HIP HIP JORGE

Jorge Posada is back. He'll return to the lineup in Cleveland tonight to catch his long-time battery-mate Andy Pettitte as the Yanks lineup against reigning Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. Jorge's been out since May 4th with a strained right hamstring. When Jorge's backup, Jose Molina, was sent to the DL as well the Yanks were relying on an unlikely catching duo in Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash.

Until their injuries, Jorge and Jose were hitting well. Take a look at their stats.

Jorge Posada .312/.402/.584 in 77 at bats. 6 doubles, 5 homers, 20 RBI's, 10 Runs Scored.
Jose Molina .273/.333/.386 in 44 at bats. 2 doubles, 1 homer, 6 RBI's, 5 runs scored.

Then Cervelli and Cash stepped in...

Francisco Cervelli .300/.317/.325 in 4o at bats. 1 double, no homers, 4 RBI's, 4 Runs Scored.
Kevin Cash .231/.250/.308 in 26 at bats. 2 doubles, no homers, 3 RBI's, 1 Run Scored.

The Yanks have gotten no power from their replacement catchers and they haven't seen especially impressive on base skills either. By bringing Jorge back the Yanks will actually have some offense from their catcher. Don't get me wrong. Cervelli and Cash both performed better than anyone expected, but they still weren't effective offensive options. We're taking away one of these number 9 hitters and bringing in a number 5 hitter, vastly improving the offense. Either Cervelli or Cash could be sent down. Cervelli has outperformed Cash offensively, and he's been great behind the plate as well. However, although Cervelli is more valuable to the major league squad than Cash is, the Yanks may prefer to send Cervelli down so he can play consistently as they groom him to one day be an everyday catcher.

The Yanks' lineup should no look something like this...

SS Jeter
LF Damon
1B Teixeira
3B Rodriguez
DH Matsui
C Posada
2B Cano
RF Swisher
CF Gardner(Melky will takeover when he gets back from nursing his shoulder injury)

That's a helluva an offensive force, and if our pitching can be consistent we can climb into first and keep a hold of it. We're currently a half game out, behind Boston.

In other rehab news:

Melky will be back Friday.
X-Man has been playing in extended spring training games.
Damaso Marte, Jose Molina, and Cody Ransom have all be