00:00The Yankees better turn things around ASAP or they can be sitting at third place in the AL East by the All-Star game.
00:07He writes, we read.
00:09Greg Joyce joins us from Toronto ahead of tonight's game to talk Yankees baseball.
00:13Greg, thanks for hopping on with us, man.
00:15Big game, big game tonight, especially after what went down on Tuesday night.
00:21But I want to get straight to this because my social media timeline and feeds are all blown up by some angry fans
00:28that have turned on Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone during this recent slump.
00:32I'm going to read off some of the gripes, but I need you to be the voice of reason.
00:36And I'll start with the miscues on defense and how they're leaving runners in scoring position.
00:41It's something that we're seeing night in and night out during this recent run of bad baseball.
00:46So is whatever that's wrong with the Yankees right now fixable internally?
00:54Yeah, I think it certainly should be.
00:57You know, because the same guys who were here the first two months that had, you know, got off to such a good start.
01:03And then really over this past month, it's just been a lot of guys kind of regressing to the mean maybe.
01:09And some uglier issues kind of popping up like defense and base running stuff.
01:13The hitting with runners in scoring position is always a frustrating one when teams seem to go through it at some point every year.
01:21And right now it's happening, you know, at a bad time.
01:24They're kind of leading to this, you know, losing 12 out of 18 stretch.
01:30I think it's their 30 for their 181 with runners in scoring position their last 19 games.
01:36So batting 166 in those spots.
01:38So it's the kind of thing that, you know, you talk about hitting being contagious.
01:43It almost seems like it's the reverse can be true, too.
01:46When, you know, when they have these spots, they're getting guys on.
01:49It was two for 17 last night.
01:51You know, they're getting plenty of guys on.
01:52It's just they're not not able to get that big hit, not able to cash in.
01:55So, I mean, you know, you've spent a lot of the first few months talking about the depth of their lineup.
02:00And a lot of the guys that had gotten off to really good starts and a number of guys, those guys have cooled off over the past month.
02:08But certainly, you know, they have the guys on that, you know, in that clubhouse in that roster to be able to turn it around.
02:13Obviously, the trade deadline is coming up at the end of this month.
02:16And that'll help to to try to get some reinforcements in here, particularly in the bullpen, which has been, you know, kind of beat up of late.
02:23A lot of guys shouldering some heavy workloads and then losing Fernando Cruz to the IL again for this one.
02:30It seems like it didn't be a good chunk of time.
02:32But, yeah, I mean, it's been a rough stretch.
02:35Certainly, you know, they have the guys in there to be able to turn around.
02:39But it's every time you think they start to get some momentum together, they kind of take another step back.
02:45So we'll see, you know, when they're able to kind of stop the bleeding here.
02:50Yeah, I'm hoping they stop the bleeding soon because, again,
02:53there's a lot of finger pointing going on on my social media timeline from Yankees fans.
02:58And I know I've asked you this question before, but this is a guy that really hasn't gotten better since then.
03:03And the fans continue to point it out.
03:05But is there anything that can be done in-house or maybe via trade to upgrade the shortstop position?
03:12Fans have just about had it with Anthony Volpe up at this point.
03:17Yeah, I don't see that happening.
03:18I think they're going to, you know, you know, never say never on anything.
03:21But I think they're going to keep running him out there.
03:23They think he's a pretty productive shortstop.
03:27You know, obviously, it's been a rough stretch, you know, a couple of weeks here at the plate where he's been pretty unproductive.
03:35And then the defense has kind of reared its head a little bit.
03:38He doesn't seem quite as sharp as the last few years, which obviously he was a gold glove winner his rookie year.
03:43Had another great year last year defensively.
03:46But he seems like he hasn't been quite that crisp this year.
03:50Pleased the league in errors, shortstops.
03:52So I know that's a, you know, it can be a frustrating combination.
03:57But, you know, everything the Yankees say that they still believe in this guy.
04:01They think he's, you know, he's still only 24 years old, which is true and fair.
04:06There are a lot of young, really good shortstops in the league.
04:10So, you know, when he gets compared to that, it doesn't put him in the best light, I think.
04:16You know, Aaron Boone said again yesterday he feels like he's above average for, you know, productive offensive-wise for his position.
04:23Which, you know, over the last, you know, given the last few weeks, the way he's hit isn't necessarily the case anymore.
04:29Or, you know, when you look at a lot of categories, OPS, you know, stuff like that, he's kind of middle of the pack in terms of shortstops on the season.
04:39So he's kind of falling back a little bit there.
04:42But it's been a rough go.
04:44But, you know, they still see a young player that, you know, development isn't always linear, isn't always, you know, guys don't kind of explode right away or reach their potential right away.
04:56And I think he's kind of going through some growing pain still in year three.
05:00But I think he's a guy that they're going to keep running out there.
05:03They obviously have some bigger needs to address at the trade deadline, you know, elsewhere in the infield and in the bullpen as well, maybe even in the rotation.
05:12So I think those are the more pressing needs.
05:14And I think Volpe's going to be out there pretty much every day unless he gets injured.
05:18One of those needs could be at third base because everyone knows that Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a lot better or elite at second base.
05:26So is it time for the Yankees to give up on the D.J. LeMahieu experiment and look for a true third baseman at the trade deadline so they could get Jazz back in his natural position?
05:38Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Jazz is back at second base before long.
05:41So, you know, we'll see if it happens early tonight.
05:44I don't know about that.
05:44But, you know, Aaron Boone last night kind of left the door open for the first time, really, to flip-flopping them back and having Jazz at second where he's most comfortable and, you know, at best defensively.
05:55And maybe, you know, you have LeMahieu back at third where, you know, he's been okay at second, but he doesn't have the range that he probably once had.
06:08That's probably still going to be the case at third base.
06:10But if you put Jazz back at second, you kind of reconnect him with Anthony, but hopefully that they'll play combo up the middle, have some better range.
06:18Jazz has been willing to play third base as he has, you know, as he had last year after the trade and then this past month since he came back from the I.L.
06:27But you can just tell, you know, watching game in and game out that, you know, he doesn't have the full experience there.
06:33It's still not, you know, all the way there defensively, fundamentally at third base.
06:38So, you know, you would think that at some point that they kind of end that experiment a little bit and move him back to second.
06:45And part of it was that DJ was most comfortable at second base trying to get, you know, get him back in a groove once he got back from the I.L.
06:54to see what he could give them, what he had left in his bat.
06:57You know, he's been okay at the plate, hits a lot of balls hard, hasn't necessarily gotten the results.
07:02But, you know, at this point, you know, creeping toward the all-star break and trade deadline, seems like, you know, it could be the time to kind of flip those guys back.
07:13And also, you know, obviously see what they can get either third or second at the trade deadline kind of opens up either spot.
07:20But, you know, it certainly seems like Jazz, you know, better defensively at second base.
07:25All right.
07:25Lastly, it looks like we've hit that part of the summer where Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone take a lot of heat.
07:31There are a lot of fans that are even on social media calling for their jobs.
07:34Is this typical fan outrage, or could one of their seats actually be heating up?
07:43Yeah, I don't think so at this point.
07:45I think it would take more than this.
07:47Obviously, their, you know, lead atop the AL East has shrunk here.
07:51I think it was his, you know, they got it up to seven and a half games, I think, at its best.
07:56Now it's down to one.
07:58Could be, you know, if the Blue Jays win tonight, they'd be tied with the Yankees for the division lead by the end of tonight.
08:04So we'll see what happens.
08:05But, I mean, they always seem to go through a stretch like this during the season.
08:09And then come September, you look up and they're in a pretty good spot going to the playoffs.
08:14So they always preach kind of the full 162, as frustrating as these stretches can be and as bad as it can seem.
08:22They kind of, you know, when you zoom out, take the big picture look.
08:26I think it would take, you know, a lot more stretch than this to shake up anything there.
08:33But, like I said, these, you know, it's the same guys that, you know, before this stretch, they were, the first two months of the season, they were, you know, cruising pretty good.
08:44And I know nobody wants to hear it, but this is also a team that's playing without Garrett Cole for the season.
08:49Hasn't had Luis Hila pitching anything yet.
08:52Probably not going to have him until August.
08:53So, you know, it's, I think on the whole, it's been, they've been all right.
08:58Obviously a frustrating stretch, but I don't see either of those guys in danger of anything happening yet.
09:03I know it's kind of crazy for me to ask when they're still in first place in the AL East at this point.
09:08But the baseball Karens have been on full display on my timeline, Greg.
09:13So I had to ask you that.
09:14Thanks for clearing it up, man, and enjoy Toronto.
09:18You got it.
09:18Thanks, Brandon.
09:19Thanks, Brandon.
09:19Thanks, Brandon.
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