THINK we can all get off the “Jorge Posada can’t catch” train now.
All Posada did last night was crush a three-run home run and do a super job handling A.J. Burnett. The right-hander pitched the Yankees to a 5-0 wipeout of the Mets at Citi Field. Burnett allowed only one hit over seven innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters.
When the game ended, after the Yankees congratulated one another, Posada walked to second base to touch it, “always, after a win,” he said of his little superstition.
There have been lots of wins with Posada behind the plate. For all that he has done for the Yankees. it’s interesting to see how quickly people jump off his bandwagon when pitchers hit a bump in the road. That’s what happens when people get sidetracked by statistics, instead of doing something unique — like watching the game.
I will take the hard-hitting, passionate catcher any day as long as he works at his craft, and there is no doubt Posada has worked hard at becoming a good catcher. Last night he worked with Burnett every step of the way.
If Burnett lost his way for a couple of batters or a couple of pitches, Posada was calling time, hustling to the mound to get Burnett centered again.
I like that Posada and the pitchers sometimes don’t see eye to eye, sometimes pitchers need to be led. They can be the most stubborn of all players, seeing the game through their narrow view, that’s the nature of the pitching beast, and Posada is there to set them straight.
Don’t tell me that Yankees pitchers have a higher ERA with Posada than with Francisco Cervelli, a good young receiver. Posada is coming back from a major injury and said he is still learning to catch new Yankees Burnett and CC Sabathia.
“I don’t look at things like that,” Posada said of those statistics. “I’ve been hurt. It’s still June. We’ve got good pitching. As a catcher you have fun when you’re calling a game like tonight, everything that you call, he’s throwing for a strike.”
Every pitcher in baseball loves to have a three-run bomb on his side, like the blast Posada hit against Tim Redding in the four-run sixth that silenced Mets fans again. “Jorge can wrap the game up in a nice little package,” is the way Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson put it.
There was no way the Mets were going to come back from a big deficit unless the international tiebreaker was put into effect.
You saw what happened to the Yankees last year when Posada was limited to 51 games because of right shoulder problems that eventually resulted in arthroscopic surgery. They missed the playoffs.
Posada gives the team the kind of fire it needs to be successful, and he battled extremely hard to come back from that surgery.
“I’ve put a lot of work into trying to come back, and it feels pretty good.” he said.
Add to the mix he’s a switch-hitter and where’s the downside? Posada came into the game in a slump with just two hits over his last 17 at-bats and eight hits in 45 at-bats. On Tuesday night in Atlanta he tied a career-high with four strikeouts. A night off Friday was needed. Posada has 10 homers this season (155 at-bats) after hitting just three (168 at-bats) last year.
He has reached double figures in home runs 11 of the last 12 seasons and has 231 for his career. Last night’s blast represented the 26th different ballpark he has homered in during his career, a franchise record.
Everyone is centered on Alex Rodriguez’s return from right hip surgery, but Posada’s comeback from his surgery has been amazing, especially at the age of 37. Posada also had to overcome a hamstring injury that forced him to miss 22 games.
Posada has been there for the Yankees for many years. Don’t overlook how good a catcher he has been for them during all that time.