00:00Yankees call heat all throughout the offseason for deciding to run it back with the same squad.
00:05But now it's time to put up or shut up on opening day.
00:10We've got game one of 162 regular season games tonight, folks.
00:15So let's talk some Yankees baseball with Ricky Ricardo of MLB DraftKings.
00:20Ricky, you know this squad. You love this squad. You do a lot for this squad.
00:25First and foremost, I'm a little it's supposed to be opening day, not opening night, 8 p.m., you know,
00:308 p.m. start.
00:31I get it's on the West Coast. But let's talk about our guy Max Freed getting the start.
00:36What do you think about Freed coming back, having another solid season as he had last season?
00:43And what do you think about the Yankees rotation as a whole?
00:48Well, number one, it's an honor to be in the broadcast booth, as I have been now for 15 years
00:54for the Yankees and Español.
00:56The Yankees and the Giants, one of those old time matchups, not exactly something you see every year.
01:03Like you mentioned, it's a standalone game.
01:05It's a night game out by the bay in San Francisco at their wonderful Oracle Park.
01:11So it's special in itself of being out here and ready to get going for this ballgame.
01:18Max Freed is the guy until Garrett Cole gets back.
01:22He is the number one guy in the rotation.
01:25He held up his end of the bargain last year when they brought him over as a free agent from
01:30the Atlanta Braves.
01:31And until Cole, who is slowly but surely getting ready to come back at some point, maybe in the month
01:37of May or early June,
01:38I think he might be a little bit quicker than that because he looked good even yesterday in a couple
01:44of innings against the Chicago Cubs.
01:45But Max Freed is the guy you want in this ballpark and in this situation.
01:51Not phased, not under pressure by having the spotlight of being the opening day starter for the franchise known as
01:59the New York Yankees.
02:00He'll be focused, he'll be centered.
02:03And Freed, last year, I thought, under the hot lights of pitching in New York City, came through like a
02:09champ.
02:1019 wins on the season.
02:12I think he picks up right where he left off.
02:15Logan Webb tonight is his opponent.
02:17We just saw plenty of Logan Webb on Team USA.
02:20So America got to see the pitcher that's going to attack the Yankee lineup tonight.
02:26Another quality pitcher.
02:28So you've got a very, very strong matchup here on a game that will be on Netflix.
02:34So people around the world in a different sort of delivery way will be able to watch this game.
02:39You know, you've got all kinds of people in the ballpark tonight, including Barry Bonds, who's going to be part
02:44of that TV thing.
02:45So it's going to be a very eventful, very pomp and circumstance kind of night.
02:51Yankees, Giants, and away we go with 162.
02:54But Freed is the perfect guy for this setting.
02:57He's a California guy, mellow, laid back, perfect for everything going on tonight.
03:02Yeah.
03:03No Netflix and chill tonight.
03:04It's Netflix and Yankees baseball to kick things off.
03:08You talked about, well, let's go into Aaron Judge because he's another guy we got to see on the Team
03:14USA,
03:14on the World Baseball Classic stage.
03:17You think he's primed for another MVP-like season?
03:21Absolutely.
03:23And tonight, he's the hometown boys from Linden, California.
03:26It's about 75 miles off to the east of San Francisco.
03:32So this is about as close as he can possibly get to his hometown where he was born and raised.
03:37He'll have a big contingent of family and friends coming to every game.
03:42He's had that for years, whether it was in Oakland when the A's played there or in San Francisco.
03:47When Judge was a free agent a few years ago, there were rumors that the Giants made a big play
03:52for him.
03:53But the captain stayed in pinstripe, so we're proud of that.
03:56But Aaron Judge ready for another season, ready to put to rest, in my opinion, Brandon,
04:02ready to put to rest the naysayers that say that Aaron Judge comes up small and comes up short in
04:09big situations.
04:10We saw what happened in the World Baseball Classic.
04:13We saw what happened in the playoffs last year.
04:15We have seen some of his postseason failures.
04:18But we have always seen the Herculean seasons that Aaron Judge has had in pinstripes
04:25and has carried this franchise on his shoulders.
04:28My gut feeling is that this year, Yankees get to the postseason
04:33and a very centered and focused Aaron Judge comes out on top,
04:39leads his team as far as they can go in serious October baseball.
04:43And like A-Rod did in the past, like Barry Bonds did in the past,
04:48he gets that reputation out and off of his shoulders about not being a big-time performer.
04:55Look for Aaron Judge this year to turn the tables on all the naysayers
04:59and come up big for the New York Yankees.
05:02So he's not the only one within that organization that has some naysayers,
05:06like Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman.
05:09They have some as well because there are a lot of people that are upset.
05:12They are running it back with the same team.
05:15Do you feel like this team, this franchise, has a World Series contender roster?
05:22Can they win the division?
05:23And where do you and DraftKings have their regular season total wins?
05:28I know that's a lot to unpack there.
05:30Well, 91.5.
05:32DraftKings, you've got to download it in Spanish now, which is fantastic.
05:37You've got it in English.
05:38You've got it in Spanish.
05:39You've got all the props.
05:40You've got all the numbers.
05:42The Yankees are slight favorites to come out of the American League on DraftKings.
05:47So you've got to pull that wagon on DraftKings.
05:50Just do it responsibly.
05:52You mentioned Hal Steinbrenner.
05:53You mentioned Brian Cashman.
05:56Everyone's under pressure.
05:57It's year after year that that 28th World Series championship is expected,
06:02but that hasn't shown up.
06:03As far as the quote-unquote running it back is concerned, let's remember that this team matched the Blue Jays
06:11for the most wins in the American League.
06:14Toronto, you tip your hat to them because the Blue Jays beat them in the season series,
06:18and that was the tiebreaker that put the Blue Jays over the top and having home field advantage.
06:23And the Blue Jays got hot at the right time.
06:26Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got hot in the postseason and knocked the Yankees out.
06:31But the Yankees, with Garrett Cole's return this year and some tweaks in the bullpen,
06:37remember, Devin Williams had some big-blown saves as a Yankee.
06:41Luke Weaver kind of faded away late in the year last year as key pieces of the Yankee bullpen.
06:46I think they have, you know, strengthened that pen.
06:50David Bednar will be the closer this year.
06:53So although it looks like the roster is the quote-unquote running it back,
06:58when you add a Garrett Cole, I mean, you're talking about a top-five pitcher in the game.
07:03He'll be ready to go.
07:05That's a big addition.
07:06And I think the Yankees at 91-1â2 are a good play on the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
07:14Download it.
07:15Play the Yankees.
07:16I don't think you're going to be disappointed.
07:18But the running it back theory, not when you get a Garrett Cole back
07:22and not when you make those adjustments in the bullpen.
07:25But we'll see.
07:26Ricky, appreciate you hopping on with this, man.
07:28This was fun.
07:29Definitely going to reach back out to you to have you back on.
07:32You make baseball fun, my friend.
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