...................

=== Jesus Montero ===

Went yard in his first game back at Yankee, delighting the fans who have seen not only Pineda but now Campos bite the dust.  If you got a good NY chat board link this morning, light me up babe.  :- )

The homer came on a 2-2 slider that was PERFECTLY located, a vicious pitcher's pitch.  Right on the black, knee high.  

Kuroda executed the best low-away slider of which he was capable.  Montero bent his knees, leaned out, and rifled it into the RF bleachers.  There are maybe twelve guys in the AL who are capable.

I don't specifically remember Edgar ever hitting a home run on a true outside-corner, knee-high slider, do you?  Plenty of doubles down the 1B line.  Moe, Lonnie, you ever remember any homers from Edgar on that pitch?

Meanwhile, the Yankees look shockingly old and injured.  Rauuuul and Andruw Jones?  Really?  Alongside a late-30's left side of the infield, an injured Gardner, they've got Eric Chavez playing... Huh.  Great time to shed Montero, Brian...

...........

In Jack Zduriencik's last radio interview, he declared Montero a success behind the plate.  Jay-Z had an interesting line:  "It's like the home plate umpire; if you get to the 7th inning and you haven't noticed him, he's probably doing a solid job back there."  Just so!

"He's handled young pitchers, older pitchers, and he's just well ahead of where we were told he was."

The CERA count stands at Montero 3.33, Olivo 4.20.  Dr. D grows ever-more suspicious that Montero is already a better game catcher than is Olivo.  

Technical sophistication, for its own sake, isn't everything.  I know technical virtuosos in chess, players who know staggeringly large amounts of facts about chess positions, who don't play well.  Technique is not the end of the conversation.

Importantly, on tonight's TV broadcast, Mike Blowers followed Z's lead by saying "absolutely" Montero was going to be a number one catcher, that "he is already adequate now" and that Montero reminds him of Jorge Posada, who was questioned defensively when he first came up but wound up with a major reputation.  You get the idea.  Taking their cue from the big man on top, the jury has come in on this one.

Before the game, NYY reporters quibbled about Montero's position again.  "That came from you guys," Wedge shot back.

The debate about Montero's catching is officially over.  We've got ourselves a cleanup-hitting catcher.  

..........

What we M's fans wouldn't give to move forward with the two young catchers, the ones we plan to win our next pennant with.  But you can see Jay-Z's and Sgt. Wedge's point that you can't have everybody under 25.

.

=== Justin Smoak ===

Three hits off of a mondo tough NBP star.  On the radio show that Spec linked, Zduriencik emphatically defended.  

• Learning curve will be slower, because he has two different swings
• He'd be liable to go someplace else and hit the big time
• If he hits a bunch of doubles, without HR's, that's fine
• He's had success before, and is in process of consolidating

That is my own feel for Smoak's situation as well, but if he takes a Carlos Pena chunk of time to jell, that ain't going to help us the next year or two.

It's rough.  You can't just let him go win the MVP for the Angels.  But the growing pains are ouchie with this guy.  Personally, I'd hedge the bet, giving him 400 PA's a year until he jells.  You can learn on watch days too, and a Billy Beane 9-to-make-5 never hurt anybody.

Keep the kid around, but why should he be entitled?  Because you gave Cliff Lee for him?  Let him fight with Alex Liddi, Mike Carp and Casper Wells to stay in the lineup.

BABVA,

Dr D