The suprises of spring training

Well this the last week the Yankees will be down in Tampa training until 2012. On of my favorite things is how the storylines are resolved and the unexpected, becomes a reality.

First example, Gustavo Molina as the back up catcher.
 A few weeks back on Talkin Baseball: The Hot Corner I joked the Molina would make the team over Jesus Montero or Austin Romine. Well each day it looks more and more like a solid possability. Molina has had a nice spring, while Montero has struggled and would not get the chance to play everyday in the bigs. Romine missed time, and many feel he is also not ready. I would have said Jorge Posada, but he has yet to catch a single inning in spring training and I doubt he will for the remaining few days. So that leaves it to Molina.

I actually like the Molina idea since, he will just play once a week if that, and when Cervelli comes back they can cut Cervelli they can either send down Molina or Cervelli.

Bartolo Colon, Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia all make the team, with the last two being the fourth and fifth starters.
Yes two of them would have to make the team as the starting pitchers at the back of the rotation, unless the Yanks were going to go with four man rotation. But Sergio Mitre was sadly cut as the long man, and that opened up the role for big Bartolo.

I never expected Colon to be on the roster once opening day hit, I also had my doubts about Nova (I was assuming the Yanks would make a trade) but they both will be pitching in the bigs to start 2011.

Eric Chavez does not get hurt! And makes the team

Whats more shocking that he didnt get hurt or that he made the team? I would say that he was healthy enough, cause I had a feeling Girardi would add him to the roster if he played well, and he has done just that hitting close to .400 this spring.

Jesus could be with the Yankees in 2011

From today's NY Daily News : "The consensus among the Yankees' high command is that Montero who turns 21 on Nov. 28 - is ready to assume the starting catcher's job, according to a source with knowledge of the team's thinking."

Its about time, I could no longer watch Jorge Posada constantly running to the back stop to retrieve the ball or not even attempting a throw to second. Scouts have claimed that Jesus Montero is not the best defensive catcher, but is one of the best offensive players in the minors. I'll admit that while I am unsure if Montero is ready it cant hurt to give him a shot, in the mean time, they should go out and sign a catcher who may not produce much with the bat, but is great defensively. Think Jose Molina. If they could do that, they would be able to trade away Francisco Cervelli, and not be forced to call up Montero till after Memorial day and save a year before his is arbitration eligible.

Where has the offense gone ?

The last time the Yankees put up double digit runs was July 29th in Cleveland. Over the last eight games the Yanks have averaged 3.4 runs a game. So what has happened to the offensive that leads baseball in runs scored ?

So lets look at how the main stays in the Yankees line up has fared over their past 10 games.

Derek Jeter .261 , 0 HR, 4 RBI, 9 SO : Jeter has been having a mediocre season based on Jeter standards.But he has killed the Yanks with his double plays and he lack of power.

Nick Swisher .243 0 HR 1 RBI 16 SO 3 BB : Swisher has been one of the most consistent hitters this season. Past 10 games Swisher wasn't driving in the runs and had only 3 walks.Now Swish is day to day with a forearm injury.

Mark Teixeira .250 3 HR 8 RBI 11 SO : Tex has been one of the better hitters for the Yankees during this tough stretch.

Alex Rodriguez .282 , 4HR , 10 RBI, 9 SO : A-Rod rediscovered his power stroke last Saturday hitting three homers. Just when it seemed like Rodriguez was about to heat up, he got injured and is now day to day with tightness in his calf.

Robinson Cano .235, O HR , 2 RBI, 5 SO, 6 BB : Cano has struggled lately, but it isn't cause hes swinging at bad pitches. Cano has drawn more walks then strike outs, had a written that line in 2008 you would have though i was kidding. Cano had been suffering from a bad cold when the Yanks were in Texas.

Jorge Posada .129 , 1 HR , 2 RBI ,7 SO : Posada has been awful. He doesn't seem comfortable at the plate at times and has really shown his age. The worst part is that his replacement Francisco Cervelli isn't much better (see below).

Curtis Granderson .290, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5 SO, 3 BB :  Grandy had been working with Kevin Long to improve his swing and it looks like it's helping. Its always a good sign when Granderson has only five strike outs over 10 games.

Lance Berkman .194 ,0 HR,4 RBI , 5 BB , 5 SO : The big puma has struggled since coming over to the Yanks at the trade deadline. He still hasn't hit his first home run as a Yankee and recently was hurt his ankle on a play running to first base.

Brett Gardner .250 , 0 HR, 2 RBI, 9 SO : Gardner had been playing poorly at the start of the week, but seems to have figured it out. With speed like Gardner's, your not going to be in extended slumps.

Posada and the Yanks have forgotten what to do with a bat.

Francisco Cervelli .138, 0 HR, 2RBI, 1 BB , 7 SO : Mentioned above that Posada couldn't be benched since he had no replacement. That's because Cervelli has been just as bad as Posada and has less power. Cervelli has been terrible since late May, offensively and defensively.

So as you see the Yanks have a reoccurring problem. First it is that many of the players are banged up, but that's to expect coming from an older team that has played every single day since July 19th. The other is that the players are striking out too often. So combine those two problems and add in the struggles of the Yankees this season to hit young pitchers they have never seen before and you get the current struggles.

My Thoughts on the Yankees Catching Rotation

When the season opened up Jorge Posada was going to be asked to shoulder the load at the catchers spot, even though he would be turning 39. So far this season it has not worked out that way. Posada has had a few injuries including a broken bone in his foot from a foul ball, along with two separate knee injuries, one from getting hit by a pitch and the more recent was a cyst behind the knee. With all the injuries Francisco Cervelli has played alot more then expected.

Early in the season Cervelli was on fire, especially with runners in scoring position. Many called for Cervelli to become the everyday catcher and for Posada to DH every day. Well since mid-May Cervelli has been hitting under .200 and has only thrown at 14% of base stealer's.

Posada on the other hand hasn't thrown many more runners out (17%) but has hit much better then Cervelli. Posada this season just hasn't stayed healthy enough to catch every day, and has been streaky with the bat.

Girardi recently announced that he was going to have a catching rotation. At first I liked the idea for the main fact that it would give Posada rest and he could heal all his nagging injuries, and he could still DH when he wasn't catching because Posada's bat is useful in the line up. It also meant that Cervelli would play less, I firmly believe that Cervelli is a great asset to the club for his emotion and enthusiasm he brings but when he plays often the league figures him out. This season once the league figured out Cervelli it was down hill.

During a session with the media, Joe Girardi announced that he planned to have Cervelli catch A.J Burnett and Javier Vazquez. Posada would catch Dustin Moseley,(Andy Pettitte when he comes back),Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia. That would be how the catching rotation would work, based on rotating on what pitcher was pitching.

Sure the rotation may help the Yankees at this  time but come October this could be a disaster. I'm sure most remember last postseason when Burnett had to have Jose Molina as his personal catcher, and Posada had to sit. Well the same thing this season, in the postseason what will Girardi do ? It doesn't make any sense to have Cervelli in the line up if he cant hit, and isn't a huge defensive upgrade over Posada. With this catching rotation, it is creating personal catchers for the pitching staff. Then come playoff time and Burnett or Vazquez are pitching to Posada and getting lit up because they had not gotten to work with him during the regular season, who/what is to blame? It would have to be Girardi and his catching rotation.

Yanks vs Rangers 8/10/10 wrap up : Yanks don't play big in Texas

Other then the heat here in New York you would have though that tonight's game in Texas was game 1 of the playoffs. In what could end up being a playoff match up this October, the Rangers won the game in walk off fashion in the 10th inning with a David Murphy single off Mariano Rivera.

Truth be told I had never expected the Yankees to compete in this game with a line up that included Marcus Thames hitting third, Austin Kearns hitting fifth and A.J Burnett making his first start since experiencing back spasms.Burnett pitched well giving up three runs over seven innings and was saved from getting a loss when Alex Rodriguez hit a clutch solo homer to tie the score at three in the eighth.

The game would go into extra innings and Joe Girardi would summon the great Mariano Rivera to keep the Yanks in the game, but something surprising happened. Rivera would give up the walk off hit. If you are looking in the box score it will show that Rivera gave up three hits. But two of the hits were hit so soft that the Yanks could not get the runners out.

Yankees Player of the Game: Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod hit the game tying home run, and had this been pre-2009 Postseason it would have lead to a debate over if he was clutch or not. Alex also had a brilliant diving play in the tenth inning on a Vlad Guerrero ground ball that was ticketed to left field. At the time the play saved the Rangers from winning the game, but was over shadowed once Daniel Murphy got the base hit to win it.

Second Guess Move of the Game :

Sadly their are a few moves to choose from, starting with why didn't Girardi pinch hit Posada for Cervelli in the eight inning when the go ahead run was on third base. Girardi said following the game that Posada's shoulder was sore and he would not have been able to catch. If that really is the case then I think that it may be time to bring up Jesus Montero and give him a shot. I know that Montero is not much better then Posada defensively but at least he has hit in the minors, and in the spot tonight would have been able to catch had Posada been used as a pinch hitter. Cervelli hit a weak jam shot to the first baseman, and Brett Gardner continued to slump by not getting the run in.

Honorable Mention : The timing on when Girardi was going to use Mariano Rivera.

Currently the Yankee universe is in panic, the Yanks have now lost two games in a row in heart breaking fashion and Wednesdays game does not get much better with the Rangers throwing Cliff Lee. Javier Vazquez will go for the Bronx Bombers, last time out Vazquez struggled with his command and his fastball lacked velocity. If there is any consolation it is that following the Rangers series the Yanks head to Kansas City to take on the lowly Royals for four games and then head back to the stadium for games against the Tigers and Mariners.