Back from the game today (and knocking down a few Heinekens in the YS Hard Rock Cafe). Yes, Jesus is risen. It's going to be hard to keep him out of the lineup...and why would they? This guy is not hype. He's the real deal. Jesus took two pop-ups the opposite way into the right field bleechers. I say "pop-ups" because his HRs had the height and the distance. Will they make him the everyday catcher next season? Martin has done a good job for the Yankees this season, but can Montero be the next great HR hitter in the major leagues? They have to give him a shot. Let us pray. BTW, I saw Proctor come into the game and I said "Huh? He's still pitching?"
If Montero could catch in the major leagues, then it wouldn't have taken him this long to get called up to the big club. Martin is a very good catcher (and he's had a pretty solid year at the dish as well, especially recently.) He'll keep his job, for sure. The Yanks just have to hope that A-Rod can stay healthy enough to play 3rd base everyday, so Montero can become the everyday DH.
I think they're going to at least give Montero a shot at being the catcher. Maybe not the starting catcher next season, but at least the backup. He's only 21, and everyone has said how impressed they are with his improvement.
Oh I think they'll definitely let Montero try to back up Martin--the worst case scenario is that we lose Cervelli (which nobody here would be crying over.) I just don't think that he's going to be any good at it--as I said earlier, if the Yankees had any confidence in Montero behind the plate then they wouldn't have waited for expanded rosters to bring him up. That said, if he's really that good a hitter then his offensive value might make up for his shitty defense. Posada's hitting made him one of the most valuable catchers in the game despite his awful defense, for example.
Exactly. If you can put an elite bat (assuming Montero's bat is elite) at the catcher position, you do it if at all possible. He doesn't need to be good at it; he just needs to be serviceable. As for why they waited until September, I'm pretty sure that had more to do with wanting Montero to catch every day during the AAA season than immediate confidence in his catching skills. It's a long-term approach. Is Montero as good of a defensive catcher as Martin or Cervelli? Almost certainly not, and likely never will be. But if they keep working on it, he might be passable back there. If he can do that while putting up an OPS > .850, it'll be worth it. And if he lives up to his potential and puts up an OPS north of .900 or more, well... Mike Piazza was probably the worst defensive catcher I've ever seen, but his bat more than made up for it.
Montero is not going to be a great defensive catcher, but he's improved every year, albeit in small strides. That said, he's going to hit so much that no one is going to care if he is in behind the plate. I just hope he doesn't have to field many pop-ups. I was skeptical that he would hit this early. That he is says something about him. He'll be here in October. As was said, ARod had better be able to play 3rd for a while. Martin won't be gone next year, Cervelli will. Montero will probably get the chance to play backup, but I'm still not sure he'll ever be the every day guy. Romine was promoted to AAA before the end of the season, so he's knocking on the door too, though likely at least a year or two away. The scary thing about Montero is that he really does have opposite field power. A right-handed batter in Yankee Stadium who can hit for power to right? Yes, please. As for Cano, forget Granderson. Robbie should be in the MVP conversation. He's an absolute monster at the plate. How does anyone even entertain the thought of giving him something to hit? I'd rather risk walking in a run than let him score 4. (FTR, I still believe Verlander deserves the MVP.) I'm a big fan of keeping the 6 man rotation at least one more revolution. The quotes I heard were that Girardi was talking about being intrigued by AJ's change in mechanics seeming to make a difference. It really sounded like AJ was going to be the one to get the bump had the announcement been made Sunday. Personally, at this point, I want Colon to go back to the pen. Or Garcia. Either one, unless they promote both Noesi and Betances, in which case, dump Ayala, and put them both in the pen.
You want Colon or Garcia to go to the pen isntead of AJ because of one decent outing?? Fuck that noise. The playoff rotation will hopefully be CC, Nova, Garcia, Colon/Hughes. Garcia just had his first bad start in MONTHS.
I'm OK with giving Burnett another start, but he's still the odd man out unless he's absolutely dominant in his next start. Put it this way: Garcia's last start was the second time all season that he's given up 5 runs. Burnett has given up 5 three times in the last month. Bumping Freddy and his 3.50 ERA because Burnett managed 5.1 good innings against Boston is completely ridiculous. By the way, Noesi has already been promoted (along with Golson, Pena, Kontos, and Brackman.)
sterling the liar. He likes to pretend the interviews he does are live. "I'm not going to ask Joe Girardi about whether the game ill be played because he doesn't know." No, you're not going to ask him because this is taped nonsense, you jerkoff. He also butchered the 15 minutes ad spot. Hey Sterling, games don't start at 7:16. Anyway, this game should've been postponed already, but they want to get it in, and this way they can charge for parking and concessions. It's close to the end of the season but it's been raining all day and it's shown no signs of stopping. Bite the bullet.
Yeah, Garcia has been the second or third best Yankee starter all season. Yesterday was also only the second time all season that Garcia hasn't given the Yanks five innings and only the fifth time he didn't go six innings (in 22 starts). He definitely got knocked around yesterday (that 3.50 ERA was a 3.09 ERA heading into yesterday's game), but if the playoffs started tomorrow, I'd have it go: CC > Nova > Garcia > Hughes/Colon Always a nefarious ulterior motive, eh? I thought the rain was supposed to clear up shortly after 7pm tonight. And they definitely want to get this one in, given all the late-season schedule shuffling they've already had to do.
Not according to the weather reports today. Forecast had the rain continuing into the evening. The US Open canceled the entire slate early this afternoon. Must be an ulterior motive.
*shrugs* I was going from what LoHud said earlier: "It’s pouring right now at 5. Joe Girardi said that the rain is supposed to lighten after 7, but that he just doesn’t know if they’ll get this game in." They definitely need to try to get this game in, though.
Obviously. Of course, the assumption is that he was given that information from someone who is more reliable. Unless...*gasp*... Girardi's in on it! The Great Parking/Concession Swindle runs deeper than we think!
I didn't say he's in on anything. I'm saying he doesn't do his homework when it comes to weather, and passes on bad information, if what you said is true. In other words, he has a lot in common with John Sterling. The bottom line is that anyone who paid attention to real weather forecasts could have told you that playing the game tonight would be extremely difficult and rather unlikely. Glad I don't have a ticket to the game, because anyone who does is getting screwed.
