00:00Are the Yankees the best team in baseball? Five straight wins and a 15-2 record in their last 17
00:06games. So let's get y'all that answer and of course we got to get the updates on the return
00:10of two guys that's on the IL with our Yankees beat writer for the post Greg Joyce. Greg I know
00:16it was a late one last night so I appreciate you hopping on with us before we get your answer
00:20on if this is the best team in baseball. Let's start with two guys that are on the IL. Tuesday
00:26marked the first day that John Carlos Stanton was eligible to be activated off the 10-day
00:32IL. So is there any update you can give us on when we should expect to see Big G back
00:39in action? Yeah it doesn't sound like he's necessarily close. When he went on the IL late
00:46last month they were hoping it would be on the shorter end of the 10-day stint. They even
00:50took three four days to delay putting him on the IL because they were hoping to trying
00:55to see if it was something that he could maybe avoid altogether. Ended up going for testing
00:59that showed the low-grade calf strain so they put him on the IL. But you know he was hoping
01:05that you know when we talked to him the next series in Texas he was hoping that he might
01:08start moving around a little bit during this the you know when the Yankees got back home
01:12but this homestand is about to you know two days left in the homestand and as of Tuesday
01:17John Carlos still wasn't doing any kind of running so he's been hitting and doing okay but
01:22it sounds like the the calf is still kind of lingering for him so they're not going to push
01:25him at this point. You know they're obviously playing pretty well without him and you know
01:31they care more about having him in the long run and you know when he's at his best in October
01:35so
01:35they don't want this to you know they don't want to rush him back and have it turn into something
01:39where he's out longer term but it doesn't sound like anything's necessarily imminent there just
01:44with he needs to at least get moving around you know start some kind of a you know running
01:48jogging program there before he's going to return so it doesn't sound like that's going
01:53to happen here in the next few series at least. Running or jogging like when does John Carlos
01:58stay and actually run like my man takes a leisurely stroll the first base when he gets a hit
02:03so that's that's pretty funny on that one but you know they could use that bat back into
02:08back in the lineup. Another guy that's on IL but seems to be a little bit closer in his return
02:13is Carlos Rodon. He's been down in the majors but Aaron Boone told you guys that that his next
02:20outing could be in the majors so what are the chances you think we see Rodon the next turn of
02:27the rotation and what limits do you think they're going to put him on when he's back? Yeah it looks
02:34like he should be back. I would think Sunday in Milwaukee is the probable day for his first start
02:39of the year as long as the next few days go well in his recovery from from his last rehab
02:44start last
02:45night. I think he threw 83 pitches worked into the seventh inning last night so it's a pretty good
02:50baseline to be at as he returns to the big leagues and they pretty much said that you know last
02:56night
02:56they optioned Elmer Rodriguez to AAA after his start last night so that clears the spot for Rodon to
03:02return to the rotation so I think they will be you know they'll probably be a little bit careful with
03:06him in the early going at least obviously coming he's coming off surgery to remove loose bodies
03:12and shave down a bone spur in his left elbow in October so they kind of took their time with
03:17him
03:17like it's the the luxury of having depth in that rotation that they didn't need to race him back
03:22for the beginning of season he was kind of able to work through things he's got more range of motion
03:26in his arm than he's had in a while so he kind of took spring training to figure out like
03:30how to use
03:30that you know new range of motion and what that meant for him and so I think you know we'll
03:35probably see
03:35him on a pitch count at least you know 80s 90s like low 90s the first couple maybe before they
03:40kind of take the reins off him but that's a big piece to get back and Gary Cole probably not
03:45far
03:45behind him you know we may see him back by the end of the month too so you know it's
03:50a rotation that's
03:51been one of the best arguably the best in the majors already and then you're talking about that
03:55and those two guys at some point this month so you know all positive things there for the Yankees
03:59you talked about rookie pitcher Elmer Rodriguez being optioned to the minors to open up a spot
04:06on the roster for Rodon in that two game sample size do you think he did enough or showed enough
04:13for Boone to call on him again later on in the season if needed I think you saw it in
04:19flashes and
04:19I think it's it's you know it seems like it should be a good learning experience for him now as
04:23he goes
04:23back to AAA with some stuff to work on when he called up you know I heard from a scout
04:28that said he had
04:28pretty good you know pretty good feel for a young guy I think still 22 years old and he was
04:32known for
04:33for a strike throw but he didn't necessarily show that in two starts he admitted last night like
04:37there's times he's trying to be too perfect too fine and kind of nibble around the zone where
04:41you know maybe in AAA you get away with that or you get guys to chase but obviously when you're
04:47in the
04:47big leagues these are the best hitters in the game they're going to play off those pitches so
04:51he had four walks again last night just like he did in his debut hit a batter through a wild
04:56fish
04:56that got him in some trouble but he was in a tough spot in the first inning three you know
05:00down 3-0
05:01he's got 37 pitches that Ryan Yarbrough orming in the bullpen but he's able to kind of settle in
05:06right the ship make it into the fifth inning obviously not how he wanted it to go but it was
05:11I think it was an important you know learning experience for him and that I'm sure there you
05:16know would be surprising that if he's back up at some point later this year if there's a need
05:21and not now he's got these two games under his belt kind of know what he needs to work on
05:25back
05:25at AAA to get a little bit better with the command so I think you know in the long run
05:29this this could
05:30be an important two-game cameo for him. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has hit all four of his home runs this
05:38season
05:38in his last 12 games and that includes that rocket that he launched to right field on Tuesday night
05:44you can kind of tell by a bat flip that Jazzy's got his moxie back so do you think like
05:50do you think
05:50like or feel like Yankees fans can stop panicking about the slow start to Jazzy's season?
05:57Yeah I think so I think he's typically a little bit of a slow starter and he said you know
06:02you know
06:03it lasted maybe a little bit longer than usual but he has looked more like himself these last two weeks
06:09I know he said even last night he was still a little bit frustrated because the last couple games
06:13he felt like he was hitting the ball well and wasn't getting any luck and even though it has been
06:17two weeks of where it looks like he's turning the corner but yeah you could like you said you could
06:22tell last night after he hit that one there was some relief there he said finally like you can see
06:26the bat flip that kind of thing that took some weight off his shoulders just from at least a couple
06:31days of not getting results but he has looked better the last two weeks kind of more in line with
06:36what we saw last year so that's an important bat for them to get going consistently because we saw
06:40last year you know what kind of impact he can make if he's if he's hitting it well he's an
06:45factor on the bases you know adding some power in there too he's a 30-30 guy last year obviously
06:51so
06:52like you said slow start but it seems like the the signs are are pretty good that he's kind of
06:57turned that corner and this is kind of settling settling into you know kind of who he was last year
07:03all right now it's time to put you on the spot five straight wins 15th win in the last 17
07:09games
07:10they're sitting at a 25 and 11 record right now jaz schism jr said uh the positivity in the clubhouse
07:17right now is just super crazy is this the best team in baseball 36 games into the season and if
07:26not
07:26the best at least the hottest yeah certainly seem like the hottest i'd say they're i think they're
07:33they can probably claim to be the best team in the american league so far um you know the rest
07:37of the american league has kind of gotten off to a slow start like nobody has been quite nearly as
07:41hot as the yankees you know you still got the the dodgers in the national league the braids are off
07:46to
07:46a pretty real good start too so you know they haven't matched up against those teams yet so that'll be
07:51interesting you know when they get there um you know nobody but the yankees pretty much have had their
07:57way with almost every team the only the exception is that the rays who swept them uh in tampa last
08:02month
08:02um that was the only series where it really it was uh you know kind of looked rough for the
08:07yankees but
08:08um it's really during the stretch where they've won 15 and 17 like they're getting it from from
08:13everywhere they're starting pitching it's been good their bullpen's been good like last night they
08:18they inherited eight runners and stranded all of them and i think that was only the second time
08:22they had done that in the expansion era um you know those guys picking each other up aaron moody
08:27even said like i think they're better than people think they are so you know those guys are feeling
08:31good about themselves and then the lineup uh you're kind of getting it from different different areas
08:35of lineup instead of just one get one or two guys carrying them um so you know ryan mcmahon has
08:40looked better over the last couple weeks that's an important part at the bottom of the lineup if you
08:43can get some more regular you know production from him uh so it's the power it's the speed it's the
08:49you
08:49know guys getting on base kind of drawing the walks like they're doing a lot of different ways i think
08:53which i think is important because some of those stuff is going to go in and out during the course
08:57of the
08:57year but if you're able to kind of tap into different areas to when you're a game on a certain
09:01night i think that's important they're doing it with the same roster running it back with the same
09:05roster and having a lot of success greg joyce appreciate you hopping on with this man you got it
09:11thanks brian
09:11thanks brian
09:11thanks brian
09:13thanks brian
Comments