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00:00:00The Yankees have a shot, I think, to get to the top of the AL East, open a little distance,
00:00:08create the best record in the league. There's never any coasting when it comes to anything,
00:00:14but I think they've got a shot. I think they have the best team in the league.
00:00:17It's a drive by Derby Dawson, Charles Chisholm goes deep.
00:00:26Hello, welcome to the Pinstripe Post. My name is Ryan Sampson,
00:00:28but he's the star of the show, Joel Sherman. Today is Monday, June 1st.
00:00:31We are officially in June, Joel. June swoon is a lot of things the Yankees fans that are very negative
00:00:38like to say on social media has started. I am not going there because the Yankees had a nice series
00:00:43against the A's. 13 runs exploding in one inning yesterday was pretty remarkable.
00:00:47The fact that that was all their hits and runs in one inning was crazy.
00:00:49But before we get to any of the talk about Yankees baseball, as always on a Monday,
00:00:55Joel Sherman, how are you?
00:00:58Yeah, I'm good. It was an interesting moment yesterday because I was at the Met game
00:01:02and the Met game was over, coinciding with the inning where the Yankees scored 13 runs.
00:01:09And while I'm waiting for various people to return to their lockers so I can talk to them,
00:01:13I just keep checking my phone. I go, oh, the Yankees scored three runs without making it out.
00:01:18Oh, the Yankees scored five runs without making it out.
00:01:21Oh, and finally I pointed out to Dan Martin. I said, you know, I've covered a lot of baseball for
00:01:25a pretty long time.
00:01:26I don't think I've ever seen like when it got up to 10, 10 runs without an out being made.
00:01:35That was really something.
00:01:37So, and of course, they ultimately got to about 13 and all using all three outs.
00:01:42So it was a different experience, but you might have to guide me through some of it because, again,
00:01:47I was in a clubhouse while they were scoring 13 runs.
00:01:50Yeah, look, I mean, it was the A's could not throw a strike.
00:01:53I mean, that that is ultimately what was going on.
00:01:55It almost happened the night before also when the A's almost blew a lead in the ninth, right?
00:01:59It is like couldn't, they couldn't throw a strike in, right?
00:02:02It's a, it is a weakness of some teams.
00:02:05It's the strength of the Yankees, right?
00:02:06They draw, they're walking home.
00:02:08What's amazing is they scored 13 runs without hitting a home run, right?
00:02:11Right.
00:02:12And that's, that's ultimately what was, was surprising Joel is as I'm watching that inning unravel,
00:02:16I'm like, it's walk, walk, hit, hit, walk, walk, hit.
00:02:20Like that's all it was.
00:02:21It was nothing too out of this crazy, like, you know, here's a three run homer.
00:02:24Here's a grand slam.
00:02:25It was just, we're going to continue to just, you know, wait for our pitch and we'll attack
00:02:30it when we can.
00:02:31But look, Joel, I want to start with ultimately real or unreal because this guy right now is
00:02:38an incredible player right now.
00:02:41And I, we are seeing the full blossom of Ben Rice.
00:02:43He became the, the fifth fastest player to hit 50 home runs for his first 50 career home
00:02:50runs with the Yankees joining the likes of judge Gary Sanchez.
00:02:53The list is pretty, pretty remarkable.
00:02:55I know I asked you a bunch about, you know, the comp for Ben Rice.
00:03:00You've told me Kyle Schwarber, but I wonder the more and more evidence that is piling up
00:03:04for Ben Rice.
00:03:05Is there anything else that you could say about the player that he has turned into at the
00:03:09plate?
00:03:11Well, I mean, if he turns into a full-time Kyle Schwarber, that's really something.
00:03:14I mean, that he did finish second for the national league MVP last year, Schwarber, and
00:03:18was a hero of a World Series winning team and has been a great postseason player besides
00:03:25that.
00:03:27So I think if that's the comp, you know, former catcher who probably really shouldn't have
00:03:33been playing that position, who then moved out in the field and, you know, Schwarber bounced
00:03:38around some left, some first, and ultimately ended up at DH.
00:03:41I wonder if that's ultimately the long-term, you know, Stanton's contract runs through next
00:03:46season.
00:03:47As you see, given a choice whether to play him or Goldschmidt at first base, the Yankees
00:03:53are playing Goldschmidt.
00:03:55It's interesting.
00:03:55Goldschmidt was one of those guys who, when he was re-signed in the offseason, there was
00:03:59a lot of, why are they re-signing him?
00:04:00Turns out that was a pretty good signing.
00:04:02He's still a very, very, you know, he went from a very, very, I mean, a Hall of Fame borderline
00:04:11everyday player to now a very, very useful, whatever you would call what he's doing.
00:04:16He's a regular player right now while Stanton is out and he, you know, he has a great skill
00:04:21as is people who, right-hand batters who hit lefty pitching are in limited supply in the
00:04:28sport.
00:04:29The Yankees re-signed two of them in Rosario and Goldschmidt and are getting some great
00:04:34benefits.
00:04:35By the way, they signed Randall Gritchick, who actually is doing it great for the White
00:04:41Sox.
00:04:42They let go of him, you know, in the churn, you know, all the Yankee fans wanted to see
00:04:45Jason Dominguez and wanted to get rid of Randall Gritchick because they had seen the 12th
00:04:50plate appearances that were going to determine his career, apparently.
00:04:54And he was let go and he's been really, he's done for the White Sox, I think what the Yankees
00:04:59thought he might do for them, which is, you know, hit for some left-hand power, go play
00:05:03the outfield a little bit.
00:05:05I'm sorry, I went off a line here a little bit.
00:05:07It's just that, you know, I think the other thing is Schwarber does damage against lefty
00:05:14pitching.
00:05:14I think we've seen Rice do damage against lefty pitching this year.
00:05:17Uh, I think that's kind of where it is.
00:05:21And the fact is, the reality is Schwarber took some time to get there.
00:05:25There were the high highs early, but he actually had to go to the minor leagues about two or
00:05:29three years into his career, uh, because his batting average sank so low.
00:05:34Um, I just think, I think on this show, even during the 24 season, I was saying the Yankee
00:05:42people strongly believe that Rice is a number four or five hitter.
00:05:46I think that led to a lot of guff, uh, as it often is, uh, but, but they love the
00:05:52process.
00:05:53They loved how the ball came off the bat.
00:05:55They loved his decision.
00:05:57The Yankees, I'm going to use the Yankees.
00:05:59A lot of teams obviously believe in this.
00:06:01The Yankees are big about, uh, decision-making when you're hitting, like, are you hitting not
00:06:07only strikes, but until two strikes, are you hitting your strike?
00:06:11Are you getting off your ace swing when you make that determination, especially if you
00:06:17could get to favorable counts by knowing the strike zone?
00:06:19And I think Ben Rice all along, as soon as he became a Yankee, you know, another great
00:06:25draft pick by Matt Hyde, their scout in the New England area, who's, you know, scouted both
00:06:31Schlittler and Rice, had a lot to do with Anthony Volpe, uh, and the Yankees.
00:06:37Um, he, uh, you know, Rice's swing decisions are really good.
00:06:42When the ball hits the bat, he really barrels it up at a very, very high percentage.
00:06:46When he barrels it up, it goes very far.
00:06:49Uh, he's willing to take a walk.
00:06:51He doesn't back down against lefty pitching.
00:06:53He doesn't seem afraid to be up in a game situation that matters, uh, you know, tie score
00:06:59late one run lead either way.
00:07:00So pretty much anything you would want to see in a young hitter.
00:07:03Uh, he was showing some of it without full results early on.
00:07:07This is, I know people kill analytics, but this is one of the areas where analytics stuff
00:07:12does help where you could say, Oh, is the player swinging at strikes when he's swinging
00:07:18at strikes?
00:07:19Is he hitting the ball hard?
00:07:21Is he hitting in bad luck?
00:07:22You know, if you hit a lot, you know, like, like the, it's better to have a ball bloop for
00:07:28a single on a broken bat than line to the second baseman for a result, but not for a process
00:07:34moving forward.
00:07:35You know, the more line drives, more hard hit balls you have, the better.
00:07:40And all the underlying data on rice, even struggling rice was good process, good plate
00:07:47discipline, hard hit balls when he was reading the pitch, right?
00:07:50And, uh, I think we have now seen enough of rice over multiple years to throw away some
00:07:58of the flash in the pan comparison, uh, you know, Shane Spencer, Kevin Moss, et cetera,
00:08:04and believe that there's really, really a top flight hitter.
00:08:07And I would be surprised in next month.
00:08:11He isn't at the all-star game.
00:08:12Well, the reason, again, I asked about the real or unreal part, right?
00:08:15Is because as we gather more data on Ben rice, like you're saying, he squares the ball apart.
00:08:20Every time he hits it, it's hard.
00:08:22He barrels it up.
00:08:23And that's the, I think that's, what's so fun about him is that he finds those pitches
00:08:27that he wants.
00:08:27And he absolutely smokes the ball every single time.
00:08:30And it's usually going far, Joel, because how hard he swings at the ball, uh, and go ahead.
00:08:37Okay.
00:08:37Can I throw on one thing?
00:08:38His strikeouts are hot up this year.
00:08:41Um, uh, I do think that he's a guy who I think the strikeouts will come down some over time.
00:08:50I don't think he's a wild swinger.
00:08:53I don't think he's a full-on guest guy.
00:08:56And I think right now there's some mighty swing and miss there.
00:09:00And I think that number will be in the twenties, but I don't think it will be in the high
00:09:04twenties
00:09:04where it's kind of like mainly been this year.
00:09:06I think that that's the next step to me for rice is, uh, can he drop three, four percentage
00:09:14points of strikeout and get even more balls hard in play?
00:09:19Like the Yankees are, again, they're not a team.
00:09:21They would rather a guy strike out, I think, than go from the process and not, not know
00:09:27their pitch and not hit the ball hard.
00:09:29They're very much in that.
00:09:31And I think rice is incredibly bright as a person, as a hitter.
00:09:36I think he's incredibly confident.
00:09:39I don't think he's a fake confidence guy.
00:09:41And I think some of that will lead to even better swing decision, uh, results as they go
00:09:48along.
00:09:49Cause the other thing is while he has great pull side power, he does do a lot of damage
00:09:54the other way into the left center field gap and even to left field.
00:09:58And I think that kind of player could have their strikeout rate drop while not losing,
00:10:03hitting the ball hard.
00:10:04Yeah.
00:10:05It's interesting to note about his strikeout percentage.
00:10:07Uh, currently he's at hovering around 22 and a half percent, uh, in, in, I thought it was
00:10:13even higher than that.
00:10:14So actually, uh, according to fan graphs, he was at 25 and 25 and a half percent through
00:10:19March and April in may, he dropped down in Joel in may, he dropped down to 19.6%.
00:10:25So I think he had a better month.
00:10:27Yeah.
00:10:28Yeah.
00:10:28Like, I think that that's what I'm saying.
00:10:30It's like, like all the things you would look for to say, he's fluky flash in the pan
00:10:36have disappeared from the, the, the ledger.
00:10:40Uh, you know, I, unfortunately I'm old enough.
00:10:42I was the beat guy, how old I am when Kevin was around and, and kind of like took New
00:10:50York by storm in 1990 when the Yankees, by the way, were terrible and had their worst
00:10:55record in about eight decades.
00:10:56People do forget that also, that there was a time where the Yankees were terrible and
00:11:00Moss got a chance and he did it.
00:11:01And he kind of like, he had real power, especially it played up at Yankee stadium.
00:11:06He was a Paul power guy, but like there was no flexibility in a swing.
00:11:09It was like, like there was no, once the league figured him out, there wasn't a next
00:11:15him then adjusting again.
00:11:17I think the one thing you get, right.
00:11:19And by the way, Kevin was very smart.
00:11:20He was a Cal Berkeley guy.
00:11:22Uh, you know, Ben is of Dartmouth guy.
00:11:24Like, I think they're legitimately smart guys, but I think Ben has already showed like, oh,
00:11:28the league's adjusted to me.
00:11:29I adjust back.
00:11:30And there's been a little of that ping pong already.
00:11:33And here he is.
00:11:34I, again, maybe I'm off on this because I haven't looked in a few days.
00:11:37I think he was last time I looked second in OPS and the whole sport to your Don Alvarez.
00:11:41Uh, and that's like pretty good company.
00:11:44Uh, now more than a third of the way through the season.
00:11:47So I think he's got, he's actually above Alvarez Joel after yesterday.
00:11:51He's above Alvarez.
00:11:53He's at one in the sport.
00:11:55He's number one in the sport.
00:11:56Ben rice in OPS 1.055 and Alvarez sits at 1.050.
00:12:01So, uh, so, you know, we're not at a, we're not at a small sample size much anymore.
00:12:06We're beyond one third of the season.
00:12:08You know, I, I think he's got a real shot to be a 40 Homer guy, uh, in his career.
00:12:14If not this season, he also leads the sport in slug percentage too, Joel.
00:12:18He's leading over Alvarez.
00:12:19I think there's going to be doubles and I think there's going to be walks and I think
00:12:23there's going to be, I don't think maybe like judge a 300 average, but I don't think he's
00:12:28going to do this with a two, 222 average.
00:12:31I think that there's enough there because of the walks that he doesn't just have empty
00:12:36calorie outs that he'll hit 255, 260 or better, uh, to go along with doubles, homers
00:12:46and walks.
00:12:46And that's, I mean, it's all pretty good.
00:12:48I mean, you add hit lefties, you know, you're, you're thinking about the baton pass here
00:12:53a little bit, right?
00:12:54Like, like I'll tell you something that, um, a scout said to me about two weeks ago, I was
00:13:03just, uh, you know, asking him as, you know, general perception of, uh, the New York teams.
00:13:08And he had been on the Yankees a little bit recently.
00:13:10And he said, does Schlittler and rice, uh, prop the Yankee window open.
00:13:18Another five years, because he said like, at some point, call and judge going to age
00:13:23out of us.
00:13:24Yeah.
00:13:24Uh, and when they do, these two guys will actually be in their prime.
00:13:28Not that they're not performing like prime players right now.
00:13:31And of course, you know, what it does is it, it does it for not a lot of money right
00:13:35now
00:13:36for either guy.
00:13:37They're both pre-arb.
00:13:38I believe there'll be pre-arb still, uh, you know, uh, Schlittler for sure.
00:13:41And I think even rice going into this off season.
00:13:44So, um, if we have an off season and, um, you know, I just think that, that draft picks
00:13:51like it's the judge thing, you know, getting judged with the 35th dish pick in the draft,
00:13:56it just changes your arc.
00:13:58I mean, he's an eight win plus player every year.
00:14:01And it's just, if you get him the advantage, especially homegrown, the advantages are great.
00:14:09Like, you know, like I think Bo Bichette could really hit and what's ever going on is going
00:14:13on.
00:14:14Like when you have a guy grow up in your organization and he's used to playing in New York and
00:14:19he
00:14:19then performs, it's just like, there's just something that bowies your organization.
00:14:24Like, I think the Mets have gotten something out of, and we'll continue to get something
00:14:28out of like Ewing and Benj because like they're homegrown.
00:14:33They're like, kind of like went to spring training.
00:14:35They saw the size of say the media contingent that covers the team.
00:14:38They understand the expectation a little better.
00:14:41And there's just something about homegrown.
00:14:42The fans like it.
00:14:44The energy's better.
00:14:45Everyone in your organization feels good because everyone feels a hand in it from the people
00:14:50who drafted and signed them to the people who developed them to the managers.
00:14:54And coaches in the minor leagues, the analytic people who gave them information.
00:14:58There's just something about homegrown that just makes an organization feel better.
00:15:03And I mean, Rice and Schlittler, I mean, Schlittler is probably the one third ALS Young Award
00:15:09winner and Rice would probably be on everybody's 10, 10, you know, the ballot is 10 people.
00:15:14I'd be shocked if Rice wasn't on a majority of the 30 ballots, maybe even in the top five pretty
00:15:20regularly at this point, I think you might make a case.
00:15:22He's a better MVP candidate than Judge.
00:15:24That's kind of what I wanted to go to now.
00:15:26I mean, like Rice is right now with Judge's like slump in May, I would argue right now
00:15:31that Ben Rice is the team's MVP.
00:15:34He is absolutely the force.
00:15:36I would argue that Cody Bellinger is the team's MVP.
00:15:38Okay.
00:15:38But I would say, again, that the numbers say what Bryce is doing.
00:15:43It's best in baseball right now.
00:15:44I understand it's probably not.
00:15:46I think Bellinger is number two in the whole sport in war.
00:15:50Defensively, because of the defensive part of his game.
00:15:52Oh, no.
00:15:53Right, right.
00:15:54But half the game is defense.
00:15:57He's as good a defensive player as there is in baseball, especially in his position.
00:16:02He's an excellent base runner and he's got about a 140 OPS plus.
00:16:07And every day he helps win a baseball game in some way.
00:16:10And I think the bigger thing that Yankee fans can take out of it is they have three guys
00:16:14playing pretty great, even with the slump.
00:16:17Judge, you know, like I'm wondering where everyone who is not named like Aaron Judge
00:16:22and Shohei Ohtani would sign up to slump like Aaron Judge.
00:16:26Right.
00:16:26What, 16 or 17 homers and a 900 OPS.
00:16:29And I assume, you know, we'll get his act back together and have one of those periods
00:16:33where he hits like, you know, eight homers in 12 games and looks like he's having a season.
00:16:38You know, look, one of these years he won't.
00:16:40You know, the one thing with Judge is there'll always be the mystery of when someone his size
00:16:46goes bad.
00:16:47Right.
00:16:47How quickly does it happen?
00:16:49What does it look like?
00:16:50But, you know, as of three weeks ago, he looked like Aaron Judge, who was the two-time
00:17:01defending AL MVP, three-time MVP in all and one of the greatest hitters in history.
00:17:06So I assume it's not going to be this year.
00:17:08You never know.
00:17:09But the Yankees have three position players that are performing at an incredibly high
00:17:14level right now.
00:17:16And that Rice is, you know, a mid-round draft pick who's one of them who didn't really play
00:17:21baseball in college.
00:17:22It's just an amazing story.
00:17:24It really is.
00:17:25And I love the kid.
00:17:27I love his demeanor.
00:17:27I love the way he carries himself, like you said, both on the field and off the field.
00:17:31Very professional.
00:17:32And he just, he's so much fun to root for.
00:17:35And like I said, I love watching him as his at-bats are so good and their quality at-bats.
00:17:40And he hits the ball so freaking hard.
00:17:43Look, the reason, again, why you ask real or unreal, I think is part of that whole thing
00:17:47that you just mentioned with Kevin Moss and in the previous history.
00:17:50So when he joined this list of being the fifth-fastest Yankee to hit 50 career home runs, like I
00:17:55said, he joined Gary Sanchez, which didn't work out in the end.
00:17:58But Gary still has made himself a career out of all this, despite the defense.
00:18:02That's a really useful player for the Milwaukee Brewers right now.
00:18:04That's what I'm saying.
00:18:05He's made a very good year.
00:18:06He's having a very good year.
00:18:07He's making a career out of himself, despite it kind of pandering out.
00:18:11He was a good player for the Yankees.
00:18:13I mean, it went like, you know, there were three or four years there where it's really good.
00:18:16Can I just ask, I honestly thought Gary Sanchez was going to be one of the best hitters in
00:18:21baseball for years, because he looked that way from the start, from jump.
00:18:26Yeah, I think Gary Sanchez, and look, this is my theory.
00:18:30It doesn't mean I'm right, but I'll offer up a theory.
00:18:33I think Gary Sanchez and Austin Wells have a similar issue.
00:18:37When Gary Sanchez came, I'll never forget, I was standing with Sabathia and A-Rod in spring
00:18:45training 16, 17, someplace in that area, and we're doing the, like, who's the best hitter
00:18:52on the team, and Sabathia flat out went, the best hitter on the team is Gary Sanchez, and
00:18:57I said, yeah, he could really hit a ball over the fence, and he looked at me, and he said,
00:19:00he's the best hitter on the team, not hit it over the fence.
00:19:03He's the best hitter on the team, and at that time, he was, he could hit a homer to right
00:19:08center, and I think what happened was, he's, it's why, when it's, you got to be careful
00:19:18when you're a hammer that you don't see the whole world as nails, right?
00:19:22I think the Yankees would then, were, I would say their analytic people were less humanistic,
00:19:30and thought that everyone can handle the same amount of information.
00:19:34I think they all thought that the information was one size fits all, it makes sense, you
00:19:42know, like, hey, here's the batting average against your curveball, you should throw only
00:19:47curveballs, and it's like, right, it's my batting average against my curveball, because
00:19:51I set it up with my fastball, if I throw only curveballs, it's going to stop being the same
00:19:55thing, and I think that when they got Gary, two things happened to Gary, they got him to
00:20:01think more launch in the air to the pull side, which I don't think he needed to do, because
00:20:06he was a good hitter, who was, I mean, Gary Sanchez is like, like Alonzo, like Pete Alonzo,
00:20:11just strong, you could confuse, because they're both a little stocky, whatever, like, I don't
00:20:17think you'd want to, like, arm wrestle, or wrestle either guy, they're bears, they're
00:20:21like, like, polar bear, literally, for, for, for Alonzo, they're so strong, and I think that
00:20:27Gary just would have kept hitting him, like, if you never change the swing, he would have
00:20:30hit homers, and had a better overall offense profile, the other thing was, I do think body
00:20:35language destroyed Gary in a lot of ways, also, because I think people thought he didn't
00:20:40care, and I think he ended up kind of, like, turning downward and sulking a little bit, when
00:20:47things went badly, because he actually did care, but didn't know how to express it, and
00:20:52one of the things he really cared about was he wanted to be a good defensive catcher, I always
00:20:56go back to this, Larry Rothschild was the pitching coach for a lot of the time that Gary was
00:21:01there, and Larry Rothschild, if we started to make a list of what does, like, old school
00:21:05look like, Larry would have been in it, and Larry was a big defender of how much Gary cared,
00:21:11like, he was not, now, would he say Gary was a good defensive catcher, I don't think he
00:21:15would have, I think he could have pointed at the points, but, like, like, and I think
00:21:19Gary was trying to take in all the information that was beginning to percolate, where,
00:21:27catchers were being fed, individual scouting, you know, I go back to a time, again, I'm
00:21:31an old, Ryan, is, like, hey, we're playing Detroit, they're a fastball hitting team, so
00:21:39we're going to pitch Detroit like this, and now we have, we're going to pitch this hitter
00:21:45like this, when we're ahead of the count, when we're behind the count, when a lefty's on the
00:21:49round, when the right hit, and everything is individualized, like, people make fun that, like,
00:21:54the Marlins are calling pitches from the, the dugout, I actually wonder if that's going to
00:22:00just become the future, like, they're doing it now, the Rockies are doing a little, because
00:22:05the information overload on Sanchez and Wells, I think, has hurt their offense, Austin Wells,
00:22:12when he was drafted, I think if we had all the Yankee people in front of us, and said,
00:22:17what is Austin Wells going to be, they were going to say, he's going to hit fifth and play
00:22:20first base in DH, they, his, he's gonna be Ben Rice, he's gonna be Ben Rice, basically what they
00:22:26were projecting, right, and his, his bat was his carrying tool, uh, and they were like, you know,
00:22:32like, he'll catch in the minor leagues, to Austin's credit, he worked devilishly at it, I think the
00:22:38Yankees were way ahead of the curve with their people who, you know, uh, were, were working with
00:22:45the catchers, especially on framing, and then to some degree game calling, where Austin Wells, like,
00:22:50even now, if you go look at the framing numbers, I think Wells is second in the major leagues behind
00:22:55Dylan Dingler of the Tigers in, in, you know, framing, uh, performance, and framing still matters
00:23:01even in an ABS world, because not every pitch is challenged, and the Yankees are set, and probably the
00:23:07ones that aren't challenged, you want to grab a higher percentage of strikes, and Wells is really
00:23:11good at it, uh, but I think to be good at that, and to be a good game caller, and
00:23:16I think if you went
00:23:17to even finicky guys, Max Freed, Garrett Cole, etc., and said, is Gary, is, uh, Austin a good game
00:23:25caller, I think they'd say yes, but I think that Gary Sanchez and Austin Wells have lost some offense
00:23:33in modernity by having so much laid on them, like, I think it's physically and mentally exhausting,
00:23:41and I think some of their offense are a lot in the case, because I, I could, I'll, I'll share
00:23:48something else, I hope I'm not, you know, it was just a casual conversation, and I don't think I'm
00:23:53breaking confidence, uh, I was up at MLB Network recently, uh, with Albert Pujols, who I think is
00:24:00kind of a baseball savant, I think he's brilliant baseball guy, I really do, and I, I really enjoyed
00:24:07working with him, uh, because he's so kind to me now, like, it was interesting, as a player, he was
00:24:13tough to deal with, uh, but as a analyst, he is so giving, and him and I were, had a
00:24:19long conversation
00:24:21recently, and I just asked him, I said, what'd you think of, well, you know, remember, Wells caught for
00:24:25the Dominican team, and Albert was the manager, and he was like, oh, he, he could really hit, and I'm
00:24:31like, yeah,
00:24:31I don't know what happened to that guy, he was like, he took such great at-bats for me, and,
00:24:36uh,
00:24:38is, does the wear and tear of the season, does the, there's something happening, because there is a
00:24:43profile within Austin, you and I have talked about it on this show, there was a time where some of
00:24:49the
00:24:49numbers weren't following good, good, um, process, working the count deep, swinging at the right
00:24:56pitches, etc., now I just think he's messed up, the at-bats aren't good anymore, like, Austin's at-bats
00:25:04were good for a lot of the time in previous years where the results weren't there, I don't think
00:25:09these are good at-bats that we're seeing regularly out of him, and quite frankly, the Yankees, again,
00:25:15they're not going to, like, put it on the, uh, you know, like a billboard in Times Square, they're
00:25:20going to get relief pitching, and they're going to get a righty hitting catcher, and, you know,
00:25:24depending on who that righty hitting catcher is, I don't think there's any secret that the twins
00:25:29aren't very good, uh, and that the twins are in cell, going to be in cell mode come July, uh,
00:25:36Ryan Jeffers is a, in his walk year, right now he has the same injury that, uh, Lindor had in
00:25:43spring
00:25:43training, you know, he fractured the hamate bone, he's not back, and so that's going to, you know,
00:25:48I believe he injured that in the middle of last month, it's usually about six to eight weeks to
00:25:52back to action, but you'll lose some of your heft in your swing, so, you know, like, there will be
00:25:58a
00:25:58question about, um, his, uh, swing, etc., people are going to want to see him play, you know, it's
00:26:06the best for the twins and everybody else, if it's, say, like, July 10th or so, he could get, you
00:26:10know,
00:26:10even play and play well, because if you, there's nobody who will fit the Yankees like him, because,
00:26:17number one, he's right-hand hitter, number two, he really, it's now no fluke, go look year to year,
00:26:24he kills lefty pitching, and it's the one thing you'd want, uh, from it, he is an excellent framer,
00:26:31by the way, he has a lot of history with Tana Swanson, who's the Yankees major league hitting guy,
00:26:36uh, catching guy, Tana worked for the twins for a long time before he came to the Yankees,
00:26:41he is the, like, just the ideal, now, there's probably going to be 10 teams who are going to
00:26:47think, you know, who would be ideal, but I bring him up, because if the Yankees get him,
00:26:52I think that, at best, Wells becomes a halftime catcher, right, because, I mean, Jeffers could just
00:27:00play a lot, because Jeffers does the framing, he's known as a good catcher, he'd be your starting
00:27:06catcher, right, in that situation, you're letting out, and, and so I think, uh,
00:27:11like, like, like, he's almost ideal, uh, it's harder to find the next guy you really like,
00:27:19who you think might be, like, historically, I, I still probably stupidly think Texas is going to
00:27:25hang in this thing, but there's been seasons where Kyle Higashioka has hit lefty pitching,
00:27:31this happens not to be one of them, bring back the home run stroka, yeah, no, and he's a little
00:27:38older now, uh, he's making a little money this year, again, I think Texas is going to be in it,
00:27:44uh, and, uh, even though Danny Jansen is there also, what about, um, someone you mentioned before
00:27:50that's in the AL Central as well, Dingler, uh, well, I mean, why would Detroit trade Dingler?
00:27:59Totally understand, but if it, it, like, I know he's not even arbitration, arbitration eligible,
00:28:05that's what I'm saying on a, on a, on a bad team, like if they're a bad team, I think
00:28:09they've got a
00:28:10lot of work to do as far as like the guys you would trade, right? Like, like if they're going
00:28:15to trade school, well, that's going to take up a lot of time. Sure. Uh, and a lot of effort,
00:28:19by the
00:28:20way, um, Casey Mize is in his walk year also and having a good year. He's a starting pitcher.
00:28:26They're likely to do Jack Flaherty's not having a good year, but he's in his walk year. Somebody
00:28:30might want that Glaber Torres is in his walk year. He's just about to come back from his oblique
00:28:36injury. Everyone is looking for right-handed bats. Whatever you think about Glaber Torres,
00:28:40he is a good right-handed bat. And by the way, a guy with a near 800 OPS in the
00:28:45post-season
00:28:46has played 50 odd games in the post-season. Uh, they have relief pitchers who are like, so I don't,
00:28:52and I don't think that they're going to be, unless you, it's very, very hard to find a really
00:28:58good catcher in this sport. It might be the hardest thing to find. Yeah. I never say never,
00:29:04but like, you know, if you're going to start telling me George Lombard plus for your catcher,
00:29:11then maybe you have that conversation, but like, like you're not getting the guy who's likely going
00:29:17to be the starting catcher in the all-star game on credit. Who's not arbitration eligible yet,
00:29:22unless you're giving up, you know, a dollar 50 for a dollar, especially when the other team doesn't
00:29:26want to be distracted when they probably have to trade Tarek Skubal. So I'm not, I'm, I, you know,
00:29:32like the name, like, yes, like, but if I don't act like the Yankees, if you were the Tigers,
00:29:39what would you want for him? Well, you'd want the world for him, but I I'm just, I'm asking because
00:29:43I don't know. I think I'd want the world plus, right. I'd have to give me more. It's also,
00:29:48I just, the only reason I asked you, because if you're the Yankees, you have to seriously
00:29:52question if Austin Wells is your future at that position as well. And if you can answer it long
00:29:56term, you know, no doubt about it, but I'll say this is if Dylan Dingler were on the market,
00:30:01the Yankees would have a hard time getting them because people would line up for that. Okay.
00:30:04Cause unless like Drake Baldwin is your catcher or like, uh, Shea Langle Ayers is your catcher,
00:30:10like, unless you're got like five guys out there who are prime age, excellent players,
00:30:16everyone's going to be in on him. I mean, he's, he's arguably one of the two or three best catchers
00:30:22in the sport. Who's not even arbitration eligible. And the Orioles would never do in division for
00:30:26Adley Rutschman. Right. Even though they have, I mean, I think they would do in the division for
00:30:30Adley Rutschman. I would have a question about who Adley Rutschman is. Okay. I mean, he might be
00:30:35better than Wells, but do you want to do much better than Wells? Because again, like, like
00:30:40whatever he is, the Orioles can't give them up without getting, he was the number one pick in
00:30:45a draft. Yeah. The pick in front of Bobby Witt, by the way, like, what would that be like in
00:30:49New
00:30:50York for David Stearns or Brian Cashman? If you had to live every day with, you could have had Bobby
00:30:54Witt and you took Adley Rutschman. I mean, we do, you know, there's some stuff. I, I, I'll just do
00:31:00this quick for this is the other day in the 10th inning with a base open and Peter Fairbangs on
00:31:09the
00:31:09mound, the Marlins pitched to Juan Soto with the winning run on second base. And I, I'll say this,
00:31:17I was not at the ballpark on Friday night when it happened. And I wasn't there Saturday.
00:31:21I was there yesterday. And there's only one thing I wanted to do. And I got Clayton McCuller alone
00:31:27and asked him about it, why he did it. And I have a feeling it was the only time he
00:31:33was asked. I
00:31:34don't think like, so, you know, you're, you're working in a different landscape here. Sure. If
00:31:42you are, you know, can you imagine Carlos Mendoza doing the opposite of that? Like, like Shohei Ohtani's
00:31:48up and there's a runner up second base. And now, of course, in Shohei Ohtani's case, the next batter is
00:31:55like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. The next batter here was, uh, was Melendez, you know? So
00:32:01who then hit a two run homer, of course, but like there's wow. Yeah. So like, like, I do think
00:32:10we
00:32:10should try to appreciate how much it could. And by the way, it's just cause we're doing our job.
00:32:14We're trying to think along with the fans. Like, what are they interested in knowing? Uh, I think
00:32:19the right-handed catchers that you're laying out though are, is something that Yankees fans are very
00:32:23interested in hearing Joel, just because Jeffers is a name for sure. And that's why I'm asking
00:32:27about Rutschman, Dingler, Hunter Goodman's another name I saw out there. I don't know if that's a
00:32:31possibility. Hunter Goodman strikes out a lot. He's a good catcher. Like, like go look at his
00:32:35strikeout numbers. And I always think if your strikeout numbers are outrageous during the
00:32:40season, by the way, high, high and worse against righty against lefty high strikeout. And I always
00:32:47think if your strikeout numbers are big in the regular season, you are a simple guy to pitch to in
00:32:53the post season. And the Yankees have to think about it a little, right? They're not just playing
00:32:56for the 90 something wins they're trying to get. They're thinking about, they have to like, that's
00:33:02the other thing I can imagine about Jeffers is that he would hit good pitching. Like, I'm not positive
00:33:08of it. You never know, but like, like Goodman's an interesting young player. Like, uh, and I certainly
00:33:14looked at like, I, that I know that information off like my fingertips a little bit is I've been
00:33:19looking at the righty hitting catching potential market. Uh, and he's, I has a rep as a pretty good
00:33:26framer. Um, the strikeout numbers would really, really scare me there. Like
00:33:35it's understandable why you would say that. Uh, and I also get fearful, but the training with the
00:33:39Rockies again for another player starting position player. And it's like, what are we, what are we
00:33:43absorbing here? Like, is he, does his numbers after Ryan McMahon, Jake bird, and forgive me, I'm going
00:33:49to mess up Chevelli's last name on hell or angel value. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, I, I, I might
00:33:57back off
00:33:57the Rockies for a bit. Yes, I agree. Uh, Joel, let's switch over to the, the rotation itself. And,
00:34:04and this kind of ties into Joel's notebook. I had asked you if you could discuss what you wrote in
00:34:09post sports plus it's great piece. A lot of Yankees fans are talking about it. The Jeffers right hand
00:34:13hit a catcher. Nope. A lot of people will notice, but the other thing was the Carlos
00:34:17Legrande future with the Yankees. It's something you actually mentioned on last week's episode.
00:34:21When do they activate that Ryan? Cause we're entering now Joel, that next third of the season
00:34:26where it's June. We've seen the history with the Yankees, how they struggle in June. Uh,
00:34:31can they get over that? Can they find themselves a little bit? Will they find those internal solutions
00:34:36through their rotation, through their depth to help address those bullpen concerns? We know
00:34:41they're going to go out there and address it outside with the market acquisition as well,
00:34:46but what more can you say about the future of Carlos Legrande and what we've seen recently from
00:34:52Weathers and Warren, how this all plays into what this Yankees bullpen is going to shape up to be?
00:34:59Yeah, I do think some, so, um, the piece, thank you for mentioning the piece, the piece I, uh,
00:35:04wrote last week. I called up Brian Cashman, uh, hit him with my four or five, uh, questions about
00:35:10the rotation, how it shaped moving forward. And of course, a lot of it is TBD. Uh, Brian's done
00:35:16this a very, very long time. He understands one day you have Max Fried and you're thinking, Hey,
00:35:20we have an AL Cy Young contender. And a minute later, you're told he's probably not pitching
00:35:25for two months. Uh, so, you know, like things look great now. Will they look great if Schlittler
00:35:31reaches for his elbow next time he pitches or Cole has a setback, but like, like, like the thing is,
00:35:37you don't want to pull pitching, starting pitching depth until you have to, like most of this stuff
00:35:42makes decisions for, for, for itself. Having said that Brian's told me, and by the way, like he told
00:35:49me this, and if you would have said to me, are the Yankees. So what he told me is the
00:35:54Yankees have
00:35:54been discussing since spring training. If to pull the ground, Hey, from the rotation at some point,
00:36:01and when is the right time to fire that bullet? If they're going to now, I'm glad he trusted me
00:36:08and told me that, and I was able to report it, but I also would have been like, that would
00:36:12have
00:36:12been just one. I would have guessed that, right. If you and I ran a front office, like at the
00:36:16least
00:36:16we've got to have that conversation that the, there is a quote, an obvious need in the bullpen.
00:36:24Um, LeGray, Hey, probably over-performed in spring training in front of everyone's eyes and got
00:36:29everybody very excited and it hasn't been as good, but like you do imagine 102 in the bullpen
00:36:35and what, what it could mean in your short spot. The Yankees drew a variety of things,
00:36:41trading for weathers, getting cold back, the growth of, uh, of Warren, uh, you know,
00:36:47Rodan's injury return. They have Elmer Rodriguez at triple a, they have some depth. And so the question
00:36:54becomes what's the date you're comfortable stripping away some of the depth to begin to address the
00:37:00issue that is your bullpen. And that's clearly this third of the season. At some point, the analogy I've
00:37:07used on a couple of these episodes is 2018 Corbin Burns. Burns turns into a Cy Young winner, but if
00:37:14you
00:37:14go look, most of the publications that do these things had Burns kind of as a 30 to 60, 65
00:37:21ish prospect
00:37:22in the sport in their top hundred. He wasn't a top five, 10, 15 guy. He was kind of in
00:37:28the range where
00:37:28LeGray is as a prospect in that kind of like 30 to 75 in their, their someplace that year, the
00:37:36Brewers
00:37:37recognized, um, we're going to have to help our bullpen, uh, in June that Burns, who was their top,
00:37:46like him and Freddie Peralta and Brandon Woodruff were like, they had three pitching prospects at one
00:37:51time. Uh, Woodruff was already on the major league team as kind of a hybrid guy. He'd open, he'd start,
00:37:59he'd relieve, et cetera. That's what he did for the season. Peralta was kept and called up late in the
00:38:04season as a starter, then pitched out of the bullpen in the post season. He only appeared in
00:38:09one game, but he pitched, he helped them beat the Dodgers. They almost beat the Dodgers in the playoffs.
00:38:13They went to game seven. Peralta pitched three great innings in the thing, but the guy they earmarked for
00:38:18relief relief was Burns who in the middle of June at AAA, they removed from the rotation for three
00:38:27weeks. He learned how to relieve, you know, you got to get the, how quickly can he warm up? How
00:38:32quickly can he bounce back from an outing? Cause you want to be able to use them on consecutive days
00:38:37at some point. Can he do an up down as a reliever and come back in a day or two,
00:38:42et cetera. So you go
00:38:43through the three, four week process in the minor leagues to see how does he handle it mentally,
00:38:49physically, temperamentally, it's a different job. Not everybody could do it. And then in the,
00:38:54about the middle of July or so, a month after beginning this process, they brought him up and
00:39:00he appeared 30 times out of the bullpen in the regular season and was like their best reliever down
00:39:05the stretch. And again, help them to game seven of the NLCS. And I just keep thinking that's,
00:39:11what's going to happen. Like one day, either they'll announce it or we'll look at a box score
00:39:16at AAA and we'll go, Oh, Lagrange came in, in the sixth inning. I think Brian Cashman did not tell
00:39:24me
00:39:25this is, I mean, trust me. I think you know me well enough. I said, what's the date?
00:39:30Uh, he did not tell me the date, but I've sent, I I've sent like, I've covered Brian for, for
00:39:36over
00:39:3730 years. Uh, he's always been a, to me, uh, an honest guy when I talk to him and when
00:39:44he can't
00:39:44answer, he just does that. I'm not going to answer that question. And I think probably some of it is,
00:39:49he doesn't know, like they're probably still having the conversation. And I think a lot of it,
00:39:54Ryan is what is the date we feel comfortable pulling a guy who he might be eighth on the depth
00:40:01chart to start a game. I think right now, Elmer Rodriguez is still ahead of him. And, you know,
00:40:08like if they ever get to freed back, they'd have six major league starters. And there's someplace in
00:40:13the distance, he's throwing bullpens. Clark Schmidt is throwing bullpens and there, nobody will scream
00:40:20it. But the last time I was at Yankee stadium, I asked somebody who I thought knew. And I said,
00:40:25is Clark Schmidt pitching this year? And they went, yeah. Like if he doesn't have a setback,
00:40:29he's pitching. I said, when? And they said, I don't know, late July, early August, he could come
00:40:33back. So like that early. That's well, I think he's so, so you got to think of, he's got to
00:40:38go through
00:40:39six weeks of spring training. He's now the six weeks of spring training. He's throwing bullpens.
00:40:43That's what you do early in spring training. Right? Like that's the, that's the progression.
00:40:48And you put him in the bullpen right away. Right? Well, I think that they probably will,
00:40:54again, you don't know what your need is on. Let's pick a date, August 15th. He's ready to pitch.
00:40:59Right. You might be like, we're down three starting pitchers. He needs to start. God,
00:41:03I hope not. But I think the key thing is the Yankees will try to get to the post season
00:41:12or even
00:41:13September 1st and say, who are our 13 best pitchers? And that's, who's going to be on their
00:41:20post season roster. And that might be in very hybrid roles, Schmidt and LeGran Hay, or Will Warren.
00:41:28Like if you're starting for other guys or Ryan Weathers, if you're starting, you know, at full
00:41:33health, they're going to have a lot of interesting options. And that's before the trade or two. I think
00:41:38you and I think they'll make for another arm or two in the bullpen, because I, if you were a
00:41:45betting
00:41:46man, do you think Paul Blackburn will be on the team on August 1st? No, I would say probably not.
00:41:54Will Camilo Duval be, he might be in the organization, but he has options. He could be
00:41:59sent to the minor leagues. If you get, if you're more comfortable with somebody you acquire in the
00:42:04marketplace or you see something out of LeGran Hay, is Ryan Yarbrough still on the team? Especially
00:42:10if they get to the point where the long reliever doesn't have to be Ryan Yarbrough, it's Ryan
00:42:14Weathers. Yeah. Like, like, so I think they have internal ways. Is Jake Bird on the roster? If like,
00:42:22so I think that there'll get to the point where I think if they could be fully healthy and almost
00:42:27no
00:42:28one ever is. But if they could be fully healthy, the strength that they believe could win them
00:42:34the games they need to in the postseason to get to the Canyon of Heroes. The strength of the team
00:42:40isn't judging Rice and Stanton, though it's a nice strength to have. It's their pitching,
00:42:45the potential of who the 13 guys can be. Like 10 guys they really like right now who are in
00:42:52their
00:42:52organization if they're all healthy, and two or three others they acquire between now and then.
00:42:57I think that's how they envision having their best chance to beat a Los Angeles or, you know,
00:43:05the Dodgers if they're lucky enough to get to the World Series. I think we're beginning to see now,
00:43:09I think Seattle's going to be the second best. I think the Yankees are going to be the best team
00:43:12in the American League. I think Seattle's going to be the second best team in the American League.
00:43:17It's a bad time, I think, for the Mets to be playing Seattle just as they're starting to take
00:43:21off a little bit. And their rotation is excellent. And so, you know, you're going to have to figure
00:43:28out if you play Seattle in the postseason, can you match Kirby? Can you match, you know,
00:43:34the guys they have in their rotation who are really good? Woo, etc. And I think the Yankees are going
00:43:41to think that's it. Well, Castillo got bumped from the rotation because he hasn't pitched well this
00:43:45year. You know, Emerson Hancock has outpitched him, and Castillo's been in long relief. But like,
00:43:52you know, I think they're good. I think they're really good. And I think they're going to run away
00:43:59with the West. And so, but I think that's the show. I'm sorry, I got long-winded there, right? I
00:44:06just
00:44:07think the strength of their team is their arms, five of whom are going to start. The others are
00:44:13going to fill. The Yankees are not going to waste a good arm on Scranton-Wilkes-Barre to do anything
00:44:20but
00:44:20prep, to do something for the postseason. They're going to take their 13 guys they think get the most
00:44:29outs at the highest level and leverage and efficiency possible. And like, now part of this is,
00:44:35say Legrande shows like he can't warm up quickly. Say Legrande shows that coming out of the bullpen
00:44:42to just huff and puff, he can't throw it over the plate. I mean, there isn't this like certainty that
00:44:47if moved to this role, that he'll handle it and handle it well. He has not pitched as well at
00:44:53AAA as he did in spring. Again, spring training is a time you could get really fooled by things.
00:45:00And he probably over-performed March and got everybody excited. Having said that, you can't
00:45:09fake 103. And he can do that. And what that can mean at its highest level is something the Yankees
00:45:15are going to have to explore. And I would say, and because I want to avoid the aggregation of it
00:45:23all, I would be, I won't put any kind of data on it. I would be surprised if it isn't
00:45:28sooner than later
00:45:31that they begin a transition. Because it's so, because they have depth in this area and it's just
00:45:38too tempting to figure out. And I think they probably believe between what he's done already
00:45:45and what he would do out of the bullpen, he could get to 100 plus 110 innings this year and
00:45:51just go
00:45:51back to being a guy they think could throw 150 in the rotation next year. Remember, Clark Schmidt's
00:45:57a free agent. He's gone. But by the way, I don't think, and I think this guy's a longer shot
00:46:05than the
00:46:05other people. They haven't given up on the idea that Luis Hill will pitch out of their bullpen this
00:46:09year. You know? And they'll have to at least try it. Because again, the question might be,
00:46:16if you get Luis Hill any place close to 2024 Luis Hill, he's just so much of a better option
00:46:23than
00:46:23somebody like Bird or Duvall. Completely. Completely. He's got those strikes. And so you've got to run the
00:46:29race. You've got to run the race to know that. And he, I heard he was like, when I wrote
00:46:34that piece,
00:46:35which was several days ago, I heard he was cleared and very near the beginning of a throwing
00:46:41progression. Okay. So the depth, like you said, is building there. I think really, Joel, the timing
00:46:47of it all is curious. And it kind of, if you, if, if you wouldn't be surprised that it happens
00:46:53sooner
00:46:53than later, it would kind of go in the same mentality that we've seen with the Yankees and how they're
00:46:57pulling these levers. And it seems like there's more of this, we need to get after it this year.
00:47:01Like that's the mentality you're suggesting, by the way, I know you're not saying it's going to
00:47:06happen, but I'm just saying, I'm suggesting that if they followed like whatever Pat, like, like
00:47:12were the, were the brewers urgent? Like there's just some point, like the brewers on about June 10th
00:47:17or June 15th or so 2018 decided their best pitching prospect needed to be switched to the
00:47:23bullpen. If the Yankees switched their best prospect on June 10th or June 15th,
00:47:27is that just like what every good organization would do? Like you reach it. You have to reach
00:47:33the date where you believe the risk of not having some coverage is now less than the need to put
00:47:41the
00:47:41guy in the bullpen and know for sure. And we're certainly getting closer to that date because
00:47:46there you're at about 60 games. Now you've got a hundred ish left. And so at some point you're
00:47:51going to have to just have blind faith that you have seven or eight starters that might get like
00:47:57added on with Schmidt or Hill at some point, and that you will have the sufficient coverage
00:48:03and take LaGrange and say today, now there's 90 games. Like we're doing a, a game 72 when there's
00:48:1390 left, we're going for it so that by game when there's 70 left, he'll be on our team.
00:48:21Certainly a interesting, like something like that. Like, because, because that's what any team would
00:48:26do. Right. Right. And that's what the Yankees are playing for. Uh, they're playing, they're playing to
00:48:30be competitive and they need the best bullpen possible. That bullpen needs help. We've talked
00:48:34about it. We know it. Uh, they got a tough series come up against the guardians this week. I am
00:48:39fascinated at this. I know it's like, Hey Ryan, who cares? It's, it's June. But for me,
00:48:44go beat the guardians, two out of three, go take two out of three against a team that's in the
00:48:48AL
00:48:48central that is playing good, always plays good baseball and has given you troubles before in
00:48:53the regular season. Like you got Schlittler, you got cold. Go ahead. Really weird. So like one of
00:48:59the complaints all year about the Yankees, it's, it's, it's just reality is they haven't beaten the
00:49:03good team. Yeah. And really what that's come down to is they got swept by Milwaukee and swept by
00:49:08Tampa and then lost two or three to Tampa. Right. So like, like that's it. They spent most of this
00:49:13season one in seven against teams over 500 on Friday night last week, both Toronto and Seattle
00:49:21one to get to 500. So the Yankees went from one in seven against teams over five, 500 or better
00:49:26to
00:49:27five and 10. So like, like, like that's one of those tricky ones also. Cause we expected the whole
00:49:31AL East to be like, like the NL central is now we're all over 500 Toronto beat them up in
00:49:36that last
00:49:36series. Joel, you know, that last one, that was rough. Yep. But they, you know what I mean?
00:49:41It's like, like, it's when you play team, I like they've already played the Mets. They lost the
00:49:45series to Mets, but we certainly thought the Mets would be over 500. We thought Baltimore would be
00:49:49over 500 who I think they swept. I think a lot of people believed in Kansas city this year. I
00:49:53think
00:49:53they're six and O against Kansas city. Who's been one of the most disappointing teams. Having said that
00:49:58Cleveland will be a team over, but it's amazing. Even now between now and July 4th, that weekend,
00:50:07the only teams over 500, the Yankees player are the guardians and the White Sox. It's it's right.
00:50:12It is a easy stretch of schedule coming up here. I know exactly where you're going.
00:50:16So, so, so, so that's really fascinating. The fascinating thing to me is I think even today,
00:50:23because Toronto fell back under 500 and Seattle went over. So I think the Yankees are now like
00:50:29three and eight against teams 500 or better. The amazing thing isn't that they're three and eight.
00:50:34It's that they've only played 11 games against teams over 500. Yeah. The least other amount by
00:50:38any other team in the whole sport is 25 by the tigers. They've played 14 fewer games than any other
00:50:45team against teams 500 or better. Now, having said that starting right after the July 4th weekend,
00:50:52they play eight series against teams that are currently over 500. Now that includes the
00:50:58nationals who I would believe won't probably be over 500. I think there's another team in there.
00:51:03There's the pirates. So it goes, the rays, the nationals, then it's the all-star break. Then
00:51:08it's the Dodgers at home. Then it's home against the pirates at the Phillies at the White Sox. And
00:51:14then at the Cubs to wrap up the month. Right. So like, like the schedule toughens up from about
00:51:20like the second, uh, the end of the first week of July past the trade deadline on August 3rd.
00:51:27And so, you know, the Yankees have a chance to do some fattening up here, but I'm just the American
00:51:34league sucks. I mean, that's the story here. I did. What do we have? We have 15 teams in the
00:51:40American league, five or over 500. One of them is the White Sox who are a nice little story,
00:51:46but I'm not sure anyone really believes the White Sox are going to finish over 500.
00:51:50Uh, if they do great for them, you know, there's surprises every year, but like the reality is
00:51:55today, I mean, I thought going into the season, I thought Seattle, the Yankees and Detroit were
00:52:02the three best teams in the American league. Not only is Detroit, Detroit's tied with the
00:52:06Rockies for the worst record in the sport. Hard. They're, they're going to have to trade
00:52:11Tarek Skubo. That's how bad they are. Like they're going to have to make a bunch of trades
00:52:15and notably of Skubo. So like the league stinks and the Yankees have a shot. I think to get to
00:52:24the
00:52:24top of the AL East, open a little distance, create the best record in the league. There's never any
00:52:31coasting when it comes to anything, but I think they got a shot. I think they have the best team
00:52:36in
00:52:36the league. Talk that shit, Joel. Come on. In a weekend league, they, they have to step on this.
00:52:44I agree. Step on this competition. I think if Toronto could ever get starting pitching healthy
00:52:51and improve it further at the deadline, I think they become a factor as well. Uh, but I really
00:52:59think the Yankees and Seattle are better than the other teams in the league. Now, Seattle's only like
00:53:05two over 500, but that's all happened recently. The Yankees, again, part of schedule Ryan is when
00:53:12do you get to the Yankees got Seattle, the second series in the year. Seattle wasn't playing well
00:53:16early in the year and the Yankees took advantage of it and took two out of three, but Seattle has
00:53:21a really good, the Seattle. How about this? I'll give you a stat. It was in my column today that
00:53:27I
00:53:28think is interesting because I think it, uh, it, uh, accentuated a point I was thinking about the
00:53:35Mets. I was at the Met game. Like, like Nolan McLean won yesterday, but like he only lasted five
00:53:40innings. Again, he walked five guys, five hit another guy. No one, no one in Met history had
00:53:45ever hit a batter in five straight games in starts. And he did it. Uh, he now owns that record
00:53:50all by
00:53:51himself. Uh, they need him to, it isn't just the pitch. They need length because what happens when
00:53:58you don't have length, like whatever you think about the Yankee bullpen, it's actually been
00:54:03protected to some degree, because if you don't like the bullpen, the best thing you could do is have
00:54:08less bullpen. And the Yankees are one of the teams. So the five teams that have the most innings
00:54:15pitch by their starting pitchers are four division leaders. Dodgers are one of them, right? Dodgers
00:54:20first. I think Dodgers, I think the guardians, I I'm a, uh, Seattle, Seattle, uh, but whatever it
00:54:30was is it was four division leaders and the Yankees who have the second best record in the
00:54:34American league. They're not a division leader, but they're their second best record in the league
00:54:37right now. And I think we in an age where we think, Oh, we've never asked less of starting
00:54:46pitching, which we don't in bulk, but if you don't have it, you are screwed. The Mets starting
00:54:54pitching. If you remember last year, beginning with that injury to Kodai Senga on June 12th,
00:54:59I know the date because the Mets season went to crap starting on June 13th, which was Friday,
00:55:04the 13th. They were one of the worst teams in the sport from there. And they started to run out
00:55:08of
00:55:08starting pitching and the bullpen, which had been good, got overexposed and hurt and tired and the
00:55:15Mets were finished. And so one of the good pieces of news for the Yankees is by having a lot
00:55:21of
00:55:21quantity and quality in their starting pitching like Seattle, you know, I think Seattle's got a good
00:55:27bullpen. You protect your bullpen. You use the guys you want in the roles you want. Start imagining
00:55:37if the Yankees had 50 fewer starting pitching innings this year, 50 more innings of Jake Bird and
00:55:42those guys, the Yankees would not have the second best record in the league. The strength of their
00:55:47team is that rotation, which could get stronger if, and when Freed comes back, right? If Schmidt comes
00:55:55back at some point, if they fix, like they have real options that that is the strength of the team
00:56:01and the strength of the team that right now is protecting the bullpen. I think ultimately it
00:56:06will feed the bullpen by some of the guys going into relief. And I think that they'll again,
00:56:12add from the outside and they'll hope to find a Clay Holmes or a Luke Weaver and not a Scott
00:56:19F Ross or
00:56:20Jake Bird. Nine games in nine days coming up. Guardians, Red Sox, Guardians for the Yanks. Go
00:56:25take seven of nine there, man. Go do some damage against these guys. Uh, Joel Sherman, before I let
00:56:32you go, I want to get an official finals NBA finals prediction from you. Game one Wednesday night. No,
00:56:38you're not going to give me one. No, I'm I'll say this is of course I'm going to watch. Um,
00:56:44uh,
00:56:44I do. Uh, I'll tell you what I think, which is, uh, I think the Mitchell Robinson injury is important
00:56:53because of Wembenyama and somebody who could adjust. Nobody's going to stop him, but you want
00:56:59to make his life a little more difficult. I think we did see when Oklahoma city played well in the
00:57:04previous round, there was a lot of offensive rebounding. It's something that Robinson helps
00:57:09with having said that and watching Wembenyama, who's the most unique player I've ever watched
00:57:15play basketball. I think that the Knicks have to think seriously about a lot of five out lineups,
00:57:21which they're blessed to have one of the best shooting big men in the history of the league
00:57:25in cat. So they could put him out there, but I would think about a lot of lineups that have
00:57:30hit
00:57:31that have him, but then also doesn't have heart on the court and has sham it and or deuce and
00:57:39guys
00:57:39who can like, you've got to do something to pull that guy away from the basket because it's just
00:57:46like Oklahoma city is a defending champion and they have a lot of great players. And I've never seen as
00:57:53many U-turns in the lane as I just watched in those seven games where you kind of go, Oh,
00:57:58I've got
00:57:58like everything in the history of your basketball mind says I've got to lay up and except there's
00:58:03a seven foot seven guy with the wingspan of, of, of a God standing there. And if you don't do
00:58:09something to draw him away from the basket, I think it's just, you know, you think about where
00:58:13Brunson operates, it's their, their point of attack defenders, especially castle, who I assume are
00:58:20going to, is going to be on them are tough enough to deal with without a monster standing behind them.
00:58:24And so I think there's gotta be, if, if they're going to do that, where Brunson gets in the lane,
00:58:30you've got to be able to kick the ball to the other four guys and get a three pointer out
00:58:35of it.
00:58:36A good open look where you punish them. If Wembenyama is just going to play a one man zone
00:58:43underneath the basket. And so, and I look, sham it's never wouldn't shoot like that in an empty gym
00:58:50again. I don't think like a shot in the, in the last round, but, but if he even shoots well
00:58:58and do
00:58:59shoots well, I think that's a big part of this. They're secondary guys and their guards are really
00:59:04good. You got to be really careful with the ball. You can't get into careless. Can Alvarado can't get
00:59:10into mano a mano nonsense, like get the ball over half court, get in your offense. Having said that,
00:59:17I think it's a, I think CS, uh, San Antonio is the favorite, right. Uh, in the series. Uh, I
00:59:23think
00:59:24it's a 50, 50 series. Uh, I, I do. And, and again, you know, you feel differently all the time.
00:59:32I think game one is really important for the Knicks. I think to try to take advantage and see
00:59:41if San Antonio actually thinks it won the NBA championship a couple of nights ago by beating
00:59:47Oklahoma city and feeling like the heavy lifting is done. Um, it reminds me a little bit when the
00:59:54Yankees beat the Red Sox in Oh three, right. It's the seven game war. That's one on the Boone Homer
01:00:02in extra innings. And it was almost like a nuisance for them to play the Marlins. And then they lost
01:00:09to
01:00:09the Marlins who were playing well in the way that the Knicks are playing well now. Like,
01:00:13like they hit their stride in the post-season. They play much better in the post-season those
01:00:16Marlins than they did all year. And, uh, I think I would, I would see if, uh, if that team,
01:00:25I think game one's important to check out to see if, uh, if San Antonio thinks it won the NBA
01:00:30championship on Sunday night, Joel Sherman, breaking it down, not only on the hoops, but also in baseball
01:00:35as well for us, you know, I, you know, that's my favorite league. I know it is. I love to
01:00:40watch
01:00:41basketball. I really do. I love to watch the NBA and I'm excited. And it combines two things I love,
01:00:48right? I love professional best. I love the NBA and I love New York. And I love how the city
01:00:55feels
01:00:55right now. Uh, when the Knicks are good. Uh, I love walking through the streets. I hear people
01:01:01talking about it. You see the shirts, certainly on game days. I live in an area. There's lots of
01:01:06bars and restaurants. I'm blessed. People are piling in to watch these games. I love how the
01:01:12city feels right now. And, uh, uh, I hope they get what they want. Joel Sherman, you're the man.
01:01:17We appreciate you always for hopping on here. We'll catch up with you next week. Thank you as always.
01:01:21All right, Ryan. Peace.
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