Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Oh, man, Sunday was fun if you enjoy a good, old-fashioned pitcher's duel. Both Chien-Ming Wang (5-0) and C.C. Sabathia (1-4) were dealing. Wang had tremendous stuff, mixing in a sharp, late-breaking slider and a split-finger fastball to go with his sinker. He gave up just four hits and two walks over seven innings, while striking out--dig this--nine batters. Sabathia was a load too, allowing just four hits and a walk over eight innings while striking out eight. The big fella made one mistake--a lovely-sounding solo home run to Melky Cabrera. That was all the scoring, as the Yanks won, 1-0. Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect eighth, Mariano did the same in the ninth.
A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Now, for the bad news. As first reported by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, Jorge Posada is headed to the Disabled List for the first time in his fourteen-year career. According to Pete Abe:
The muscle tear in Posada's shoulder left him unable to throw today and he will be examined by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., later this week."It's very disappointing," Posada said. "The biggest disappointment in my career."
Posada seemed almost close to tears as he spoke. "It's not getting any better and we have to find out what really it is," he said. "The MRI showed a strained muscle and I think it's more than that. I want to find out really what it is."
It doesn't come as a surprise that Posada got hurt this year. That's what happens to players--especially catchers--when they get older. We can only hope that the other durable Yankee veterans--Rivera, Rodriguez and Jeter--continue to buck the odds and remain healthy.
I'll say it again...what's up with Girardi and the Yankees being so cryptic about the injuries so far this year?
If Posada is down for more than a couple of weeks, they pretty much have to make a move for another catcher, no? At least for depth?
salty is coming up in texas, gerald laird might be out there...
...or we could try and pry another catcher from the angels, looks like they got two fine ones at the moment.
If he can do that this year, he's in pretty good shape, no?
Also, it seems like Jorgie has been the only one lately to get a hit with RISP. I know that's not true, but just seems like it.
I thought the Yankee front office was always secretive about injuries. The difference is that Torre was pretty straightforward, and it seems like Girardi isn't. New Joe does seem to have a lot of old Buck about him.
Yesterday's post also talked about Girardi's intensity vs. Torre's more laid-back style, and what effect that might have in the long run. Obviously, there's no way to predict that yet. But Torre did always talk about being intense without being tense, and it's not clear whether Girardi has the hang of that.
I'm leaving soon to have rotator cuff surgery...not a big deal, though rehab will suck. And I guess it'll be at least a year before I'm ready to resume my pitching career...
It's definitely going to be tougher with Molina/Moeller/AAA kid than with Posada. But I'm not going to freak out. The Yankees have survived without Jeter for an extended time, or Giambi, hell, they survived Tony Womack being on the team. Just need some of the other guys to step up.
Girardi looks like he's still in shape. . .
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