00:00Are the Yankees good enough to avoid that annual June swoon?
00:04We've got about a third of the regular season in the books,
00:06so let's see what our Yankees beat writer for the post.
00:09Dan Martin thinks about this team's chances to take the AL.
00:14Dan, appreciate you hopping on with us.
00:16It may be a little too early to be talking about taking the American League,
00:21but let's start with a little Giancarlo Stanton injury update.
00:25He's been cleared by team doctors to start running.
00:28Aaron Boone confirmed that he's going to start outside running this week.
00:33So realistically to you, when do you think we see Big G back in the lineup?
00:40You know, Brandon, it's hard to predict with him.
00:43Things have been going so slowly, but he's a different type of player,
00:46as you know, that he doesn't, you know, he's not going to play the field.
00:49They're not looking for him to do anything on the bases.
00:51So if he can swing and get his way to first base,
00:54they're going to put him out there.
00:55So I think he's still a couple of weeks away because he's got to get back into
01:00that running ability to have, at least get to first base and second base.
01:06But from a standpoint of a rehab assignment, he's a different type of player.
01:10He probably won't need one.
01:11So, you know, it might be a week, might be two weeks,
01:14but the Yankee offense, as good as it's been,
01:16it could sure use his right-handed bat.
01:18I don't know why I chose to play football where there are people out there
01:22making millions of dollars just to swing a bat and jog to first or second base
01:27at best.
01:29Changing, I don't know, my kids playing baseball, Dan.
01:32Let's move on to a guy that came off a rehab assignment.
01:34He's looking great during his short time back in the majors.
01:40Garrett Cole looked very much like his vintage self on Wednesday night.
01:44Ten strikeouts across six and two-thirds scoreless innings.
01:47His command was there.
01:49It looks like Cole is back to his usual self.
01:52So, Dan, do you feel like this is the version of Garrett Cole
01:56we should expect to see the rest of the season?
02:00You know, I don't know if he can keep up this pace
02:02where he doesn't give up any runs at all.
02:04But I know that after his first start, he was as excited as he was about it.
02:09He was a little concerned there were only a couple of three strikeouts.
02:12That was the one thing that was missing after that first start.
02:15And then the second start, ten strikeouts, no walks.
02:18I mean, that was perfect.
02:20Garrett Cole, exactly what you would want from him.
02:23So, yeah, I mean, he looks like the ace that they've been waiting
02:26a year and a half for.
02:27And if that's the case, if he can keep that up
02:29and there's no reason to believe that he won't,
02:31that just gives them another big arm in their rotation
02:35as they wait to get Max Fried back.
02:36And if you start to think ahead to the playoffs,
02:39then a one, two, three, or even a four of Cole, Rodon, Max Fried,
02:46and then obviously Cam Schlittler is as good as a foursome
02:49as any rotation is probably going to put out there in the playoffs.
02:52So Garrett Cole, having him healthy, having him back,
02:55that changes a lot of things for the Yankees,
02:57not just their rotation, but just the whole vibe on the team.
03:00And this is the guy that they want to build the rotation around.
03:04They did okay without him last year and for the first third of this year.
03:07But to have him back and pitching like he can,
03:10that changes a lot of things for the whole roster.
03:14So even though, like, Max Fried looked, I mean, great before he got injured,
03:19when he comes back healthy, Garrett Cole is the ace
03:22for this pitching rotation.
03:26Yeah, I mean, you know, people might say 1-1A,
03:30but look at the – just look at the contract.
03:32You know, Garrett Cole still has the biggest contract
03:35of any pitcher on the team.
03:37I think even Max Fried would say he's the ace.
03:40Maybe Garrett Cole says, you know, they're co-aces.
03:44But Garrett Cole is the guy.
03:46You know, they got him to be at the top of the rotation.
03:50They still view him that way.
03:51He still views himself that way.
03:53The fact that he's right-handed and Fried is left-handed,
03:56you can kind of make it that they're both at the top of the rotation.
03:59But when Garrett Cole is at his best, you know, he's kind of one-of-one
04:04in terms of what he's able to do and his importance to the whole team.
04:09So, yeah, I would still call him the ace even if Fried is healthy
04:12and pitching as well as he can.
04:14All right, Dan, it's starting to get consistently warm here in New York,
04:18about to hit the hot summer months.
04:19For the past couple of years, as you know,
04:22this franchise has suffered from the June swoon or the summer shutdown.
04:26Talk about that rough patch that they've hit during the middle third of the games.
04:32We see that about every year, but how do they avoid that this year?
04:36They've lost 10 of 14 during a rough stretch this month alone.
04:40So, you know, they can't afford another collapse.
04:45Yeah, it's been a real issue.
04:47There's no real answer for it.
04:49I think what they would say, the difference this year, is that they are deeper.
04:53You know, we've talked about that throughout the year,
04:55that they have a deeper roster, you know,
04:58which is why Anthony Volpe wound up back in the minors
05:01because they had more options at the major league level.
05:04So I think they could say, you know, we're not as reliant,
05:07maybe on Aaron Judge to just carry the team if things aren't going well.
05:12So that would be their argument.
05:14The counter-argument to that is, yeah, they're still susceptible to it
05:16because, as you just mentioned, they lost 10 of 14.
05:20Judge went into a slump, and no one picked him up out of it.
05:24So that's, you know, that's why they could use a guy like Giancarlo Stanton back
05:28because it makes the lineup deeper.
05:30You know, they've still got issues.
05:32They've got very little offense from third base.
05:35Ryan McMahon, you know, has shown some flashes of the power that they wanted.
05:40But Austin Wells has struggled behind the plate.
05:42They're getting almost no production from the catching position.
05:45So there are concerns there that, yeah, that they are susceptible
05:48to having one of those three or four or five-week stretches
05:52where they just look terrible.
05:53But they're hoping that this deep pitching rotation that we just talked about
05:58with Cole back, obviously with Freed is out,
06:00but Schlittler, Rodon, you know, they've just got a lot of guys
06:04that they think that could keep them from having one of those stretches
06:07where they can't get out of their own way.
06:09But until they do it, until they avoid that June swoon,
06:12people are going to keep waiting for it.
06:14They've survived it for the most part over the past few years,
06:17and we'll see if they can do it again or just simply avoid it.
06:2024 hits Tuesday night, a dominant performance by Garrett Cole
06:25and another offensive master class at the plate Wednesday night.
06:29When this team is back fully healthy, I'm talking Freed back, Big G back,
06:34and they're playing that brand of baseball, are they the best team in MLB
06:39or at least the best team in the American League?
06:42Yeah, certainly I would make the case that they are in the American League.
06:46The Dodgers are still the best team until someone proves otherwise.
06:50But, you know, they still have to get to that point.
06:52They have to get healthy and keep everyone who is in one piece healthy.
06:57They've had a hard time doing that, as have a lot of teams around the league.
07:01But you look at the talent, you look at the depth.
07:04You know, before the season started, I picked them to win the World Series
07:07because I just thought that they had a lot more roster flexibility.
07:14They've got Garrett Cole back, which they didn't have last year.
07:16So, yeah, I think if everything goes their way, if they play the way they're capable of,
07:21they've got the most talent, they've got playoff experience.
07:25I would say they are the best team in the American League.
07:28And then, you know, we'll be waiting to see what happens in October
07:31for them to prove that to be true and to see if they can meet, you know,
07:35the Dodgers again in the postseason because they're rolling.
07:38You know, they've got some issues, too.
07:40But I think, clearly, those are the two best teams in the major leagues.
07:43All right.
07:43Yankees are back in action Friday night.
07:45They start their series with the A's.
07:47Dan Martin, appreciate you hopping on with us, sir.
07:51Thanks, Brandon.
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