00:00Why are the Yankees always so bad in the month of June?
00:042-8 in their last 10, plus there's all types of question marks surrounding this team
00:08as they just got swept by the Red Sox over the weekend and the trade deadline a little month away.
00:14Let's get you guys some answers, hopefully from our guy Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media.
00:20Ryan, appreciate you hopping on, my man. Hope you're having a better June than the Yankees.
00:25When I asked you what you wanted to get off your chest and talk about when it comes to this
00:30team,
00:31the first thing you mentioned was its offensive struggles. Take it away. Why has this team been so bad with
00:38the bats?
00:40Yeah, so I think there's a lot of things going on here. I think you can kind of see the
00:44top of the lineup, the big guys, right?
00:45You expected a big year from Jazz. You expect Bellinger and Rice to contribute.
00:49They've all been hitting collectively under 200. They haven't provided a lot of offense over this stretch.
00:54So when you're already injured, you're down Judge, you're down Stain, you're down Grisham,
00:58and then you have those three guys not hitting well. It just sets the tone.
01:02I understand they're hurt, and that's a part of this conversation as well.
01:05But when you're hurt, you hope your best players can step up.
01:08And so far, they've also been in the slump, which is really just exacerbating the issue.
01:13Well, Jazz Chisholm is on a contract year, and this is usually when you see a player's numbers go up.
01:21Now, Cody Bellinger kind of did the same thing, I think, like a year or so ago.
01:26How does Jazz get out of this funk?
01:30Well, I think, you know, part of this is I think he just needs to get a consistent stretch
01:35where, hey, put together a good month or two.
01:37When you put together a good month, you follow it up with a solid month,
01:40he got off to such a poor start that it can get hard to kind of cover up those numbers.
01:45I think if he is focused on having just have a good month, have a good week even,
01:50I think it'll come together.
01:51He's a talented ballplayer.
01:52He has his miscues, and he has his moments where he can be very frustrating,
01:57but he is very talented.
01:59And I think for him, it's, again, just a matter of straightening things out
02:01because I do think there's a strong second half to be had there.
02:05Yeah, I mean, and you mentioned the three guys that are out right now showing up,
02:10having strong and consistent offensive performances could get this guy paid.
02:14Like, this is the time to get paid right now with a lot of guys down.
02:18We got that August 3rd, 6 p.m. trade deadline.
02:22Seems so far away, but, you know, summertime is rolling.
02:25It'll be here in no time.
02:27We have an article up on the Post with the headline,
02:31Tariq Skubal is about to confront the Yankees with their trade deadline priorities.
02:38Should Brian Cashman make Skubal a priority?
02:43Look, I'll say this.
02:45I understand the Yankees have needs at catcher.
02:47They have needs in the bullpen,
02:48and I do think they'd benefit from grabbing another infield bat.
02:51But Tariq Skubal is a superstar.
02:53He's the best player available on the market.
02:55And wherever he goes, he will make that team markedly better
02:59than where they were before they had him.
03:00If he goes to a different team in the American League,
03:02that team becomes a serious and very, very, very scary threat
03:08to knock out the Yankees in the postseason.
03:09But if the Yankees add Skubal to their roster,
03:12just imagine the postseason.
03:13Schlittler, Skubal, Freed, Cole, Rodon is all rotation options for you.
03:18You can move guys from your rotation to the bullpen.
03:21I understand you don't want to just end up with Skubal and not get anybody else.
03:25I'm not advocating for that.
03:27But he's the best player available.
03:28And I don't see a rotation that's infallible.
03:31It's a good rotation.
03:32In fact, I think it's a great one.
03:33But it's not infallible.
03:34And Skubal makes you that much better.
03:36He's actually slated to go up against Schlittler today,
03:40which is Tuesday as we're filming this.
03:42So it'd be great to see what the purchased goods could be in tonight's game.
03:48But yeah, I'm with you on that one.
03:51I'm going to give you this team's record in the month of June
03:56for the past couple of years, 2026, 12 and 13, 2025, 13 and 14, 2024, 14 and 13, 2023, 11
04:08and 12.
04:09What is it about the Yankees and them playing average at best baseball in the month of June?
04:18Well, I think maybe it's a trend.
04:21I mean, it is a trend in terms of it keeps happening.
04:24I think this year specifically, I do think injuries are playing a big role in this one.
04:29Whereas in years past, they were usually mostly healthy or had a lot of their key pieces in place.
04:34You know, I do think there are fair questions to ask about why it's the same pattern every year.
04:39But again, I think with this iteration of the Yankees, this specific team,
04:43they're so banged up that like, yeah, I mean, some of the lineups are running out
04:47and it's not surprising that they're a 500 team with that group.
04:50Um, I think they're in games that they should be winning and they're dropping some of these games
04:54close and especially as of late, they've played really sloppy baseball.
04:57So I don't want to just chalk it up to just it's June and they always slump or stink in
05:02June.
05:02I think this team a little bit different.
05:04I think they're just really banged up right now.
05:07All right.
05:07So you're going to get a lot of those guys healthy.
05:10You're still one of the top teams in the AL.
05:13Could this potentially be a championship team?
05:17You know, I'm going to take my experience from the New York Knicks this year and say,
05:21yes, not because all the Knicks won a championship.
05:23So naturally the Yankees would will as well.
05:25But if you're a Knicks fan, you fall the season, you would understand that team had a lot of road
05:29bumps.
05:30It looked at times like they did not have it in them to be a champion.
05:34All that matters is what you do once you get to the postseason, what you look like,
05:37what you are talked about in terms of headlines and how you play for a five game or 10 game
05:44sample
05:44isn't as important as the totality of your play and what you do when you get to October.
05:48They have the starting pitching.
05:49I do think they have the offense.
05:50I do think that their holes are attainable to fix at this year's deadline.
05:54Like they can improve the bullpen in the catching room.
05:57I don't see why this team can't win the World Series.
05:59Again, I know this is maybe not the best time to say it, but again, watching this past year's Knicks
06:03team,
06:04I saw the same exact ugly stretches that made you go, this isn't a championship team.
06:08Heck, they went down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks.
06:12Anything can happen in sports, and this team's one of the best in the AL.
06:15He said if it can be Knicks in five, it can be Yankees in five.
06:19All right, Ryan, appreciate you hopping on with this, my man.
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