標題：[blog] Posada says he'll be ready for opening day 時間: Wed Feb 4 13:55:00 2009 Posada says he'll be ready for opening day February 3, 2009 Greetings from Tampa, where it's sunny, but so cool that some of the folks around the Yankees' minor-league complex were bundled up in turtlenecks and gloves (the non-baseball kind). 'Course, that's more of a comment on their ability to withstand cold than anything else - it was about 55 degrees. Anyway, I am down here for a little pre-spring training visit and saw several Yankees hard at work, including Jorge Posada and Chien-Ming Wang. Posada has been showing up most days since early December to get his surgically-repaired shoulder ready for the season and says he can feel great progress and there's no pain. He made 140 throws during a workout Monday and says he'll increase the intensity Wednesday. He throws every other day and while he won't be ready to catch in spring training until at least March 6, he said, he will be ready for opening day. After a light workout in the batting cage, Posada went through a series of strenuous exercises in the weight room and did some agility drills. He chatted with two reporters for about 20 minutes after his work was done. In addition to talking about his rehab and Joe Torre's book, Posada said he was excited to catch CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett and had even talked to Sabathia after the signing to tell the pitcher he was glad they were going to be teammates. "It'll be fun to see how they work, calling their games," Posada said. "Hopefully, they can make us better and I know they will." Posada also made it clear that catching means a lot to him. He acknowledged that his health is a question mark facing the Yankees this season and he is eager to prove he can still catch at a high level. But what happens if he can't? "I can't think like that. I can't really put myself in that position. I'm a catcher right now. I'm going to work hard to be a catcher and hopefully I'll stay healthy and everything is well enough that I can do it. People have asked me, 'When are you going to change positions, where are you going to go?' But I don't see myself going anywhere else right now. "I know where I stand. I know what I can do. Obviously, I have a lot of people giving me support. I'm not going to embarrass myself. Hopefully, I can still do it for a little bit more." Posada also praised Jose Molina for his work filling in last year while Posada was out and downplayed the idea that the Yankees missed his fiery personality and leadership during the season. "Last year was just a bad year overall," Posada said. "We went through a lot of injuries. We ran into two teams (Boston and Tampa Bay) better than us and they showed it, they proved it. I don't know what I could've done. I think having a five-man rotation like this is going to help us, knowing we've got a chance to win." As for Wang, he threw his first pre-spring training bullpen, going for seven minutes and 27 pitches. Decked out in a dark blue shorts and a gray Yankees' T-shirt pulled over a long-sleeve T-shirt, he threw only fastballs under a blue sky. Pitching coach Dave Eiland was among those who watched, along with pitching guru Billy Connors. Wang, whose 2008 season was wrecked by foot injuries, said afterward, "Everything feels fine. It's just normal." Wang had gotten a clean bill of health in October from Yankee doctors, even throwing a few bullpens then. When he went home to Taiwan during the winter, he did a lot of fitness work on his feet, he said. He described last year as "sick. I couldn't do anything for the team. I missed four months, but now I'm healthy, strong." The Yankees will keep a special eye on Wang's delivery, because of his foot injuries last season. "I'll watch to see if he's favoring his foot, but we don't anticipate that," Eiland said. - By Anthony McCarron http://tinyurl.com/b3ka6z --

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