KANSAS CITY – Jorge Posada’s eyes told the story louder than his potent words, delivered in a quiet voice.
“I am not 100 percent,” said the Yankee catcher, who was forced out of yesterday’s ugly 5-2 loss to the Royals with a right shoulder devoid of life.
“I am not helping the team. I have to be 100 percent to be out there.”
So concerned are the Yankees, they are sending Posada to a local facility today for an MRI, one day after Joe Girardi announced Derek Jeter (strained left quad) won’t play until at least Friday in Boston.
It wouldn’t be a shock if both the shortstop and the catcher land on the DL.
“It’s dead, no strength,” Posada, who battled a problem in a nearby area during spring training but got through it, said of his shoulder.
The current problem, higher in the back of the shoulder, surfaced when he made an off-balance throw Opening Day. He sat out the next two games and was the DH in the third.
“It doesn’t take that long to heal,” said Posada, who turns 37 on Aug. 17. “That’s what I am worried about. It usually takes four or five days. The positive thing right now is that there is no pain but I can’t snap the throw.”
Since Posada is so vital – perhaps their most irreplaceable player because of the position he plays and his potent bat – it’s highly likely he is headed for the DL for the first time ever.
“We need to know what’s going on,” said Posada, who was rested Monday night and left after catching five frames yesterday when Girardi didn’t like the strength of his throws to second. “It’s early in the season. We have to be smart.”
Having Jose Molina backing up Posada allows the Yankees to take as much time as needed to get Posada’s wing right. Molina, considered the premier backup catcher in baseball and one the Yankees gave a two-year, $4 million deal to this past winter, is very good defensively and not an automatic out.
However, he isn’t Posada, whom the Yankees handed a four-year, $52.4 million deal to in the offseason.
If Posada goes on the DL, the Yankees would likely elevate Chad Moeller, a spring-training addition after he was cut by the Nationals. Moeller was in Scranton-Wilkes Barre’s (Triple-A) lineup last night against Louisville.
Posada had surgery on the shoulder following the 1999 season and was bothered by it early in 2002.
“It’s more than that,” Posada said of the problem six seasons ago.
Posada leaving yesterday’s game was the biggest downer of a bleak day. Phil Hughes lasted three-plus innings, allowed three runs, six hits, walked four and hit a batter. He is 0-1.
Hughes refused to blame the location problems on umpire Mark Wegner’s tiny strike zone, but Royals starter Brian Bannister, an ex-Met, also struggled in his five-inning stint, issuing four walks.
“I wasn’t in good counts to throw my change-up and I couldn’t establish it,” said Hughes, who needed 87 pitches to get into the fourth. “It’s hard to make adjustments. It was one of those days that I didn’t have fastball command.”
It also was one of those days when Alex Rodriguez couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. He struck out looking the first three at-bats and whiffed swinging in the final at-bat.
“He made great pitches, there wasn’t much you could do,” Rodriguez said of Bannister, who caught him looking three times. “Tonight he was much better than I was.”