From Tyler Kepner (NY Times):
Don’t expect Jorge Posada to catch before mid-March. He will play designated hitter before then, but as he recovers from shoulder surgery, Girardi expects Posada to start only 100 to 110 games behind the plate this season. From 2000 through 2007, Posada always started between 134 and 142 games at catcher.
Hopefully that’s a guarded expectation from Girardi. If Jorge only sees time behind the dish for about 100-110 games, that means Jose Molina will see considerable time behind the plate for about 60 games or so. While Molina will give the Yankees a lot from a defensive standpoint, his bat is as weak as they come. A lineup that features him and either Melky or Gardner in CF doesn’t seem too promising. The Yankees may need to hold on to Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady and play both of them when Molina is in the lineup (Swisher in CF).
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9 Responses to Posada's limited playing time
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TIQ IQ
Easiest solution: Rest Posada when CC and Joba pitch. Offense won’t be as necessary.
Very true.
Don’t be surprised if CC or AJ prefer not throwing to Posada anyway.I love Jorge but even when healthy, he calls a bad game and is a passed ball waiting to happen.
His best deal defensively actually was throwing and now that could be gone also.
Jorge is a very over rated catcher when healthy.
Disagree. he called a great game from 1998-2003. The good pitchers left, and suddenly he did not call a good game. Jorge is a bit temperamental, as are many of the pitchers that didn’t want him to catch them- Johnson and Mussina, to name a couple, which may be a stronger explanation.
I agree. Although, I’ll never forgive him for calling that changeup when Chien-Ming Wang was pitching a no-hitter (against the Mariners, I think it was?).
Sorry, Moishe, it’s well known that Posada is a mediocre catcher everywhere but in NY.
I’m watching Baseball over 50 years (not that it proves anything) and have seen a lot of them.Jorge is a hitting catcher who can throw and that covers up a lot of obvious problems.
He couldn’t call a game for EL Duque either, they were never on the same page and El Duque knew how to pitch with the best of them.
Jorge doesn’t frame well and frankly often flinches and drops the ball.My buddy and I counted him dropping 10 pitches one game, for only 1 passed ball but watch him sometimes, he drops more strikes and close strikes than any catcher in baseball.
He can hit and he can throw and every YAnkee pitcher last season preferred throwing to the fat boy Molina.
With Posada, El Duque held hitters to a .236/.305/.404 line… That’s not too bad, but he did allow a lot of homers when Jorge was behind the plate. I do agree that Jorge drops a lot of strikes, though. Sometimes, I think he hinders pitchers from getting the call for that reason.
Yeah, I dont disagree about the framing and the passed balls. i was just disagreeing in regard to game calling. I think that he is at worst average.
I guess it really depends on the pitcher. Based on what I’ve seen, he’s never been too terrible with anyone in particular. I remember he didn’t fare to well when catching Phil Hughes—actually, Phil Hughes didn’t fare too well when pitching to Posada.