More on the Jorge Posada game-calling story, and my thoughts on the Nationals series

The story on whether Yankee pitchers pitch better without Jorge Posada behind the plate is gaining momentum.

Tyler Kepner wrote an article in today's New York Times about it, noting that the Yankee pitchers' ERA when Posada is catching 6.31, while the combined ERA of Kevin Cash, Francisco Cervelli, and Jose Molina is 3.81. If you take out Chien-Ming Wang's horrendous starts, Posada's CERA is still 5.47. That's still very significant.

Tyner asked Brian Cashman about the numbers:

“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.”

Squawker reader The Emperor noted that John Flaherty talked about the situation on Brandon Tierney's ESPN radio show today. So I listened to the podcast.

While the Yankee broadcaster seemed to think the controversy was overblown and "unfair," he also said Posada calls the game based on "what he would look for as a hitter," rather than basing it "exactly on scouting reports." Michael Kay also said similar things in his radio show.

If that is indeed the case, no wonder the Red Sox have the Yankees' number. They don't need to do any scouting on pitchers; all they have to do is just figure out what Jorge would be looking for!

Flaherty suggested a meeting with the pitchers and Posada to work out any issues they might have. Good idea.

Squawker friend J-Boogie of Baseball and the Boogie Down broke down the numbers of the Yankee catchers, and came to the conclusion that Cervelli should get more playing time. Here are two very interesting statistics he noted:

Won/Loss Record With Each Catcher
Jorge Posada: 15-11 (.577)
Jose Molina: 5-8 (.385)
Kevin Cash: 5-2 (.714)
Francisco Cervelli: 11-6 (.647)

Won/Loss Record on Which Pitcher Got Win
Jorge Posada: 9-10 rotation/6-1 bullpen
Jose Molina: 3-3 rotation/2-5 bullpen
Kevin Cash: 3-2 rotation/2-0 bullpen
Francisco Cervelli: 7-1 rotation/4-5 bullpen

J-Boogie uses more numbers and data to make his case here.

Posada will be catching CC Sabathia tonight. If CC has a bad game, I would expect this story to gain even more momentum.

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One other note - I am not as confident as some other Yankee fans that the Bombers will kill the Washington Nationals this week. Yes, the Nats are the worst team in baseball. But they have three pitchers the Yankees don't know, and they have a bunch of guys, like Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman, who could very well hit an awful lot of homers in the new Yankee Stadium.

Besides, three years ago, I went down to Washington, D.C. for the Saturday and Sunday Nationals/Yankees games, only to see the Nationals have two walkoff wins in a row against the Yanks! (Squawker reader Uncle Mike was also at the series!)

So, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yanks lose a game or two (or, heaven forbid, three!) to the Nationals. Well, they probably won't lose three. But two isn't out of the realm of possibility.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Is Jorge Posada falling out of favor with Yankee pitchers?

The Yankees had a tremendous day at the bat, scoring 15 runs off Johan Santana and the Met bullpen. But A.J. Burnett also had one of his best outings of the year. Is it possible that Francisco Cervelli, who caught his game instead of Jorge Posada, had something to do with that?

Burnett did great in the first two innings, shutting them down on 22 pitches. But in the third, Burnett got wild, loading up the bases with nobody out. Cervelli went to the mound to talk to him, and somehow Burnett got out of the jam with no damage, and the Mets never threatened again.

What's interesting to me, aside from the fact that Cervelli seemed to work wonders on Burnett (and the fact that Cervelli got three hits, including two off his countryman Johan Santana), is why he was in the game in the first place. After all, Posada already got a day off on Thursday night, when Cervelli caught C.C. Sabathia.

YES Network reporter Kim Jones wrote about this in her informative blog, Keeping Up With the Jones:

It's no surprise Cervelli is catching A.J., who just doesn't pitch well with Posada behind the plate. (7.48 ERA in four starts with Posada. 3.81 in eight starts with Molina or Cash.)

Burnett had this to say about his first outing with Cervelli behind the plate:

"He's energetic," Burnett said. "He has a lot of fun. He has conviction in every pitch he puts down. To be on the same page like we were for the first time ever, that's impressive on his part."

Posada has had his rifts with pitchers in the past - Randy Johnson didn't like to throw to him, and Orlando Hernandez fought with Jorge. But is Jorge Posada falling out of favor with currentYankee pitchers?

Consider these items:

• Joba Chamberlain and Posada openly argued on the mound during Friday night's game
  
• Relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves shook off Posada three times during Saturday's game
• Posada has only caught C.C. Sabathia one of three times since the catcher came off the DL
• Burnett's Red Sox start with Posada catching him was his worst of the year; his start with Cervelli was one of his best
• The Yankees' two best-pitched games this week had Cervelli behind the plate
• Posada's CERA (Catcher's Earned Run Average) for 2009 is 6.31, while Cervelli's is 4.11, Kevin Cash's is 4.86, and Jose Molina's is 3.98
• Cervelli managed to coach the best start (which isn't saying much!) out of Chien-Ming Wang this year, where the pitcher "only" gave up 5 runs in 4.2 innings

It's going to be very interesting to see what happens in the near future, if Cervelli - or the soon-to-return Jose Molina - ends up catching more, and Posada less. Especially if Cervelli continues to hit well.

Of course, the Yanks need to get both Posada and Matsui in the lineup. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Posada spending more time at DH this year and the next.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!