00:00All right, you guys blaming the players or are you blaming Aaron Boone for some of the lack of details and I guess fundamentals in the rollercoaster of a season that the Yankees are having?
00:09All right, Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media is on to say what the numbers are saying about their play.
00:16Ryan, thanks for hopping on, man.
00:17I feel like Volpe and the lack of fundamentals is something I see on my social media all the time.
00:23So let's start with Anthony Volpe.
00:2516 home runs.
00:26That's tied for fourth most by a shortstop.
00:29But he also has 16 errors and that's the most in the majors.
00:32To go even deeper, six home runs to five errors in the last 11 games.
00:36So what do the numbers say about Anthony Volpe's production this season?
00:42Yeah, it says that there are some steps forward offensively.
00:46His swing and miss rate is still a little bit up from last year, but it's coming with fewer chases out of zone.
00:53He's not swinging wildly out of the zone.
00:55Defensively, that's where we're seeing the biggest regression.
00:57He had last season 14 outs above average.
01:01This season is at negative five.
01:03So he's gone from one of the best defensive shortstops in the game to one of the worst defensive shortstops in the game.
01:08And that is really the big area where you're worried about Anthony Volpe.
01:12You know that he's a bottom of the order hitter.
01:14You don't need him to hit 50 home runs for you or win an MVP or a silver slugger.
01:18But you need him to make the plays.
01:19And right now, that's exactly what he's not doing.
01:22Yes or no?
01:23Does Anthony Volpe need to be benched?
01:26I think the Yankees need to bring in a backup shortstop or have a backup shortstop that can give Volpe some days off.
01:32And maybe in the offseason, you revisit the shortstop conversation.
01:36All right, let's talk about Devin Williams.
01:38He's allowed a run in four of his last six outings since the All-Star break.
01:43His ERA is now sitting at 5.01 on the season.
01:47Was this man worth the trade up to this point?
01:49Well, look, the Brewers got infielder Caleb Durbin, and he's been awesome for them.
01:54And considering the Yankees had an infield needed, it'd be nice to have a cheap infielder in Durbin.
01:58And look, Devin Williams hasn't been the guy he was supposed to be.
02:02His stats are worse across the board.
02:04He's striking out fewer batters.
02:06He's allowing more home runs.
02:07His ERA is way worse.
02:09But I think given the Yankees' bullpen issues, having Devin Williams, you'd rather have them than not have them.
02:14This bullpen is in flames, and while he's struggled as of late, he was a big part of their surge in June.
02:20And I think he'll ultimately remain the closer for this team.
02:23All right, all in all, this team is looking like they're struggling with the basics, i.e. the fundamentals.
02:29When you look at social media, the fans are blaming Aaron Boone.
02:34I blame the players because they got to step up.
02:36There has to be some sort of accountability there.
02:38Who do you point the fingers at for, I guess, the inconsistent play with the basics of baseball, i.e. Austin Wills?
02:47Yeah, I would agree that that falls on the players.
02:49Look, you're going to point to the manager.
02:52You're going to look top down whenever there's blame or you're assigning blame.
02:56But at the end of the day, the players are the ones making the mistakes.
02:58And they're the ones who I think should get that first kind of, hey, why did that happen?
03:04Why did you have that gaffe?
03:06The manager can only do so much.
03:08I think it's fair to ask why the constant over the last few years has been the manager and why the mistakes keep piling.
03:15But I also think that when you watch baseball or you watch other teams play, you see some very, very ugly baseball as well.
03:22So I would start with the players there.
03:24I wouldn't start with the manager, but I understand why the manager gets blamed there.
03:28Real quick, yes or no?
03:30And your quick why do the Yankees make the playoffs this year?
03:34I think the Yankees will make the postseason.
03:36I think their offense is in a really good spot.
03:39I think they have enough in the rotation.
03:41They need to add to their bullpen.
03:43They'll have until 6 p.m. today to do so.
03:45But they are in a good position to make the postseason.
03:48They have multiple games up on the third wild card.
03:51I'd be pretty stunned if this team ended up missing out on October.
03:54And they're still very alive in the AL East division race.
03:56All right, Ryan, thanks for hopping on with this, man.
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