New York Yankees Notes: Jorge Posada's Shoulder, Jesus Montero, Aceves

Bronx Baseball Daily

Aug 11, 2010

The Yankees got seven innings out of their starter A.J. Burnett, but once again the offense failed to make much noise as Mariano Rivera let the game slip away in the 10th inning causing the Yankees to lose to the Texas Rangers 4-3 in 10 innings.

Here are some notes:

That was an impressive performance by Burnett, if he could have avoided a sixth inning two-run homer by David Murphy it would have been a great performance.
Francisco Cervelli came up in a big spot in the eighth inning yesterday, but the Yankees couldn’t pinch hit for him because Jorge Posada‘s surgically repaired shoulder was giving him fits.
Posada is not starting tonight, mostly because of the fact that Javier Vazquez is on the mound and Cervelli has handled him most of this season.
The Yankees aren’t likely to call up Jesus Montero unless he can play everyday, but if Posada is still dealing with this many aches and pains in September (his knees, foot, and now shoulder have been bothering him) then the Yankees are going to have to seriously consider giving him a call-up.
Speaking of Montero, he’s been a one-man wrecking crew down in Triple-A after a slow start. His OPS in April and May were a disappointing .696 and .635 respectively. Since then: .829 in June, 1.072 in July, and a 1.363 so far in August. His bat is ready.
Alfredo Aceves threw 0.2 innings last night in Triple-A Scranton, depending on how his back feels today he’s next step is to throw two innings on Friday. If that goes well he could be activated after that.

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This Posada issue could really bite the Yankees in the ass. He’s hitting a pathetically low .192 with a .493 OPS since May 25. During that time he only has three multi-hit games. That’s about as close to an automatic out as it gets. Some pitchers are more of a treat at the plate. If Posada is going to continue to be the walking wounded then a third catcher would be nice, especially one who could occasionally pinch hit late in games. Like I said, the Yankees aren’t likely to call-up Montero unless he’s playing everyday, but once the minor league season ends hopefully they’ll make the right choice.