Maybe Jorge could use a day off or two
ByThe Yankees play the final game of their West Coast trip later this evening, and will then enjoy a day off before beginning a series at Fenway. While a win would be nice, especially because it’s the Yanks (arguably) worst starter against one, if not the, A’s best, it would be nice to see Joe Girardi set up his team for the weekend series. This doesn’t mean resting all the starters — not by a long shot. Rather, it means giving the slumping Jorge Posada a day off, which will translate into two straight.
Why give Jorge a break? Quite simply because he’s mired in one hell of a slump. How bad? The last time Jorge drew a walk was August 7 against Boston. He’s drawn just two free passes the entire month of August. You know who else has walked twice this month? Robinson Cano. That should be the first indicator that something is wrong with Jorge.
Since the four-game sweep of Boston, Posada has come to the plate 34 times, registering 33 at bats. The only one which didn’t count was last night’s sac fly. In that span Jorge has hit .182/.176/.364 — a mere 6 for 33. His slugging percentage is propped up by his homer against Toronto which just cleared the short porch, and a few doubles. It’s nice to see him hitting with some power — it’s a sign that it’s just a bad slump — but boy, is it ever hurting the team.
Perhaps the strangest, and perhaps the worst, stat of Jorge’s post-Boston slump: 13 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances. That’s a strikeout almost 40 percent of the time he’s come to the plate. It’s also a 13:0 K/BB ratio in that span.
The slump extends a bit further back than that. Since the beginning of the Rays series in late July, Posada is hitting .230/.247/.392 with a 21:2 K/BB ratio. That covers 33 plate appearances, about as big as the post-Boston sample, and in that he also hit three doubles and one homer. While the Yanks have been rolling post-break, Jorge most definitely has not.
Jorge could certainly use the two days off. He’s had just one day off since August 8, missing only the first game of the Seattle series. True, he’s DHed in two of those games, but he’s 37 years old. Given his lack of rest and his stats in that span, it certainly stands to reason that he could use a bit of a break. The Yankees have an opportunity to get him a couple of days off heading into a big series with Boston, and they should certainly take advantage. Having a productive Jorge greatly enhances the already powerful Yankees lineup.
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.182/.176/.364
Yikes.
The Yanks have hit Anderson hard and maybe Molina could help out Gaudin. While I don’t think Jorge is a bad game caller or bad catcher, Molina is better.
Makes sense, the benefit over Molina is his bat, and if the bat is ice cold, then there is no benefit.
Plus Molina actually hits pretty well against left handed pitching.
Jose Molina doesn’t hit pretty well against anyone.
True, but he’s not an OFFENSIVE BLACK HOLE against LHP like he is against RHP.
OPSes 140 points higher in his career, nothing to sneeze at.
against LHP this year jose molina:
.381/.458./.381 with an OPS of .839
career v lhp:
.268/.312/.399 with an OPS of .711
this year jose molina hits pretty well against LHP
In 21 at bats though?
He has 8 hits vs. lefties this year.
He has been OPSing around 600s against both sides the last few years.
Agreed.
I also want to see copious amounts of Molina and Cervelli at C with Jorge getting a half-day at DH and Matsui resting his knees on the bench when rosters expand in September.
With a tough young hard-throwing lefty tonight, I’d like to see this lineup:
SS Jeter (R)
DH Damon (L)
1B Tex (S)
3B ARod (R)
RF Swisher (S)
2B Cano (L)
LF Hairston (R)
CF Melky (S)
C Molina (R)
Give HazMat and Jorge the night off, and Damon a half-night off.
HazMat, I like it. Although, nothing is better than Godzilla.
Also, I hope Jorge gets a day off, too. The man is struggling
big time and I hope he can back on track soon.
What about Chop? Hideki Miagi? Hideki “Snake Eyes” Matsui? “Hit-deki”? Oil Painting-face Boydd? The Prince of Poise? Shinobi Matsui?
IETCVM, Makavelli. Personal favorite- Hit-deki
Oil Painting-face Boyd?
(golf clap)
Agreed. Give Jorge some much needed rest.
Everybody seems to be (at least slowly) coming back down to earth after their splurge after the all star break…
They’re still winning games but you can tell some are tired.
Last 28 days they’ve batted .290/.358/.496
Last 14 days they’ve batted .287/.348/.494
Last 7 days they’ve batted .273/.326/.435
Meanwhile, the pitching seems to be around the same…which is good.
He might be coming around. The sac fly was hit hard, and the DP a couple innings later was a FB he turned on and hit hard. Nice to see, since Flaherty pointed out correctly that earlier in the game and lately Jorge hadnt been handling FB’s. Day off couldnt hurt, though.
i agree, i thought he has been hitting the ball hard lately, it doesnt help that we last played in safeco now in oakland
It’s been plain for awhile that Jorge needs a rest. And I’ve come to think of Molina as a little Sojo-like. Not great stats, but pretty good timing on his hits. Wouldn’t hurt to have him in.
Jorge definitely needs the time off. Jorge has been dragging at the plate, behind the plate and on the bases. Jorge is now 38 years old and the Yankees may have to seriously consider an upgrade at 2nd string catcher after this season. Jorge should probably catch no more than 90 to 100 games a year which means they need someone who can start two to three times a week backing him up.
Frankie’s the man!!!
I thought only Melky Cabrera slumps?
and don’t forget that blasted CODY RANSOM!!!!
Well you can’t count that as slumping. He’ll probably never do better than what he did on the Yankees.
He’s the worst human being ever.
True story: Inglourious Basterds was originally about an elite team of Yankee fans sneaking behind enemy lines to assassinate Cody Ransom. Tarantino couldn’t get clearance to film in YS2 so he rewrote it into the “let’s kill Hitler” thing instead.
No no no. Only Melky Cabrera has a career-long slump interspersed with short periods of success that many fans insist on celebrating as if they’re evidence he’s Bernie Williams Jr.
(Good Mo, I’m kidding… Waiting for the anger to boil over in reaction to this one.)
MOCK OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT’S… IT’S TERRIBLE, HE HAS BEAUTIFUL EYES AND HIS HAIR SMELLS LIKE CINNAMON!!!!
I DON”T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT!!!
HE HAS DIMPLES FOR MO’S SAKE!!! HE’S ADORABLE!!
I still can’t believe how Jorge had that absolutely awesome year in 2007. Our offense is great but just imagine how much more beastly it would be with 2007 Jorge and 2007 A-rod, especially with the new Stadium being hitter friendly.
A-rod would have had like 60 HRs that year.
I’m looking to swap 4 Yankees/Red Sox tickets for this Sunday’s game AT FENWAY for 4 Yankees/Red Sox tickets in NY on September 26. Anyone interested?
Jorge is the new Pedro Cerrano.
He needs hats for bats.
http://www.uncoached.com/wp-co.....ames_4.jpg
The Yanks will regret giving Posada a 4 yr deal…
Why? Not like they arent printing money.
Who do you want catching next yr? posada or Benjie Molina?
Please
Yes, always, yes, rest the catchers.
And so we don’t have to have this conversation 8 years from now, let’s get Montero an outfielder’s glove.
[Ducks]
Meh, we can wait at least 3-5 more years before we give up on Montero at catcher.
Get the positional value while we can.
http://jilldenton.files.wordpr.....orse-2.jpg (safe)
No that’s not how it works. I want him to be good now. If he’s not good now then move him where he will be good. Or trade him for someone good. They have to be good now, that’s how it works. I get what I want, that’s how the system works. And I say NOW.
I don’t care if he’s a GOOD defensive catcher.
There are no catchers in history other than Piazza with over 400 HR. It’s a tough position, and the guys tend to have short careers and seasons interrupted with more injuries and necessary rest than all other positions.
Offense means so much more than defense, we know that. Yes, you get an advantage with a heavy hitting SS, or C, or 2b. But you have to think about career length when you apply that thinking to a catcher.
Montero C + average LF will yield more offense than
Montero LF + average C.
However, that will be true only in the years when Montero is an offensive force, and healthy.
I’ll take my chances at having Montero become (wishing here, I know, but we can wish, right) a 20 season, 500 HR outfielder/DH, over having him be a 13 year, 300 HR catcher.
Oh no that wasn’t meant to be a knock to you. It was from a show I watched and decided to mimic it.
Anyways I wouldn’t take him out of catcher unless he’s like really really bad. His offensive numbers might not be as good at catcher than LF but it isn’t impossible for him to still put up some great numbers. Look at Mauer, now I’m sure he’s the exception to the rule but it’s still possible.
He might even be a catcher for his whole career and might DH at some point. Or it’s possible he’ll catch on some days, DH on some and rest on others. Personally I want him as catcher because it’s really damn hard to find a really good offensive catcher.
I might be wrong but I read somewhere that Montero has much better offensive numbers as a DH. Maybe the physical abuse of catching everyday would take away from his offense? It’s too early to say but that may factor heavily into his future role with the Yankee organization.
I’d rather see the Yankees groom Cervelli into Posada’s replacement. He could potentially be a Yadier Molina type catcher. Working with Kevin Long seemed to work wonders for his hitting…
Cervelli will never hit as well as Yadier Molina.
he’s not capable of a .268 career avg and an ops+ of 80?
He’s hit .300 the past two years. You think Cervelli will ever hit .300?
Cervelli is very capable of putting up Yadier type numbers on offense and defense…
“He’s hit .300 the past two years. You think Cervelli will ever hit .300?”
Yes and I think he could be a career .280 hitter which is more than adequate for a catcher. He hit .270 with the Yanks this year…
Over the last three seasons, Yadier has put up a line of .292/.351/.382/.733. If Frankie Cervelli can do that, I will literally do a handstand in a pool of piss for a full minute.
That would be awesome. Keep in mind that Yadier took a while to blossom. He hit .216 in 400 atbats in 2006. The Cardinals were patient with him and it’s now paying off…
Yeah, it would be awesome but it’s incredibly unlikely.
Cervelli’s hitting .270 with the Yankees this season was unlikely too. He’s only 23. He’s not Jose Molina…
“Oh no that wasn’t meant to be a knock to you. It was from a show I watched and decided to mimic it.”
You’re up to 93.4%.
Dayum! Oh I am so aiming for 95 now.
Lol, dare to dream.
Wow.
Already putting Montero in the 500 club?
We might as well aim high. He’s an amazing hitter. JobaWockeeZ mentioned Mauer, etc. I think people underestimate how much catching hurts offensive production. Mauer looks fantastic now. But the fact of the matter is, somewhere around his 8th season, he’ll start declining offensively. Noticeably.
And the fact that he looks great now only begs the question, how would he be hitting if he were playing the OF and not grinding away his hips, knees, ankles, and lower back every day?
Think about it – in all of baseball history, with all the 500+ HR guys out there, there has NEVER been a catcher to reach that milestone, and only 1 to reach even 400.
It’s a tough position.
Can Montero catch at AAA before we put him in the Hall?
No! To the Hall NOW! Might as well start his Yankeeography, too.
It seems like every time joe writes a post on this site, he is whining about something. Its like Mr. Pessimistic. I know they are all based on factual data and make good points but gimme a break. Say something good already, we are sitting pretty right now!
“I know they are all based on factual data and make good points but gimme a break. Say something good already, we are sitting pretty right now!”
No, please don’t do that, that would totally suck. You want Joe (and Ben and Mike) to ignore “factual data” and “good points” just because you want to hear nothing but good news and praise? That would be pointless, it would do us no good to sugarcoat everything just because the Yankees are in first place. If they/we did that, this site would just be a lame cheering-section, and that’s not what people come here for.
And NJY – Good teams, in any walk of life, don’t achieve sustained success by sitting back and saying “everything’s great because we’ve been successful so far,” they achieve sustained success by looking at themselves critically and constantly trying to improve.
Sorry I presented facts. Didn’t realize it was whining. Just an observation, bro.
well played.. just wanted to see the rise i got out of that one, keep up the good work dude…
oak and tag
Cry me a fucking river.
yeah Jorge has definately looked bad at the plate recently. and giving him an off day before flying across country to face Boston isnt a bad idea
He swung at a ball that almost hit him yesterday. I know he’s never been a great hitting off-speed pitches but that swing made me wince. Melky could use another day off too, even though he made solid contact last game.
Definately. Posada facing a RHP you know he’s wiffing on that slider in
FYI – Jeter hasn’t walked once the whole month of August. He is in the midst of the longest span w/o walk in his career.
Yeah, if he wasn’t smoking the ball right now, I’d be pissed about that.
Truth: Swisher used up so many walks already this year that Jeter has to make up for it in August by not walking at all.
So he decided to go 3-4/5 each night.
Not only is Posada old, but he’s also been pretty banged up lately. I’m sure all those foul tips off his hands and mask aren’t helping him stay fresh. It seems as though he’s been getting those foul tips a disproportionate amount lately.
he needs about 4 days off…
you want to see Molina for 4 straight games?
If you dont have faith that Girardi will give a fellow catcher a break in the dog days of summer with a 7 game lead you shouldnt want him as the manager.
Players go thru some peaks and valleys during a season. fact of the game.
Help is on the way. Rosters expand soon
The Yankees as a team aren’t walking much in August, huh? Jeter has gone 95 ABs without a walk.
Man, I hope Kim Jones interviews Jeter after his next walk just like she did with A-Rod.
“Were you saving that walk for a big moment like this?”
“No.”
“Still, you’ve got to be excited that your walk drought is now over?”
“I didn’t even know I was in a walk drought.”
“Hahaha, Jeter. Such a kidder. Back to you, Michael!”
My thoughts are as follows: any man or men placing football markers on a major league baseball field, so as to delineate a football gridiron in the middle of the major league baseball season, in the middle of the aforementioned major league baseball field, whether ordered to or not, whether paid or unpaid, should be executed. Any questions?