Yankees pregame: Swisher still out, Stewart still in
Posted by: Brian Heyman - Posted in Misc on Jul 28, 2012 
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Brian Heyman back here at the Stadium for this middle game of the series against the Red Sox. Nick Swisher still isn’t in the lineup. This will be the seventh straight time the game has started without him because of his mild hip flexor strain. The thing is, Swisher says he feels available for anything today. I saw him down taking batting practice.
But Joe Girardi is waiting.
“I don’t blame him,” Swisher said. “I don’t want to go backwards. … I just want to play.”
Girardi didn’t rule out using him as a pinch hitter today.
“In talking to him, he felt pretty good yesterday,” Girardi said. “But we’ve got to make sure that it’s real good, because if you go out and play one day and you have a little setback, now you’re looking at 15, 16 days. So one or two days might buy you a lot of time in the future.
“I think it’s difficult for him because he loves to play. But I think he understands, too, that we need him and we don’t want him to go back to where he has to go on the DL because he reinjures it.”
So the Ichiro-to-left move will have to wait until Girardi deems that Swisher is ready to head back out to right.
“Our real hope was today, in my mind, I would feel that he was 100 percent,” Girardi said. “I just don’t think he’s quite there. We’ve waited this long. What’s maybe one or two more days?”
Chris Stewart is catching CC Sabathia again even though Girardi would like to pair up Russell Martin again with the lefty. They will need to be in sync for Game 1 in October. Martin is the DH today.
“He caught last night,” Girardi said. “It is a day game after a night game. At some point, I want to do it. I can’t tell you when I’m going to do it.
“But it has seemed to work out. It seems to keep them both fresh. I think Russell has swung the bat better since he’s come back in the second half. Maybe some of that has to do with not playing him day games after night games.”
Stewart has caught 15 of Sabathia’s starts this season and they have a 2.92 ERA together, according to baseball-reference.com. Martin has caught two and they have a 6.75 ERA together.
“If you throw him back there (in the postseason) and he hasn’t caught him all year, I guess it’s an issue,” Girardi said. “You want to make sure both of them are comfortable. Not just the pitcher, but you want the catcher to be comfortable, too, that he has a sense that he knows what CC wants to throw and they’re on the same page. I think that’s really important.”
Sabathia is 10-3. Overall, the Yankees have gone 19-11 when Stewart has been the starter.
yanks61 July 28th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Indeed, Tom, a knee aching climb to the OYS 3rd deck. And then there were all those pillars and pigeons (the ones flying around, not the ones in the stands.)
Have a good evening in hot old Georgia.
Did the Yanks really offer Martin a multi-year contract?
Not sure if they’ve had a worse offensive catcher in my lifetime. What about the 50-60′s?
Chris Stewart is catching CC Sabathia again even though Girardi would like to pair up Russell Martin again with the lefty. They will need to be in sync for Game 1 in October. Martin is the DH today.
“He caught last night,” Girardi said. “It is a day game after a night game. At some point, I want to do it. I can’t tell you when I’m going to do it.
—
You could have just not started him last night Joe…
yanks51,
thanks, it’s only a balmy 98 degrees today, 60% humidity = 1 hundred something on the heat index. We survive, though.
Bronx Jeers July 28th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Did the Yanks really offer Martin a multi-year contract?
Not sure if they’ve had a worse offensive catcher in my lifetime. What about the 50-60?s?
—————–
Yodi and Elston Howard.
Yogi, obviously.
Bronx Jeers says:
July 28, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Not sure if they’ve had a worse offensive catcher in my lifetime. What about the 50-60?s?
————
He’s having a bad season at the plate. Let’s not overstate it.
You’re never as good as you look when you’re hot … you’re never as bad as you look when you’re not.
As for light-hitting catchers, they’re quite common. Stay in town for one … Jerry Grote with the Mets. Great catcher, fairly useless with the stick. But Seaver, Koos, and the rest loved him. Fans too.
Rick Cerone had some pretty bad years with the bat.
Johnny Blanchard, too.
Yodi and Elston Howard.
I think I remember a guy named “Super Sub” Blanchard that was in that mix.
Rick Cerone!
You’re never as good as you look when you’re hot
———
you meant you are never as bad as you look for 90 games?
There was this fella Joe Girardi who caught for the Yanks. He had a devilishly bad lifetime OPS of .666.
Yodi and Elston Howard.
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Yankee catchers from 1967 to Thurman?
Umpires just got a wrong call in favour of my Jays.
Jays did not cash in.
So, is Swisher really ok or not? This is a brutal lineup against Lester. It feels like something isn’t kosher here.
I’m looking for starting catchers.
I guess Martins power will keep him from having the worst ops but I don’t remember a regular player with a lower avg.
Bronx Jeers July 28th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Did the Yanks really offer Martin a multi-year contract?
Not sure if they’ve had a worse offensive catcher in my lifetime. What about the 50-60?s?
Bronx do you remember Jake Gibbs? He was close.
http://www.baseball-reference......ja01.shtml
Of course the Yankees didn’t offer a 3 year contract for $20 million either.
Joe’s BS about pairing CC & Martin is just that, BS.
Cerone was awful offensively, but I don’t recall him being below the Mendoza Line for an entire year.
This line up is embarrassing for a team with this much payroll.
Randy I
If you’re still around. People probably don’t know this but Gretzky was a hell of a ballplayer. It’s a truism that good hockey players can hit baseballs – same mechanics.
My best hitting tip from one of those farmers. “Drop your shoulder” as step one of the swing. Cano is probably the best example of that.
May have a rain delay. skies are dark. 20 miles west of the boogie down
Bronx do you remember Jake Gibbs? He was close.
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Thurman was my 1st catcher but looking at Gibbs career, he was the worst hitting starting catcher in my lifetime. Thanks.
Go, Ichiro!
I’m in attendance at Safeco Field where, prior to the game today, Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson are being inducted to the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame (joining Alvin Davis, Jay Buhner, Dave Niehaus and Edgar Martinez)
Why is Martin DHing? Don’t we have anyone better?
GB been around at all? I’m wondering about his health? anyone?
“Why is Martin DHing? Don’t we have anyone better?”
Cause hes got a .900+ OPS vs LHP this year……and no not really unfortunately
Thank you Joe Carter, you controlled that one down the line.
Hanley doing an interview on FOX right now…..hes seems really happy to be a Dodger….I think thats going to be a huge move for the them…..and one that didnt cost them much in players
That’s cool that Wilson and Johnson are sharing this day.
Today is the 21st anniversary of El Presidente’s perfect game. Expos forever.
Yankees and Expos in the WS
It almost happened – I would have self destructed at the first pitch.
Bo Knows – go Yanks! Go Expos!
Cashmoney says:
July 28, 2012 at 3:10 pm
You’re never as good as you look when you’re hot
———
you meant you are never as bad as you look for 90 games?
——-
MORE than 90 games, if you like!!!
History lesson time. Mets once traded a .300 hitter for a talented young CFer from the AL. Well, his first year in NY, he had about as bad a season as I’ve ever seen anyone have at the plate. He swung at so many bad pitches, I swear I once saw him having to check his swing on a pick-off attempt to first base. His slump lasted the entire year. He came back pretty strong the next year, though. His team went from last to first, won the World Series in 5. He batted leadoff and was one of their key stars at the plate.
His name was Tommy Agee, and it was the magic year of ’69.
So, yes … after 90 games.
The game’s officially delayed.
As a baseball fan…. What’s happening in Boston is terrible. It’s not just a team, but an organization in disarray.
Read Pete’s blog. It shows a team where the manager, who wasn’t allowed to choose his own coaching staff, is now not allowed to decide the lineup( front office dictating when Crawford can play). Bobby’s muzzled, probably fearing for his job. The supposed stud pitcher and de facto team captain openly disdainful of him. The former manager holding court in the clubhouse.
And a FO who’s shopping their star acquisition from two winters ago. Who can’t assemble a starting rotation worthy.
It’s time to believe Trisha. This team is a mess, with no realistic sign of getting better on the horizon.
Hal, Randy, and Cash abd girardi run a so much better ship. Believe it.
Dionysus – Agee indeed.
Comet,
I’ve missed seeing GB7, too. Check in, GI!
Anybody want my shortstop!? Lind hurting
Joe from Long Island says:
July 28, 2012 at 4:00 pm
As a baseball fan…. What’s happening in Boston is terrible. It’s not just a team, but an organization in disarray.
——-
I myself will claim to give Trisha a run for her money in disliking the Red Sox. And I saw this coming.
Beckett is a jerk, always has been, from his days with the Marlins (I live in south Florida). I was delighted when they picked Bobby V, he has not disappointed. And I was sincerely pleased when they signed Crawford to the megabucks contract. The only thing that has surprised me is that David Ortiz still hits, but in my jaded world I suspect the DR shakes at work.
And I don’t think their troubles are terrible at all. Because more than anything else, if it had been us, they’d feel the same way I do about them right now. They cannot lose enough to suit me. They’re out of it, and I still check their box scores daily.
I remember Jake Gibbs. He was a starting QB at Ole Miss. Couldn’t hit a lick.