Some more positive news came for Jorge Posada Tuesday night. For the first time since May 16, Posada and Tony Pena worked on catching drills. Posada hasn’t sqatted in the catcher position since fracturing his foot. These are drills you usually see in spring training so, in a sense, Posada was restarting his season as a catcher. The Yankees are still unsure of when he will be able to catch regularly.
“It’s about the foot,” says Posada. “We want to see how the foot reacts. It feels fine right now. I just want to see if the foot can take it.”
Posada caught a bullpen session with Andy Pettitte. He also worked on throwing balls to second base and blocking drills. Posada plans on taking Wednesday night off from catching drills and resuming them on Thursday. He could run more drills, but Joe Girardi wants to make sure Posada will be able to continue to be the DH in games.
“The one thing I told him is how I don’t want to beat him up too much to where he’s too physically fatigued to do what he needs to do right now,” says Girardi. “We’re on the right track. I’m excited about that.”
Giardi is not sure when Posada could possibly start catching again and are now deciding whether or not to carry three catchers. Francisco Cervelli has been starting everyday and Chad Moeller has been the backup in Posada’s absence. Moeller remains on the bench for the time being.
Brett Gardner was removed early in Tuesday’s game against the Orioles. We soon learned after the game that Gardner was suffereing from a sore left thumb. This was the thumb he broke last season in July when sliding into second base. After a check swing and the AB that followed, Gardner said he felt a twinge.
“It’s just sore,” says Gardner. “They said it wouldn’t feel right for close to a year and it’s been like 11 months. Occasionally I feel it every now and then, and it’s not that bad. It was a little worse today, so I mentioned something to them. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Depending on how it feels, Gardner feels positive about playing on Wednesday.
