CHICAGO -- The American League's leading hitter is tough to nail down before a game, always seemingly two steps away from grabbing his bat and heading into a cage for extra batting practice.
But it's what has worked so far this season for Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who had posted an AL-best .375 batting average through his first 35 games of the season, a new high for his career.
"I feel good at the plate, and that's what it's all about," Posada said. "It's early and I'm not looking into it. I'm happy with it."
Always considered a valuable offensive force, Posada has contributed a great deal to the Yankees' attack this month in particular.
While teammates Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez have battled to escape their respective skids, Posada has helped in an effort to pick up some of the slack.
The 35-year-old backstop entered play Thursday batting .478 (22-for-46) this month, tops in the Major Leagues, while riding a career-high 11-game hit streak.
With that sort of production, it has been a difficult proposition for the Yankees to remove Posada from the lineup, particularly given the offensive struggles of understudy Wil Nieves, who has just one hit in 27 at-bats this year.
On Wednesday, Posada was rested for the second game of New York's doubleheader against the White Sox, but his time of respite was brief.
With the Yankees threatening for more runs in the seventh inning against Chicago starter Jose Contreras, manager Joe Torre turned to Posada to try and knock a run in from second base, and he remained in the game to catch the final three innings.
"He jumped right up," Torre said. "He's a real good team player. Certainly, he's very valuable for us. We have to try to take as good care of him as we can."
A heavy workload figures to await Posada as the Yankees play out an important stretch of their schedule, with six games in six days against the Mets and Red Sox after they leave Chicago early Thursday evening.
Posada said that retaining freshness is not a concern.
"I go one day at a time and just get as much [rest] as I can," Posada said. "Joe's been very good at trying to give me a day here and there."
Kyle criticizes: Kyle Farnsworth spoke his mind regarding Roger Clemens' unique contract perks in a Chicago-area radio interview Thursday morning.
Farnsworth was a guest on Chicago's 670 AM The Score, where he suggested that the so-called "family plan" Clemens has access to could cause "friction" in the clubhouse.
Clemens may be permitted to leave the team to attend to personal matters from time to time when he joins the Yankees later this month or in early June.
"As far as being a team player, I think everybody should be here, whether they're pitching or not," Farnsworth said. "I just think that if you're part of the team, you should be part of the team."
Farnsworth said he did not blame Clemens for having the plan incorporated into his pro-rated one-year, $28 million contract. He didn't back off the comments, saying that he'd been asked his opinion and spoken his mind.
"[Clemens] is going to be here to help the team win," Farnsworth said. "As far as everything that everybody is worried about, and if it's going to cause a problem, we'll see. I don't think it will. We're all professionals here."
Two no gos: Based upon how Jason Giambi handled the bone spur in his left foot as a designated hitter in Wednesday's nightcap, Torre said he was not inclined to believe that the slugger will be available to play first base this weekend as the Yankees take on the Mets.
Because of the lack of a designated hitter in National League parks, Giambi will be relegated to a pinch-hitter for most of the weekend, though the disabled list is still not considered a possibility.
Torre said a best-case scenario could be for Giambi to be available to pinch-hit late in games -- perhaps on Sunday -- and offer a few innings in the field.
"It feels 100 times better than it did before," Giambi said after Thursday's loss. "At least when I wake up in the morning, I can walk on it."
Torre also gave Johnny Damon -- who said he is still feeling slight effects from a strained right calf -- the afternoon off on Thursday.
"They're still not loose as a goose, as you'd like to have them," Torre said.
Melky Cabrera took over in center field. Torre said he noticed in the late innings of Wednesday's second game that Cabrera still had a bit of a spring in his step, despite playing in both halves of the twin bill.
Clippard in for Sunday? The Yankees plan to call up a Minor League pitcher for Sunday's start, Torre said, and the primary candidate appears to be right-hander Tyler Clippard.
Clippard, 22, was lifted from his start Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Norfolk after just one inning, in which he struck out three and walked one. Clippard is 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A.
The rotation fell into a state of flux with Tuesday's rainout at Chicago, forcing Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang to both pitch on Wednesday. The Yankees did not want to bring back Mussina on three days' rest and, after brief consideration, decided against doing the same with Wang, who threw 91 pitches in a victory Wednesday evening.
Asked about Clippard's early exit following Thursday's game, Torre did not commit to Clippard as the candidate to be called up but said that he is "certainly one of the considerations."
Off the shelf: Scott Proctor returned to duty in the Yankees bullpen, his four-game suspension complete. Proctor -- who was fined $1,500 for throwing at the Mariners' Yuniesky Betancourt -- announced in Seattle that he would drop his appeal so that he could be available for the series against the Mets and Red Sox.
Coming up: The Subway Series is here again, as the Yankees return home to New York and open a three-game weekend set with the Mets at Shea Stadium.
Left-hander Andy Pettitte (2-2, 2.68 ERA) gets the call in the first game Friday, with left-hander Oliver Perez (4-3, 3.00 ERA) squaring off for the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
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