Via Mark Feinsand -
The Yankees’ lineup took a bit hit Tuesday when catcher Jorge Posada was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring.
Posada suffered the injury Monday night while sliding in the sixth inning. He left the game in the eighth for a pinch-hitter. Francisco Cervelli was recalled from Double-A Trenton to replace Posada on the active roster. He will wear No. 29.
The Yankees have not announced a timetable for Posada’s return.
I would not be shocked if Posada is out until the beginning of July.
Think about it. Say he needs four weeks to heal. (It seems like a lot, but, hammy’s are tricky. You need it to heal, 100%, because, if you don’t, it’s easy to aggravate.) That brings you to June 2nd. After healing – meaning no activity – then he’ll need time to rehab and get his timing down, etc. That should be at least two weeks (if not more). Let’s say it’s three weeks. That brings you to June 23rd. Then, of course, you have the Yankees factor of not wanting to rush a guy…so, add another week. That brings you to June 30th.
Two months without Posada with Jose Molina replacing him? Defensively, that’s no problem. Offensively, that’s a big problem. If you’re playing Molina on a regular basis, and you’re the Yankees, then you have to ensure that you’re getting offensive production from your center fielder and right fielder – along with Damon, A-Rod, Jeter, Cano, Teixeira, and Matsui continuing to play at expected levels. Otherwise, you’re giving away too many outs in a game – like what happened with Molina, Cano and Cabrera creating a black hole in the offense.
As Yankees fans, let’s hope that Melky Cabrera and Nick Swisher keep being productive – especially with ‘Sado out for the next two months.
16 Responses to “Posada Out, Cervelli In”
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May 5th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Lol, Steve. you do this all the time with injuries- create your own time table. According to Pete Abe, the Yankees are saying 2-3 weeks, but the fear in the clubhouse is 3-5 weeks. Of course, that doesnt account for the Steve Lombardi fear, which adds an extra 2-3 weeks.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Ummm, I had heard something on the radio that it could even be up to 6 weeks.Look,I wouldn’t be shocked either. Posada is not a spring chicken anymore so it’s not like he’s jumping back tomorrow. Steve has a valid reason to be cautious. That said, any time sans Posada will be painful in that Posada is such an important piece of the puzzle and the de facto team captain. I believe that without him last year, that his absence was a major reason for the Yankees not making the playoffs.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I get that butchie. I’m really just getting on Steve because he does this pretty much anyone major gets injured- he creates his own timelines, adding on weeks here and there indiscriminately. If he is right, he posts his usual “predicted this on May 5th” and if he is wrong, we never hear of it again.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
yagottagotomo1 – FWIW, I base my estimates on my experience seeing these types of injuries, required rehab, and hearing teams previously lie about EDRs, over the last 30+ years. It’s not something that I pull out of a hat.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
You added four weeks for rehab/being careful. Seems extremely excessive, especially considering that it isnt a spring training type injury where the player barely got a chance to swing the bat. I’ve seen these injuries too, and sometimes they take longer than expected, sometimes they dont. But to try and guess at it seems like a silly exercise at me when we have absolutely no real medical info.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I believe that without him last year, that his absence was a major reason for the Yankees not making the playoffs.
————
True, given that catchers with Posada’s production are rare. Posada losing time combined with Cano & Cabrera stinking up the joint as well as Jeter’s off-year didn’t help matters much.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Think about it. Say he needs four weeks to heal. (It seems like a lot, but, hammy’s are tricky.
———–
You can ask Rickey…
Will there be a press release about Posada “jaking it”
May 5th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I’m with Steve on this.
The Yankees don’t have a good track record of credibility when it comes to injuries.
May 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
yagottagotomo1 – if I’m wrong on this, I’ll do an entry on how I was wrong. If you’re wrong, what will you do?
May 5th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I’ll admit what I was wrong. But you seem to have trouble understanding the blogger-commenter relationship.Because you put your shingle up as a blogger, you need to expect some level of accountability for your words. I do the same on my blog. Commenters have no such obligations.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
yagottagotomo1 – will you be doing an entry at your blog on how Posada will only be out 2-3 weeks and that it’s no big issue for the Yankees because it will only be 3 weeks without him?
May 5th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
No- because i dont know what will happen, and to speculate on rehab time is silly. We did a post on the injury at my blog, we talked about possible replacements, and just posted what the Yankees and what the reporters were saying on the issue.
May 5th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Then how can you mock me for my suggested timetable?
Oh, I get it…you have no clue as to what it will be…but, you just know that I’m wrong…is that it?
May 5th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
No. I mock you for your timetable because you have no idea either.
May 5th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Gee, I thought I had an “idea” and expressed it in this entry.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:01 am
No, you have speculation based on nothing which is what I was bothered by. You took the worst estimate from the clubhouse and added 3 weeks.