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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Opening Night

NEW YORK - JULY 03: Kevin Youkilis #20 of the...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Not too much good in an opening night loss to the hated Red Sox in a game where you blow two leads. But here’s what I saw:

The Good:

The core–Jeter and Posada still hit like Jeter and Posada.

Curtis Granderson–yeah, he made the final out against Papelbon but a HR in his first Yankee at bat and a well earned walk against a tough lefty in Okajima plus a nice catch in center made for a  nice debut.

Brett Gardner–slashing two singles the opposite way is just what Gardner needs to do to stay  in the big leagues; stealing home on the back end of the double steal was a thing of beauty.

The Bad:

Youklis and Pedroia — Damn those guys are good hitters, situational hitters, tough outs.

Mr. Passed Ball does it again–Posada is two or three years past the point where he should have been made a more or less full time DH. Please Joe, do it now. How many more winning runs need to score late in games on passed balls?

Cano in the 5th hole–yeah, he drove in a run but really because of a Pedroia brain cramp on what should have been an unproductive grounder to second.

The Ugly:

The Yankee bullpen– nothing but atrocious performances tonight.  Robertson throws a first ball fastball to the ultimate first ball, fastball hitter and coughs up a run. Chan Ho Park looks like this year’s LaTroy Hawkins. Damaso Marte looks like the Marte of the regular season, not the World Series–walking the one hitter he faces. And Joba, while I like seeing him starting hitters with sliders, looks just as unable to command his stuff and just as lacking in life on his fastball in the pen as he was in the rotation.

An inauspicious start.

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Posted in Yankees. Tagged with , , , , .

By Jason Chervokas
April 5, 2010

View Comments

  • Ballpark
    On the good and the bad I agree with everything but Granderson and Cano..Curtis was up and down for me.He k'd with 2 and 3rd vs lhp, that was HIS big spot.I also thought he turned Beltre's SF into a tough catch by coming in on the ball, he took 3 steps in, THANK YOU TVO.

    Jason you show me something about your knowledge of the game with your comments on Posada's horrible defense.Most fans don't see it but when you talk to baseball guys and I talk to quite a few they can't stand to watch a Yankee game when Jorge is catching.

    I did think Cano looked very comfortable hitting in the 5 hole.
    He needs to get off to a good start because Cano's problem as a hitter is mental.Last night was a good start for him,he hit the ball hard all night.

    The movie "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" had a really cool theme song.
  • JasonChervokas
    Yeah, maybe I'm being too hard on Cano. He did get the run in and he did hit the ball hard all night. And, yeah, Granderson did strike out in a big spot, and I expect to see a lot of that, and he wound up making the Beltre catch a little harder than it needed to be, I'll buy that. Though I thought his HR AB was a good one as well as his AB against Okajima and he made a good throw almost catching Youklis going to second off the wall.


    Posada, oy....I've been frustrated with his catching for years. He throws pretty well, but he never blocks the plate and he perennial leads the league in passed balls. He's a DH--still an excellent hitter. Wish the Yanks saw it that way.
  • Ballpark
    Granderson did show me 2 things for sure. One he has legit power,that was a bomb he hit and second he has a very good arm.

    I have never been a Posada fan because of his defense. I like the idea of a tandem with him and a defensive minded partner.Posada and Girardi were a good match,and it looks as though the future is bright for the Yanks behind the dish. I really like Romine I think he is close right now and is the all around best catcher the Yanks have.

    Back to Posada,he has the hands of stone,maybe the worst set of hands in the bigs. They always move with contact,they appear weak and hard as opposed to say a MOLINA who has great hands that are stong and soft.The ball dies in his mitt.

    Jorge also moves to much while attempting to recieve the pitch,he's not quiet like the great defensive backstops.

    Over the years Posada has been a stubborn guy making him difficult to work with. Its well chronicled that he has had problems with many Yankee pitchers over the years. Never heard that with Girardi behind the plate.

    Jason to your point there isn't a softer catcher in baseball at blocking the plate.The only skill Posada is avg is throwing. Maybe thats why so many fans are enamored because they see his bat and arm and don't realize there is much more to being a good catcher.
  • JasonChervokas
    As Tom will attest I was actually in favor of the Yanks not resigning Posada, but he is a very good hitter from both sides of the plate and a clutch hitter. At the very least he should be catching no more than once or twice a week and the Yanks should be carrying three catchers so they can pinch run for/defensively replace Posada late in cames when he's catching too. The franchise has deferred too much to Posada's instance on catching for years.
  • twasp
    Posada's offense used to make up for his defense as he was so much better a hitter than the opponents. But for awhile now his defense has been atrocious and his decision making both on the basepaths and behind the plate are terrible. Ballpark - you also bring up a good point, his handling of pitching staffs leaves much to be desired. His stubborness sometimes leads to incompatability short term (within one inning) or long term with pitchers.
    Clemens,AJ,Johnson,Joba ... the guys that want to throw their pitch.. usually end up not on the same page and it hurts the team. Posada needs to be segued into the DH spot this year. NJ will probably get hurt or dissappoint, to provide the opening.
  • tomwatson
    And you know, it's just one game fellas - but Posada looks really old behind the plate (can still hit the fastball tho)....
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