00:00The Yanks took two out of three from the A's this weekend, including a 12-run explosion on Sunday.
00:06But offensive inconsistency, rotation questions, and a crucial road trip to Toronto and Citi Field are all looming.
00:13So is this a sign of a turnaround or just a temporary spark by the Bronx Bombers?
00:17I'm joined now by New York Post baseball writer Dan Martin.
00:20He joins me to help break it all down.
00:22Dan, how are you doing, my friend?
00:24I'm good, Dex. How are you?
00:25I'm doing well. I'm doing pretty good. Can't complain.
00:28Let's start with the big picture here, Dan, for the Yankees.
00:30They took two out of three from the A's, but the offense had been sluggish for most of June.
00:34We've seen this.
00:36Does Sunday's 12-run outburst feel like a true turning point, or is it just a temporary outlier here and you need to see more?
00:43I think we all need to see more.
00:45You know, the 12 runs was a good sign for them, but it did come against the A's.
00:50It came against Luis Severino, who has had tipping problems before, and the Yankees know that better than anyone.
00:55So we'll find out if that was a product of something that Severino was doing and the Yankees took advantage of, or if, like you said, this could be a turning point.
01:04They're going to need more than one game, though, to really break out of what's been ailing them for the better part of a month, you know, after their offense was so good for two months, and it really just went MIA for a month there.
01:14So, yeah, 12 runs is nice on a Sunday afternoon against the A's, but we know what the A's are.
01:19We know what Severino is these days.
01:21So, yeah, a positive sign, but we'll know a lot more this week in Toronto and then going forward.
01:27Yeah, big week.
01:28We're going to get to that a little bit later.
01:30Aaron Judge, he's still doing Aaron Judge things.
01:33Two more homers on Sunday.
01:34But I think the question is, how sustainable is this attack if he's got to carry the load by himself every night?
01:40Because that's what it's felt like with the Yankees, Aaron Judge carrying the load.
01:43How sustainable is that?
01:45I think we found out it's not very sustainable at all because, you know, this two-week or two-and-a-half-week stretch where they really haven't played well, that's coincided with him not playing that well.
01:55And nobody else really came to the forefront and made up for what he had been doing all year long.
02:01You know, a couple of guys did, but from top to bottom, they've been unproductive.
02:05And, you know, Aaron Judge, when he's at his best or even when he's not at his best, when he's just playing pretty well, he masks a lot of other issues in the offense.
02:13He's done it for years now, and he continues to do it this year.
02:16They don't have Juan Soto to help him out.
02:20So when other guys go in a slump and he even has a week where he's not hitting, and, you know, lately, until yesterday, he wasn't hitting really much at all, this is what happens to the offense.
02:30They completely go silent.
02:32You know, Jazz Chisholm did some nice things, but, you know, he's not enough.
02:36He can't do it on his own.
02:37So, you know, Aaron Judge is going to be the best hitter in the game probably for the next couple of years.
02:43But he is going to go through streaks where he's not.
02:45What the Yankees need to do is figure out a way to use the depth of their lineup, which they thought they had addressed in the offseason with Cody Bellinger and some other guys, some other additions that they made.
02:55But so far, the past month or so, it hasn't happened, and it just, you know, it feels like it has the past couple of years.
03:03When Aaron Judge isn't going, the Yankees aren't going, and as great as he is, he can't be the guy 162 games out of the year and in the postseason.
03:11Yeah, that's just not fair to him to carry that load the whole time.
03:15Now, you mentioned Jazz Chisholm.
03:17I'm glad you did because he did look sharp in that series against the A's, a couple of big hits, some stellar defense that we saw from him.
03:24Is he starting to settle in as the dynamic sidekick for Aaron Judge in this lineup that they've been missing?
03:30Could he be that guy?
03:33He could be.
03:34He's been really good since he came back from the IL.
03:37You know, he missed a couple of weeks there with an oblique injury.
03:39He came back, he started hitting better.
03:41He was really slumping before that injury.
03:43He came back, he talked about talking to Pat Russell, one of the Yankee hitting coaches, about going 70%.
03:51That got a lot of headlines at the time a few weeks ago, and some people misunderstood what he was saying, like he wasn't trying as hard.
03:59But Jazz Chisholm is the most energetic person and player that you'll ever come across.
04:05And he even said, you know, he's had coaches tell him for years, you know, you kind of play with your hair on fire.
04:12And sometimes if you take it back a little bit, you might be more productive.
04:15And so that's really what he's tried to do since the injury.
04:20And he had a short rehab assignment where he worked on that as well.
04:23And it seems like the results are pretty good.
04:26You know, I don't know how sustainable it is, but we've seen it since he got here from the Marlins last year.
04:32He's capable of putting together some great stretches.
04:36He's versatile in the field.
04:38He's just plays a game with a lot of life, which the Yankees could use sometimes.
04:42And I don't think what he's doing right now, you know, he can carry that up.
04:46But it's a great sign for the Yankees who need a little bit more length in that lineup, a little bit more protection for Aaron Judge, as we talked about.
04:54And so I think they have a nice player there.
04:57I don't know if he can really be Judge's sidekick.
05:00I think they need somebody else to be the number two guy in the lineup.
05:03But he's a great piece to have, his willingness to play third base and learn it on the fly last year and then play there again this year when T.J. LeMahieu feels more comfortable at second.
05:14That's a good sign.
05:16I don't know if that's where they want to keep everyone for the rest of the year because, you know, they just need to make some moves before the trade deadline.
05:25But that's a story for another day.
05:27But they have a month to figure that out, where everyone goes.
05:29But in the meantime, to have Jazz Chisholm productive in the lineup, playing good baseball at third base, it's very valuable for a team that needs it right now.
05:38Yeah, you'll at least take that.
05:39And the Yankees will still try to figure out what the sidekick situation is going to be for Aaron Judge as we move forward.
05:45Now, Marcus Stroman, he had a strong return to the rotation on Saturday.
05:49What's his outlook moving forward?
05:50And could his role change if the Yanks start getting healthy in that rotation?
05:56Yeah, that'll be the big question.
05:57You know, there was a time when we weren't sure how Marcus Stroman would fit into the rotation at all in the spring.
06:03And he talked about not wanting to pitch out of the bullpen.
06:06But then Derek Cole went down for the year.
06:08Luis Heal went down for the first half of the season, at least.
06:11And there was Marcus Stroman pitching, starting for them in April.
06:15And then, obviously, he went down with the left knee inflammation from his ACL injury 10 years ago.
06:22Now he's back and they need him because they just don't have a lot of rotation depth.
06:26You know, they've gotten some great pitching.
06:28I would say everyone would agree that their rotation has overperformed, considering that the injuries that they've dealt with,
06:35whether it's Max Fried being, you know, one of the best pitchers in baseball or Carlos Radon really taking his game to another level this year.
06:44But Marcus Stroman could fill a role here, at least until he gets back.
06:50So, you know, Luis Heal's been out since spring training.
06:53And they think he might be back sometime around or a little bit after the All-Star break.
06:59So, there are some questions there about what Stroman will do once that happens.
07:04But in the meantime, you know, he can make another start, two starts.
07:07And these days, with the way the Yankees are in the standings and the state of their roster,
07:12you know, I think that's what they're concerned with is just how do we get through the next rotation of the swing.
07:19And if Stroman can help them do that for the rest of July, then they'll take it and they'll figure out what to do with him after that,
07:26whether that's in a trade or maybe another injury will pop up.
07:31You know, he talked that his knee is still going to be sore.
07:34That's something he's going to have to deal with.
07:36So, you know, they probably don't want to ride him too hard.
07:39So, his role is still kind of up in the air.
07:41But in the meantime, he's going to be a valuable arm in that rotation for the next few weeks, at least.
07:45Yeah, he is.
07:46And if you can hold it down, that would be huge for the Yankees.
07:49Now, speaking of the Yankees, they hit the road this week.
07:52Four-game series in Toronto.
07:54Then it's the Subway Series.
07:55Three games against the struggling Mets.
07:57What are you going to be keeping your eye on with the Bronx Bombers this week, Dan?
08:02Just kind of what we talked about, especially with that offense.
08:05Was Sunday a sign that guys are going to break out?
08:10You know, Volpe's been struggling.
08:11Austin Wells has been struggling.
08:13Bellinger hasn't been as good as he was earlier in the year.
08:15He obviously had a great game on Sunday.
08:17They haven't gotten too much out of Giancarlo Stanton since he's come back.
08:21They need these guys to perform.
08:24And they need to play better against the AL East.
08:27So, they have a series in Toronto before that Subway Series.
08:31That's big for them because they've seen their lead in the division go from seven games at the end of May to a game and a half over Tampa Bay at the end of June here.
08:40So, there's a lot of issues that they've got to fix.
08:43This would be a good week to start.
08:44They did okay against the A's.
08:46I think they would have liked to have swept that series considering where the A's are.
08:51But they've won three out of four.
08:54They just, you know, every year we've talked about it.
08:57They struggle at some point, usually in June or maybe in July.
09:00And then they get themselves straightened out.
09:03So, now they've got to straighten themselves out.
09:05Was this weekend a sign that that's going to happen?
09:07You know, a visit to Toronto will be a good test.
09:11And we'll see what the Mets look like when the Yankees get there at the end of the week.
09:14They're a mess right now.
09:16But there's no guarantees that they'll still be a mess when the Yankees get to Queens on Friday.
09:23Yeah, who knows?
09:24It could be Subway Series where both teams are a mess.
09:27We're not hoping for that.
09:28But you never know what you'll see.
09:30Big week for the Yankees coming up.
09:31As I said, four games in Toronto.
09:33Then the Subway Series over the holiday weekend.
09:36That is Dan Martin, baseball writer, here with us for the New York Post.
09:40Doing a fantastic job.
09:41Dan, always a pleasure to see you.
09:43And we'll talk soon.
09:45Sounds good, Dex.
09:46Thanks.
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