Like most games of late, last night’s game included both Jorge Posada and Francisco Cervelli. Obviously, only one of those guys can catch each night and when they’re both in the lineup, it’s obvious that Cervelli’s going to be the one to catch while Posada DHs. This is unfortunate because it means that there will always be a weak bat in the Yankee lineup.
Why? Obviously, Cervelli’s bat is not very good. At all. Not including last night’s game, Cisco is OPSing .546 in the month of June. If he was the full time backup (/oxymoron’d), that might not be so bad. However, because he’s playing every day, it’s essentially unacceptable. Even when Cervelli is given a spell and Posada is the one catching, the Yankees must put someone out in the field whose bat is essentially an auto out. However, like everyone else has to at one point or another, the Yankees just have to grin and bear it. They are 100% stuck with the current C/DH situation.
With Opening Day DH Nick Johnson out, along with the other internal DH option of Marcus Thames, the only possible player with a suitable DH bat is Posada. He’s old, a bit banged up this year, could use some time off from behind the plate, and can actually hit. All of those things mean a DH when there isn’t someone else around.
So, unless the Yankees find a suitable trade partner, we’re likely to see this C/DH situation going forward. It’s not desirable in the least, but the quality trade candidates are few and far between and if Johnson does end up coming back, there’s basically a dead roster spot. If Cervelli can somehow find a way to get his OPS up to around .700, then this will become less of a problem. Until he does, though, the Yankees are stuck.
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7 Responses to Yankees Stuck with Current C/DH Situation
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This is a joke…Let me see Posada is near the end of his career and looks every bit of it and Cervelli has finally worn down. You are saying that Cervelli is a bad catcher? How do you have a blog?
Posada is batting .172 in his last 10 games( and is batting .203 since coming back)plus he is no longer any good defensively an calls a bad game(ask CC and Burnett).
Cervelli has gone into a SLUMP he is still batting 28 points higher than Posada.
Cervelli is a leader he plays at 110 percent and this team needs that since we have an old Jeter and apparently old Arod being played to death every day without any rest.
Your answer is Johnson and Thames I guess if this was 2003 that would make sense. Cervelli is the least of this teams worries you have a manager that does not manage, a bullpen make of poo( Gaudin, Marte, Park. Logan and Chamberlin) and a 3-4 combo that is still hitting about .250 and a washed up centerfielder who should be platooned against lefties.
I guess you are a Yankee goober that wants all old has-beens like Thames and Johnson instead of seeing if Russo, Huffman and Curtis can actually put energy into an old team.
Isn’t he great, folks? Let’s give him a hand!
you make good points…girardi for #1 cc was left too long out there today..he almost blew this game.. he must trust somebody else but mo.. or get rid of the bullpen.. we can not win unless arod and tex hit…cevelli swisher cano. brett.along with hughes and pettite.. have carried the team this far. we got the most anyone can ask from them.. nobody should knock cervelli…the core need to step up big now.. granderson should sit vs lefties and let the other kids play…i know montero is having a bad year in aaa,, but the way we are hitting ,,call him up give him a bat ..or should we get the other catcher again i don’t even want to say his name
I think we can live with a weak hitter in our 8 or 9 spot. Is it ideal? No. But every other major league team manages without an all-star at every position. When the Yanks started the year with Nick Johnson as the DH they knew he was an injury risk (and if they didn’t someone needs to be fired) and they prepared to move forward anyways thinking the team can handle his injury. And the team has handled his injury, just look at the record. Yes we have gotten beaten the last two nights by 2 of the best pitchers in the AL but I don’t think Nick Johnson would have been the answer. As for Cervelli he is a capable back-up (no worse than Molina) who is getting extended playing time due to injury. The farm is deep at this position so it makes no sense to trade for a catcher, and the Yanks defense is improved when he is in there. All in all, there is no need for the panic button or to make a silly trade.
Heck, I prefer Cervelli to Johnson the way Nick was swinging. He wasn’t hitting his weight.
We are all used to having a circular lineup and we don’t have one right now. Most teams never have one. I don’t think Cervelli is as good as he was at the beginning of the season or as bad as he has been in June. He’s somewhere in between with good defensive and game calling skills. Thames is on a rehab assignment and unless I missed a setback, he should be back in under a week. I don’t think Cervelli should be a regular but I don’t have a problem with Posada DHing against righties with Cervelli catching those games and catching against lefties with Thames at DH. If Posada can start catching more, they could send down Russo who really isn’t needed now and bring up Miranda to platoon with Thames.
I don’t agree with most of what dennis said but I do agree that there are bigger problems than Cervelli and if the stars play how they are capable of, it mostly doesn’t matter whether Cervelli hits or not. It’s pretty remarkable that the Yankees have the record they do with alot of guys underperforming.
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