[新聞] Catchers May Have Hand in Yanks’ Pitching Problems

[yyhong68 (come every now and then)]

來自紐約時報的新聞，
但是亞伯拉罕之前他部落格裡有人針對Jorge有點意見
所以他替Jorge說話，
兩者一起PO

1. Catchers May Have Hand in Yanks’ Pitching Problems

By TYLER KEPNER
Published: June 15, 2009

Since Alex Rodriguez came off the disabled list on May 8, the Yankees
have the best record in the major leagues at 23-12. Rodriguez has been a
reason, largely for how he has sparked Mark Teixeira, the team’s best
player this season. But like most teams, the Yankees depend mainly on their
pitching.

“It’s great to have Alex back,” Derek Jeter said a week ago, “but I
don’t care who you have in your lineup, if you don’t pitch, you don’t
win.”

The last week has borne that out. The Yankees have had one quality start
by a pitcher — at least six innings, no more than three earned runs — in
their last six games, by A. J. Burnett on Sunday against the Mets. It would
have been their only victory in that stretch if not for a dropped pop-up on
Friday.

On the whole, the Yankees have lived dangerously. Their staff earned run
average is 4.84. Only three teams have a higher E.R.A., and they all
started Monday in last place in their divisions: the Cleveland Indians,
the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals.

General Manager Brian Cashman understands this, and that was why he
dismissed a question about closer Mariano Rivera on Sunday. Yes, Cashman
acknowledged, Rivera has struggled in non-save situations. But his
strikeout-to-walk ratio is a stellar 10.67, better than any season of his
career except 2008, and other problems are more pressing.

“He’s the least of our concerns,” Cashman said. “Our biggest concern
is our rotation, aside of C. C. Everybody else is scuffling. If we don’t
get that consistent, the rest of it won’t make any difference.”

The bullpen, so shaky early on, is quietly coming together. Alfredo
Aceves, Phil Coke and Dave Robertson have a combined 1.56 E.R.A. this month,
with more strikeouts than innings pitched. Brian Bruney is expected to return
from the disabled list Tuesday against the Nationals.

C. C. Sabathia has thrived lately, but walks have infected the rest of the
rotation, possibly because of the way the ball travels at Yankee Stadium.

Through Sunday, Yankees pitchers were tied for 17th in the majors in walks
on the road. But in home games, they ranked second. Cashman said the
pitchers might be less aggressive at home, fearing that their fastballs
will land in the seats.

“We’re better than this,” he said. “It’s a concern. We definitely have
a brush fire of control going through this staff. It’s a problem, no doubt.
We’ve got a strikeout staff that should trust their stuff more than they
do.”

One unsettling fact for the Yankees is the difference when Jorge Posada
catches. With Posada behind the plate, the Yankees’ pitchers have a 6.31
E.R.A. The combined E.R.A. with Francisco Cervelli, Jose Molina and Kevin
Cash is 3.81.

Posada has caught four starts by Chien-Ming Wang, whose job status is now
evaluated on a game-by-game basis. Even removing those starts, the staff’s
E.R.A. with Posada is still high, at 5.47.

Posada, 37, has handled many exceptional pitchers in his career. Although
some, like Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina, have preferred other catchers,
Posada does not have to apologize for his resume. Posada takes his job
seriously and is an emotional engine of the team.

Yet Burnett, in particular, seems to struggle with him. In Burnett’s four
starts pitching to Posada, opponents have batted .330. In nine starts with
the other catchers, the average is .223.

When he lost a six-run lead in Boston in April, Burnett questioned the pitch
selection, though he blamed himself, not Posada. Asked Sunday about the
difference in pitching to the rookie Cervelli, Burnett gave a careful but
revealing answer.

“I think it’s just a matter of — I don’t know if it’s the catcher — but
 we threw curveballs in fastball counts, we had them looking for something
and they had no idea what was coming, I don’t think,” Burnett said.
“That’s huge.”

Manager Joe Girardi has started Cervelli once in each of the five series
since Posada came off the disabled list May 29. But Posada remains an
elite hitter, and there is substantial value in having his bat in the
lineup. Only Teixeira has a better slugging percentage than Posada’s .568.

“Jorge is obviously that rare combination of being a catcher and an
offensive player,” Cashman said Monday. “Cervelli and Molina are more
one-sided, to the defensive side. I can’t really say why there’s a
difference. It could be sample size. It could be that the other guys are
just better defensive players.”

Girardi is the one who must match the catchers to the pitchers and make
the juggling work. The fate of the pitching staff and, by extension, the
season, might depend on it.

http://tinyurl.com/mfq3qm

2.
In defense of Jorge Posada

After reading my e-mails for the last few days and looking at some comments
on the blog, I was surprised to learn that Jorge Posada apparently doesn’t
know how to catch.

Unlike the very wise Jose Molina and the very energetic Francisco Cervelli,
all Posada apparently does is swipe at pitches and argue with the pitcher.

Enough of this nonsense. The Yankees won three World Series championships
with Jorge Posada as their regular catcher and made the playoffs every year
with him catching. Then what happened last season? Posada barely played and
the Yankees went home in October.

Was that why? I can’t prove that. No more so than anybody can prove that
Posada is the reason A.J. Burnett can’t throw strikes.

The catcher calls the pitch. Or as Posada likes to say, “I suggest a
pitch.” It’s up to the pitcher to execute that pitch or throw the pitch
he wants. The catcher at that point is there to make sure it doesn’t roll
to the backstop.

The idea that a catcher can regularly steal strikes by framing a pitch is
largely a myth according to Molina. “Maybe once or twice a game,” he said.
“Depends on the umpire.”

According to Molina, the umpires are judging where the ball crosses the
plate, not where the catcher’s glove is.

Posada is a strong-willed guy and his relationship with the pitchers is not
always a tea party. He got into a fight with El Duque Hernandez one day and
certain guys (Mike Mussina, for instance) didn’t want to throw to him.

But Roger Clemens always wanted to. He and Andy Pettitte have had a lot
of success together. And Mariano Rivera will tell anybody who asks what
he thinks of Posada and his ability to focus a pitcher.

Joba Chamberlain laughed the other day when we asked him about his bickering
with Posada during his last start. “I probably should stop thinking so
much,” he said. “That’s when I get in trouble.”

I will say this: When Molina comes off the DL, the Yankees should seriously
consider keeping Cervelli around as a third catcher. That would enable
Posada to DH more often. Cervelli is also fast enough to be used a pinch
runner on occasion. I can’t imagine how Cervelli would not be more useful
than Angel Berroa.

But Posada is the catcher. When he is catching, his offense gives them a
huge advantage at that position. When he is the DH, that advantage is
lessened. Their best lineup is when Posada is catching.

There have been some rocky moments this season. But let’s not forget that
the Yankees won a lot of of games over a lot of years with Posada catching.
He didn’t forget how.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/06/15/in-defense-of-jorge-posada/

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 140.109.23.38
→ pongfox:有請翻譯官.......
推 gulu0215: 請翻譯官.......謝謝
推 shongzcwea:大意翻  Posada蹲捕時投手成績比較差  即便扣掉王還是
推 ZMTL:感覺上差不少，不過我還是覺得ERA算在捕手身上.. w
→ shongzcwea:是比Cerveli和摸2B高不少  加上又有Moose和巨怪說不喜
→ shongzcwea:歡和Posada搭配的傳聞  所以問題在波波身上?下面則說我
→ ZMTL:Posada蹲捕時扣掉王先發的ERA仍有5.47 Molina跟Cash3.81
→ shongzcwea:們家在波波蹲捕時拿下過3連霸和每年進季後賽  除了波波
→ shongzcwea:去年沒什麼蹲  我們就沒得進  還有老克和帥派和Mo都說
→ shongzcwea:喜歡和波波搭配  所以說波波是問題根源是沒道理的
推 NcThoR:感情這種事是不能強求的(誤)
→ Tomince:佬波本來就只是強棒捕手 其他的我就不講究了..畢竟資深
推 ZMTL:不過第二段也說了，如果Molina我們會是三個捕手，此時Posada
推 larusa:上面的意思不是很明顯了 就是波波對投手們不利 但對球隊整
推 shongzcwea:最後兩段說Cervelli蹲捕波波打DH或許不錯  但這樣優勢
→ larusa:體來說還是比較好的選擇 總結：老衲的棒子就是大
→ ZMTL:蹲捕機會變少，Posada站DH的優勢不如蹲捕 w
→ shongzcwea:不大  所以如何安排會是一個有趣的點  但別忘了波波過
→ shongzcwea:往對我們的貢獻   他不會突然忘記如何蹲捕的
推 ZMTL:不過我們還有個專職DH，擺三個Catcher在隊上的機率應該不高
→ ZMTL:                                             會
推 shongzcwea:恩~樓上這樣翻才對  我倒數第三段看太快XD
推 Minamii:話說我們的專職DH跨聯盟可以守備嗎...最近越來越燙 代打
→ Minamii:不划算阿...牛奶有臭酸的傾向...讓他休息休息吧
推 shongzcwea:理論上當初是說6月要給他守  可是看他跑壘都還不算全力
→ shongzcwea:跑  還是代打好了  傷了的話就虧更大了
推 PinChunH:牛奶上一場還有4-2 說他有臭酸傾向.....
推 YHank:他事實上是已經慢慢要臭酸了  今年比起往年已經是保久乳
→ YHank:可是他的數字已經幾乎降回平均了  隨著球季下去應該還會更差
推 ZMTL:近三連戰 10-1 10-3 12-3
推 ahuahala:Nady目前的情況是???
推 unicotexalex:復建吧
→ ahuahala:想說之前就開始傳接球了,怎麼還沒好
推 kimifort:.294還高於平均值滿多的
推 unicotexalex:前陣子傳接球又有一點不舒服 現在不曉得怎樣
推 ZMTL:在往前看是12-2 3-0 最近的確是低潮
推 YHank:對阿，Cervelli .298更高喔  ^.<
推 Minamii:OPS從神奇的.9x降到現在的.788 可見六月牛奶已經開始腐敗
→ YHank:靠，Cervelli和牛奶是avg第二和第三耶！應該排他們3.4棒
→ Minamii:當然我想他無敵的關鍵一擊可能讓大家對他印象加100分吧
→ YHank:說錯，是第三和第四高，那就排3.5棒之類的吧XD
推 ZMTL:現在還有.294Avg只能說大起大落剛好打平 w
推 meier0112:Melky上次撞全壘打牆之後就開始不振了
推 danny789:老波的問題是配球容易猜到,我看轉撥無聊時也能大概猜到
→ danny789:沒理由MLB打者猜不到
推 mightymouse:你要猜到也要投手投的到才行啊
→ goodman5566:猜到也要打的到