ARLINGTON, Texas — If Jorge Posada was managing the Yankees, he would be thinking about what to do with Jorge Posada the ice-cold hitter.
“I told him, ‘Thank you for sticking with me,’ ” Posada said of a talk he had with manager Joe Girardi before last night’s 4-1 win over the Rangers at Rangers Ballpark. “If I was in his shoes, I would be second-guessing.”
Posada has gone through dry spells in a 14-year career, but a .149 average (14-for-94) has the 39-year-old DH as down as he ever has been.
“It’s been a frustrating year, nothing has gone the way you want it to go,” said Posada, who went 0-for-3 with a walk last night.
Raising the level of frustration was Posada hitting three balls hard Thursday in Detroit without getting a hit.
“I felt pretty good in Detroit and I tried to look at the positive, but it’s frustrating,” Posada said. “It’s not easy for me to look up [at the average] and see what’s going on.”
Girardi assured Posada he isn’t going to bench him and told him to forget about the first 70 at-bats.
“I told him don’t worry about the average, I am going to continue to put him in there,” Girardi said. “He is having quality at-bats, and we like him. I know he is frustrated, but we have more than one guy who is frustrated.”
Because this is Posada’s first year not catching, the easy assumption is that he misses being behind the plate and hasn’t adapted to the full-time DH gig. That, however, is wrong according to Posada.
“I don’t think it’s catching or not catching,” Posada said.
With the lineup not hitting, there will come a time when the Yankees won’t be able to carry a DH who doesn’t produce.
How much rope does Posada have? Remember he is as big a reason for the Yankees’ success since 1999 as anybody else and he is making $13.1 million.
But the fact that he thanked Girardi for staying with him is proof Posada is thinking that if this continues the Yankees will look elsewhere for a DH.