Sports

POSADA (3-FOR-4) GETS BACK ON TRACK

When Jorge Posada was batting .324 on May 21 and hitting everything hard, he was reluctant to discuss the reason why his bat was smoking.

“I don’t want to know why,” Posada said.

Based on Posada going 3-for-4 in last night’s 7-5 win over the Rockies, the switch-hitting catcher may start talking less after analyzing why he started the sweltering night in a 5-for-37 (.135) slide that had his average at .275.

“I am thinking too much at the plate,” Posada said before doubling in the second, and singling in the sixth and eighth. “It’s just a lot of thinking and a lot of thought process. You try and minimize that.”

A lot is made of how Posada wears out in September because until last year when John Flaherty surfaced the Yankees never had a backup they trusted after Joe Girardi left. However, Posada, who has caught 45 of the Yankees’ 57 games, says the current funk isn’t due to fatigue.

“I am not tired,” Posada insisted.

He was a bit confused, though. “You try to outthink the pitcher and outguess them,” Posada said. “Then you try and think different stuff.”

That leads to a hitter wondering about things he takes for granted when going well. “You are thinking about where your hands are and where your feet are and all that stuff,” Posada said.

And finally, pitch recognition is all wrong. “You let the good ones go and swing at the bad ones,” Posada said.

So how do you get out of it? Three hits helps.

“There is different stuff you go through to make it go away,” Posada said. “But you have to keep working at it.”

Joe Torre concurs that Posada’s brain was working overtime.

“It looks like he is thinking too much,” Torre said. “He is thinking about it more than he should and over-compensating a bit.”