Results tagged ‘ Jesus Montero ’
Montero and Vazquez tearing it up in AAA
During the spring, a lot was written about Jesus Montero’s supposed offensive struggles. For the record, he hit .265 for the spring, which was plenty good enough to make the team. The Yankees just decided that he needed to play every day at age 21, period. As for Vazquez, the Mexican legend continues to rake. He did so in spring training and he already has 7 homers in AAA. Not sure what they will do with him, but if they ever want some right handed pop off the bench, he certainly is capable of providing it. It will be interesting to see what they do with these two guys. My prediction is that they will continue to destroy AAA pitching and force the big club to do something.
The one that got away and thoughts about the non trade
Well, after seven straight wins, I guess the Yankees were due for a loss. This one just slipped away when Joba Chaimberlain couldn’t get through the eighth before giving up a grand slam, the lead and the game. Joba has been a bit erratic this year. My personal feeling is that he doesn’t get enough work. I believe he needs to pitch multiple innings like he did when he first game up. I’m not saying three or four innings, but two inning outings would be a way to get him a bit more work. I believe he is more effective when used that way than he is currently. Can’t complain too much though. They still have a two game lead with one to play before the All Star break. All things considered, that ain’t too bad
On another note, although I would have loved to see Cliff Lee in the Yankees rotation this year, I am glad that they didn’t trade Jesus Montero. I saw him play last week and this kid is the real deal. At 21 years old, he has adjusted well to AAA after a rocky start. He currently is heating up and even at 21 he looked like a man among boys when I saw him play. This kid is going to be an All Star some day and I hope that it is with the Yankees. Cliff Lee can wait and as we saw last night, Javy Vazquez is every bit as capable of putting up zeroes as Cliff Lee is on any given night.
Beat down in Boston
For a Yankees fan, there is nothing better than having the team silence the loudmouthed Red Sux fans. Last night was perfect. A thorough drubbing. The only unfortunate thing was Cano getting plunked by Becket as he probably will miss at least today’s game. Also injured was Nick Johnson. This poor guy just can’t seem to stay on the field. Too bad, as I like this lineup with him in the 2 hole even though he hasn’t hit much yet. He still is geting on base and scoring runs. He was never meant to be here beyond this year anyway as I believe next year Jesus Montero and Jorge Posada will take turns DH’ing and catching with Cervelli backing both up. So if it is a serious injury, they will have to figure out who to DH. Looks like for now it will be Marcus Thames, with Randy Winn taking over in left. When Curtis Granderson returns, he will take over in center and I believe it will be a DH platoon of Winn and Thames, which ain’t all that bad. I am hoping Johnson’s injury isn’t serious, but with his history, who knows. Looking forward to another Yankees win in Beantown today.
Jeter and more Olympic Hockey
Well, it looks like most of the attention was on Derek Jeter yesterday as he held his press conference to address his contract situation. I think it was a good move as Jeter said he would not address the issue again this season. I am fully confident that the Yankees will re-sign him although it could be a tough negotiation depending on how his season goes. Personally, I think he gets four more years in the $80-100 million range.
Elsewhere in actual baseball news, Jesus Montero hit anothe monster home run in batting practice. Granted, it’s just BP and it’s only spring training, but by all indications this guy is going to be an offensive monster. It will be interesting to see if he stays behind the plate, but the Yankees seem to think he can at this point.
On another note, the Canadians crushed the Russians 7-3 in the quarterfinals of Olympic Hockey. It was probably the worst game I have ever seen a Russian hockey team play. They were completely unprepared and the keeper and defense were horrible. The Canadians came at them hard for sure, but the Russians just looked like they weren’t ready for the onslaught. They should have been. So it’s Canada vs. Slovakia and the U.S. vs. Finland in the semis. If we both win, it should be a great gold medal game as the Canadians will be looking for revenge after that 5-3 loss to the U.S. in the qualification round.
A much needed win
Wow! This team continues to impress. On a night when all indications were that they would drop another one to the Blue Jays and lose another game in the standings to Boston, they found a way to win. This time it was Frankie Cervelli who came through and how ironic. If Posada doesn’t get suspended, then there is no way Cervelli is up in that situation. Poetic justice I think. This was one of those games that looked as if there was no way the Yankees would come back. The offense was listless most of the night and the Jays were threatening to score almost every inning. Then up comes Matsui and bam it’s a whole new ballgame as they say. After that, I knew that they would find a way to win. This team has done it repeatedly all year. Props to Cervelli and I think this year he has proved that he can play at this level. He will be a good backup next year and could even hold down the fort for a year while one of those hot catching prospects like Montero or Romine is ready. Great game and a great walk off win. Now it’s off to the west coast for six. My prediction is 4-2.
Also, just wanted to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions yesterday. I am a fan just like you and one of the reasons that I started this blog is that most of the so called “experts” don’t like it when we have different opinions than them. I feel that most of us fans know as much or more than the so called “experts” and our opinions are worth just as much as thiers. I will always respect your comments and opinions, even if they differ from mine. Take care and thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
Welcome Back
Well it took until the eighth inning of game two against Toronto, but the Yankees finally awoke from their hangover from the Boston series. Luckily they did it in time to win this game, so their brief slumber only cost them one game. I expect that they will be fine from here on out and will win again today for a series win. Happy Birthday to Melky Cabrera. Sometimes when we watch these guys it’s easy to forget how young some of them are. Melky is now only 25 and Joba, who I’m sure would like to have that third inning back is only 23 years old. Hopefully the Yankees will continue to stand by some of these young players as I believe that they have lots of young guys in the system who could turn out to be pretty good players. Remember they almost traded away Ron Guidry and Bernie Williams and both of those guys turned out to be pretty good players. With guys like Jesus Montero, Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy among others in the system, I hope that the team remains patient. I believe it is possible to win now and still develop the young guys until you can plug them into the big club. Atlanta was the model for this for years. Let’s hope the Yankees take this approach.
Day Off
Well the Yanks managed to bounce back and scrape out one win out of four in Chicago. Let’s hope the day off energized them a bit as they were looking tired and not playing good baseball in Chicago. They need to turn things around in Toronto and play well this weekend against Boston. This has the potential to be either a great week for them or a disaster. Let’s hope it’s the former. This team can look like worldbeaters one day and then stink up the joint the next. I would like to see more consistently well played games. I still believe not getting fifth starter is going to bite them in the rear end. There must have been somebody out there who is a better option than Sergio Mitre. Time will tell whether they made a mistake, but judging by his last two starts, Mitre certainly doesn’t look like the answer. On another note, way to go Melky. Great game on Sunday. I believe Melky will stick around as the left fielder next year and he will continue to get better. Too bad about Jesus Montero. He was progressing nicely and could have started out next year at AAA. Now it looks like he will be back at Trenton and will still be two years away from major league duty. He gives every indication that he will be a solid major league player. Can’t wait to see him in the bigs. More later after the game tonight.
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