-If you’re in the ‘Posada should catch AJ Burnett’ camp, you had a rough night last night. 2 passed balls and a wild pitch (that most catchers block) on the evening, one of them leading directly to a run scored with Mauer on 3B in the 3rd inning. The 2nd passed ball was the result of a miscommunication between Jorge and CC, the first one he just whiffed on. Even his hit wasn’t anything to boast about, it was an excuse me pop fly to right that simply landed where nobody could catch it. To top it all off, Matsui hit the biggest HR of the evening, so any notion of sitting Hideki and placating Jorge with a DH start was shot down as well. If you’re Jorge and going to bitch about being sat down, you should really bring it for the game you start, and show Girardi why he’s wrong. Posada did the exact opposite last night, he proved Girardi right.
-Boy, the Twins sure looked tired in the 1st inning last night. CC didn’t look overly sharp, he actually seemed a bit nervous to me (which is fine) and the Twins hitters were missing his pitches by a foot. Denard Span couldn’t pick up his slider all night, but even Cabrera and Mauer were failing to make contact on some swings. As the game wore on, they looked better. But I don’t think we got a true measure of the Twins team last night. AJ Burnett vs Blackburn with everyone getting a good night’s sleep should more competitive.
-AJ Burnett denied that he requested Molina behind the plate. I’ll have a full piece going up on this later today.
-A-Rod looked terrific at the plate last night, as he had all year. First RBI single was pulled to Left and the 2nd he went the other way and knocked it off the Right field wall. It’s typical of his approach, which has been good all season. I’ve never had an issue with the results Alex would get in recent years in the post season, you can be hitting the ball hard and in bad luck. But he wasn’t doing that. My problem with him was always the way his approach seemed to change, he would be trying to pull outside pitches and was lunging at pitches out of the strike zone. It was painfully obvious to anyone that he was simply trying too hard in past years. But this season, his approach has been great all year and kudos to him for finally figuring it out. Nobody works harder than he does, you knew this would happen eventually.
-Congrats to out buddies over at River Ave Blues for landing the playoff recap gig at the YES Network website. Make sure to check it out, Joe, Mike and Ben always do a great job and offer a unique take on things.
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12 Responses to Random Thoughts-ALDS Game 1 reactions
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TIQ IQ
Posada was awful last night, but I still like his chances of being a positive over the course of a series more than Molina. A.J. and Posada should have figured things out during the season so the Yakees aren’t benching their best catcher.
They did try, they had problems all year and Girardi had Jorge catch AJ exclusively in August. It didn’t work.
“The 2nd passed ball was the result of a miscommunication between Jorge and Posada”
You could say that, too…
Good catch, I fixed it.
I dont feel comfortable w CC pitching to Posada. CC just doesnt look comfortable out there to me w Posada catching him. If he wasn’t facing the twins, but a much better hitting lineup like the red sox or angels…I think it would be just like his last start against Tampa. Jorge was also catching him in the last game, in which he had that awful start. I cant remember the last time Jorge caught CC. Does anyone know how the times he caught CC went? I just dont see them clicking together- & I like to see them clicking once he pitches against the sox or angels.
They click fine. This is really getting out of hand, as if Jorge cant catch anybody anymore. The Yankees won multiple world championships on the strength of their pitching, with Jorge behind the plate. Not every mistake by a pitcher is the fault of the catcher.
Jorge can’t catch a single pitcher in the rotation, from now on Molina starts the games and Posada doesn’t come in until the pen does haha.
Let’s all hate on Jorge after he guided CC through 6 2/3 and 8 strikeouts. Come on, sure he had a rough night behind the plate, but those sometimes happen. Posada, of course, is getting no credit for helping CC get through the game when CC definitely didn’t have solid command of all of his pitches (the fastball, especially). It’s really a no-win situation for him. He gets no credit for the good things and a ton of criticism for the miscues. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Jorge is the greatest game-caller in the world, but I definitely think people are overreacting a bit.
I have a post on CC’s start going up at 3. Your observation about Jorge coaxing him through is supported by the data.
Nice.
Don’t forget Jorge’s PB for this year, he’s among the league leaders among qualifiers.
I agree. This is getting ridiculous. On the 2nd “passed ball,” they had a conference on the mound, decided on a pitch, and CC threw a different pitch. Exactly what do people expect at that point?
As for the wild pitch, he DID block it. It also landed in the right handers’ batters box and took a wicked hop. That wasn’t Posada’s fault. People need some perspective.
By all means, let’s overreact to one game (a game in which CC went 6 2/3 with 8 Ks, no BBs and 1 ER) and say that Molina and his sub .600 OPS should bat. Please, this is getting out of hand.
I thought last year would show people how valuable Posada is, but I guess they’ve already forgotten. Posada has spoiled people.