00:00Joel Sherman back with three things.
00:02Look, over the course of the season, I know the most passionate fans are going to do the
00:06why did Mendoza bring this guy in in the eighth inning, what is Boone doing starting this guy, etc.
00:13And what gets forgotten in that period is how much they actually get right.
00:18Both guys, believe it or not, are actually good managers in the major leagues.
00:22I know that if you have 20-20 hindsight, every decision will look like crap.
00:28You know, most decisions are more 52-48 than 90-10, whether to bring in a righty, lefty.
00:34So for three things today, why don't I do something I think that Mendoza's done right a lot recently,
00:39something I think Boone's done right a lot recently to help the teams do that,
00:43and something that's helping all three teams right now, both New York teams right now.
00:47Number one, the last three times that Carlos Mendoza has pinch hit, Sunday once and twice on Tuesday,
00:55it couldn't have gone better, his logic was sound, the results were great, but here's the thing,
01:01even if the results weren't great, once the logic is sound, you've got to live with the decision-making.
01:06On Sunday, if you remember, they were losing 2-1 in San Francisco late,
01:10and he had Luis Torrance come in and pinch hit for Young against the lefty Eric Miller,
01:15and the two-run double by Torrance turned that game around,
01:17and the Mets finished taking the last three games in San Francisco,
01:22and the big hit in the game was that, and they made it four wins in a row on Tuesday,
01:28in part because of really well-done pinch hitting and a key pinch running situation.
01:34All managerial decisions in real time in the game.
01:38Let's not forget, in the eighth inning, you know, it's probably not easy to pinch hit for Mark Vientos right
01:44now.
01:44He was hitting, I'm sure the manager wants to show confidence in him with Juan Soto out and let him
01:49keep playing,
01:51but sure enough, he brought Jared Young in to pinch hit.
01:56It was the right place to do it against the righty with first and third.
01:59He didn't like the potential for an inning-ending double play off of Vientos' bat.
02:04He had just watched another righty, Luis Robert Jr., strike out.
02:07So he brings in Jared Young, and Jared Young hits a long sacrifice fly and ties the game.
02:13And then in the bottom of the tenth inning, Ronnie Mauricio, cold, off the bench,
02:18just was the guy brought up to replace Juan Soto on the roster.
02:21Soto out with the calf injury.
02:24He brings him in for the lefty-righty situation there.
02:27And, you know, he was pinch hitting for Tyrone Taylor.
02:31Let's not forget, Taylor went in to pinch run in the eighth inning.
02:34He went in for Polanco.
02:36I don't think anyone else on the Mets' bench, or certainly not Polanco, gets to third base on Beatty's single.
02:43It was good base running by Taylor, which puts him in position to score on Jared Young's sacrifice fly.
02:49So all good things there from Carlos Mendoza and the Mets,
02:53who worried everybody a little bit in those first few games of the season.
02:57Now have won four in a row.
02:59They've steadied themselves.
03:00You do see the top of a rotation forming.
03:03And hardly could be more encouraging that the four wins have come basically without Juan Soto.
03:10The first win came after Soto injured his calf in the top of the first.
03:15So they've played, you know, three games and eight and a half innings without Soto.
03:21And they've won all four of those games.
03:24And this is going to be a period where especially Vientos, who was starting to play a little more because
03:31of Polanco's Achilles getting onto first base.
03:34But without Soto in the lineup, he's going to play a lot.
03:37Brett Beatty, who moves around a lot and would be the odd man out.
03:40He was kind of the tenth man who was playing a lot, but he was the tenth man.
03:43And he's going to become the ninth man.
03:45He's going to play all the time with Soto, not in the lineup.
03:48A guy like Jared Young is going to get some opportunities.
03:50Maybe Mauricio.
03:52I just think that the Beatty-Vientos thing is interesting because those guys have clearly so mirrored each other.
03:59They've both played in the major leagues for parts of five seasons.
04:02They were both trying to become the regular third baseman with Mauricio.
04:06And look, they just have not been able to nail down full-time jobs.
04:11And after looking at all those guys at third base, a win-now team decided to sign Beau Bichette for
04:15a large, large contract to play third base.
04:18So we're at a moment again, a little with Mauricio, who was told he was going to play off the
04:22bench.
04:23But a lot with Beatty and especially Vientos, while Soto was out for these next three-ish weeks, those guys
04:29are going to get opportunities.
04:30Let's move to number two, which were some good moves by Boone that maybe went a little under the radar.
04:36The Yankees are a very heavy left-hand hitting lineup.
04:39And every once in a while, he's got to find a way to sneak right-hand hitters in against right
04:44-hand starters.
04:45If you remember, the first time he really did that in a strange situation was he started Paul Goldschmidt against
04:51George Kirby in the final game in Seattle.
04:53So the final game of the trip to open the season.
04:57Who had the winning three-run homer in that game off of George Kirby?
05:00That was Paul Goldschmidt, right on right, the guy who you would expect not to have started in that game.
05:05It's a pretty good move by the manager.
05:07Last night, he started Ahmad Rosario right on right against Aaron Savali, who homered off of Aaron Savali.
05:14That would be Ahmad Rosario.
05:16Who did he keep in even when Mark Leiter was brought into the game, another right-hand pitcher?
05:21That was Ahmad Rosario.
05:22Who had the big home run off of Leiter?
05:25Ahmad Rosario.
05:26Again, we'll forget some of these moves as it goes along, but because the lineup is so left-handed and
05:33because he does believe in these bench players and wants to keep them fresh, the right-handers, he's going to
05:39have to find opportunities where he likes the matchups for some reason, Aaron Boone, to get the righties in against
05:46right-hand starters.
05:48And the two times he's done it this season, the Yankees have won the game because that was the lineup.
05:55The big hit by Goldschmidt and the big hits, plural, by Rosario.
06:00Why don't we finish with number three, which I mentioned Soto.
06:05Soto is the only player since the beginning of spring training the Mets have put on the injured list who
06:11they didn't expect to put on the injured list.
06:13You know, spring training began, they knew they were putting Tyler McGill and Reed Garrett and A.J. Minter on
06:17it.
06:18You know, besides Justin Hagerman, who was a guy who might have made the roster, he went on with a
06:24fractured rib.
06:24But the only significant guy so far is Soto.
06:27So I think it was mainly precautionary to protect Soto from himself, who's an Ironman who wants to be on
06:32the field.
06:33The calves are tricky injuries, everyone will tell you.
06:35You think you're good, and then you go out and test it, and you make it worse.
06:39So I think they want to take him off his feet and play, and the fact that they're 4-0
06:44without him is good.
06:45The more interesting health story is the Yankees.
06:49The Yankees showed up in spring training with four guys they knew they were putting on the injured list.
06:53Cole, Rodon, Schmidt, and Volpe.
06:55Today they have four guys on the injured list, Cole, Rodon, Schmidt, and Volpe.
06:59They have not made another I.L. move since the beginning of spring training.
07:05It's a duh thing, but if you get to play the 26 players who you want to play and don't
07:12have to reach into the minor leagues.
07:14A, you get to create depth in the minor leagues with guys like Oswald Cabrera and Jason Dominguez, etc.
07:20But you get to play your best players a lot.
07:22It's a real competitive advantage.
07:23And as we're seeing with teams like Toronto, which has lost multiple starters and found out that Cody Ponce, the
07:30guy they signed over from Japan, is going to miss the rest of the season.
07:33He needs knee surgery.
07:34One of the teams the Mets are competing with, Matt Boyd and Cade Horton, two key Cubs starters in an
07:41area where the Cubs couldn't take injury, have taken injuries.
07:43And the Cubs found out that Horton needed UCL surgeries out for the year.
07:48And he was a breakout star as a rookie last year.
07:51So you know the storm is coming.
07:53There's going to be injuries for the New York teams.
07:55But we're almost to the two-week mark of the season.
07:58And while Soto is a, obviously, he's one of the great players in the world, is a big injury.
08:03The fact that the Mets have had limited injuries, remember, both New York teams last year opened with three starting
08:09pitchers each on the injured list who they did not think were going to be on the injured list when
08:15the spring training began.
08:16It put both of them in bad spots.
08:19They have not had that situation.
08:21The Mets so far have taken the first punch well.
08:23The Yankees have opened up a little distance in the American League in general and in the AL East in
08:27specific.
08:28And I don't think you could ignore that health is part of this.
08:32So some good manager decisions.
08:34You should probably remember that the next time it goes terrible for one of them.
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