblues.com/2009/.....sett-6724/
Thanks Mike. I saw that when it was originally posted and unfortunately that’s what started the confusion for me. It seems as if it started way before that post. Oh well, I guess I’ll just accept the fact that he’s an uber prospect?
What the hell does he look like anyway? I can’t find a picture. Is he even real? My brain is hurting here. Someone throw me a bone!
Sorry for the triple post, but for anyone interested I found a liiiiittle bit of info on him.
http://johnsterling.blogspot.c.....ng-of.html
Sorry SF Yanks. I wasn’t trying to make you mad. There are no known photographs of Melvin I have heard that he looks like a young Billy Dee Williams, but he’s much smoother.
Prediction for Melvin this year in his current league before moving all the way up to AAA.
21 IP, 63 K’s, 189 pitches.
I guess no one wants to seriously explain who this guy is, or if he even really exists. Thanks for the RAB link (which I had already read), but if I wanted that, I’d just go to the Onion.
Melvin is an enigma wrapped in a mystery surrounded by a riddle.
I did Google him before I posted. The information I found leaves a lot to be desired. I found better information on Sid Fynch.
Can’t wait to watch AJ pitch.
Have you bought a jersey yet? Or several?
Every kind of uni there is for him, I bought.
lol. I figured. I hope we all feel about AJ the way you do at the end of the year.
brilliant!
now have a guinness!
Managers seem to hate personal catchers, but I think Mike’s plan would work really well.
I don’t like it. If you are going to go with personal catchers, the plan is ideal. You could not come up with a better personal catcher plan.
But personal catchers are a bad idea to begin with, for a variety of reasons: it creates a crutch for your pitcher, making it easy for him to fail if his personal catcher isn’t available, it’ll lock Molina in on days when he’d be facing a bad matchup as a hitter, as well as locking in Posada against a team with a big running game, it reduces a manager’s flexibility in dealing with days games after night games, off-days, and minor injuries, and it will cause a dilemma when the post-season comes around.
Its okay to have a preference at catcher, but every pitcher on the staff should be equally comfortable with either guy. Naming, then rigidly sticking with, a catcher rotation is unwise.
I like it, a lot. I hope Jorge can do his thing but I could def see Bengie on this team by the summer. Jorge better hit well too!
beaucoup photos of camp
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