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The Yankees keep winning, but nothing about it feels easy. Evan Roberts breaks down another nerve-racking victory, Trent Grisham’s clutch performance, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s costly struggles and the latest injury news surrounding Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Max Fried. Can the Yankees survive this injury-riddled stretch and finally get healthy for October?
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00:00Between all the injury updates on Aaron Judge, on Giancarlo Stanton, obviously the one on
00:05Max Fried, along with the performance in the game, a returning starting pitcher on
00:10a pitch count, pitching pretty well, the bullpen doing a good job, the offense doing
00:14nothing but doing just enough, and Jazz Chisholm doing something that may piss you off.
00:19Yesterday was the typical day in Yankees land.
00:22Yeah, this is a mid-late summer Yankees.
00:25They're good, but they're not good.
00:27I'm frustrated by them, but they keep winning.
00:29What the hell do I want to think about this team right now and going forward?
00:33The good thing is, it seems like Max Fried is not very dangerously injured.
00:39I don't know what to take from Aaron Boone's comments on this, but it doesn't feel like
00:44it was the same as it was as we were intimating yesterday, where it's going to be two months
00:47before he comes back, which is a good thing, but again, do we ever really know?
00:52The good thing, though, about the Yankees is that Trent Grisham, who is streaky as hell,
00:59was needed when necessary, and he came through with three RBIs.
01:04They win on the margins.
01:05This team is not exciting in that regard, but they make you feel good when they win.
01:12They make you feel terrible when they play the exact same way and lose.
01:15There are so many elements to the Yankees.
01:16One thing I do want to combat you with, and I may be in the minority on this, I find
01:22two-to-one
01:23and three-to-one games to be scintillating.
01:26So for everyone who says they're boring, and I've heard Craig say it.
01:30No, I'm not saying they're boring.
01:31They just make your...
01:33You're so tense watching them play.
01:36Yeah, it's close games.
01:37I don't...
01:38Would you be boring?
01:39What do you want to watch as a...
01:41Two-to-one games.
01:42No, no, I'm talking about just a fan of sports.
01:44Oh, win 15-0.
01:45Right.
01:46You want to be comfortable.
01:47I want to watch the Brewers last night.
01:48You want to go watch the Jets play the New England Patriots and score two touchdowns on their first
01:53drives and just kind of coast.
01:55It just feels good.
01:56You have fun.
01:57You're drinking more.
01:58You're like, hey, how you doing, man?
01:59This is awesome.
02:00You're talking to your neighbor.
02:01It's all good and dandy, and you're not worried about it.
02:04But the Mets, or not the Mets, the Yankees make you worry for two and a half hours.
02:10No doubt.
02:11The whole game, you're just kind of like, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, and so it's stressful.
02:17I need to isolate that clip.
02:19It's just stressful.
02:20You know what I mean?
02:21And it depends on what you're...
02:24When you're watching, who you're watching with, all those factors come in.
02:27But when I watch the Yankees, I'm stressed the whole time.
02:31Yeah, no, and I don't like that feeling.
02:33Well, that part I'll agree with.
02:35Like, as a sports fan in this perfect world, I've had this debate many times over the years.
02:38Would I rather just watch my team blow other teams out?
02:41Yeah, I don't want any stress.
02:42Yes.
02:42I just want to cruise my way to a championship.
02:44Especially when it's a team that you know you're better than.
02:46Yeah, I get you.
02:47Look, I know the Baltimore Orioles, as we talk...
02:49Well, now they're out of it.
02:50But yesterday, they were in the postseason.
02:52I mean, they were a half game out of a playoff spot.
02:54But yesterday, they were in the postseason spot.
02:57Oh, I get you.
02:57So you get my point.
02:58But they're inferior to the Yankees.
03:01Yeah.
03:01You shouldn't be stressing the entirety of the game.
03:05No, I get you on that.
03:06That's what I get angst over.
03:08It's not that they're not scoring runs or their pitching is great.
03:12It's just, it's stressful for two and a half hours.
03:14I get it.
03:15Look, any close game is going to be stressful.
03:16I'm just, I'm making sure.
03:18And I don't know where you stand on it.
03:19And there's no right or wrong answer.
03:20It's just honestly how you feel.
03:22So I would rather watch a team play two to one games on a nightly basis than 10 to nine
03:27games.
03:28So watching, let's make this across sports.
03:30Yeah.
03:31If we were watching football.
03:32Low scoring.
03:33And it was low scoring.
03:34Yes, I like it better.
03:35And it was tight.
03:36Yep.
03:36And it came down to the end.
03:38Yep.
03:38Fantastic.
03:39Yeah.
03:39You know why?
03:40It's once a week, Evan.
03:42Watching this every freaking.
03:44Yeah, but you're talking about the actual stress, not the amount of offense.
03:48Yeah.
03:49I'm not talking about.
03:49I'm just talking about watching the Yankees.
03:51Oh, it's stressful.
03:52It's stressful.
03:52And it's been that way for a month and a half.
03:55Can I make you feel better though about it?
03:56No, because I'm stressed watching them play.
03:58I know, but I can relax you.
04:00I can give you a back massage.
04:01They're in the playoffs.
04:02Of course they are.
04:03All these games are just about seating.
04:05Think about it.
04:06No, it's about seating and giving us confidence that once they get to the playoffs, they're actually
04:10going to be good.
04:11Yeah, but you know why that doesn't matter?
04:13Because the roster is going to be different.
04:14The lineup is going to be different.
04:15Jones will be back.
04:16Yeah.
04:16I'll be back.
04:17Cody Ballinger will be back hopefully in the next couple of days.
04:19But it just feels like stress.
04:21In theory, guys.
04:22And I don't like stress.
04:23I get you.
04:24I'm a de-stressed person.
04:25The only time I have stress in my life, not even joking, is when I'm sitting in this
04:30seat.
04:31Wow.
04:31When I'm talking about sports with you and Sean, even though he's out today.
04:35Hey, Nico.
04:37It's stressful here because of the Yankees.
04:40I actually agree with that comment.
04:42Like, I have no stress as a sports fan because all my teams suck.
04:45Like, literally.
04:46Ask yourself this.
04:47I'm not even joking.
04:48As a fan of the teams I happen to root for, when was the last time I consumed a big
04:54game?
04:55I'm not even joking.
04:56Good question.
04:56And the answer...
04:58161.
04:58Yeah.
04:59The last game of the Mets season last year.
05:01That was the last time they played a big game.
05:02Was that the last game or was that the penalty game?
05:04No, they missed the playoffs last year on the last day of the year.
05:07It wasn't a good win.
05:08They lost a playoff spot.
05:10Oh, right, right, right.
05:10Yes, yes.
05:10But the Jets never played a big game and God knows my basketball team hasn't played a big
05:15game in years.
05:16So, I get it.
05:17Yeah.
05:18And I agree that these...
05:19But you don't relate.
05:19Well, I can't relate to stress every day because I haven't had it in a year.
05:23Right.
05:23But I do agree that talking about it, whether it's calling in Sports Talk Radio or tweeting
05:28it out or being lucky enough to do what we do talking into a microphone, certainly makes
05:32it better.
05:32I agree with you.
05:33But get used to it because these are the kinds of games the Yankees are going to play.
05:36Yes.
05:36And the truth is, if they can win enough of them, they have a chance to win this division.
05:40I don't think they will, but they did pick up another game on Tampa Bay last night.
05:43They've got a chance to at least secure home field advantage in the wild card series if
05:47they don't win the division.
05:48And then come October, you need a few things.
05:50You need to be the luck of health and then the luck of guys getting hot.
05:53Yes.
05:54Like Jazz Chisholm.
05:54Let's point to him for a second.
05:57I'm a Jazz guy.
05:59I can't defend Jazz Chisholm.
06:01No.
06:01He's hitting like crap.
06:02The defensive miscue last night was basically his fault.
06:05Jazz Chisholm.
06:06Because players have a right, and they've done it for years, to tell an umpire, hey, you're
06:11in my way.
06:12Now, rarely, but sometimes it does happen, the umpire will say, screw you.
06:16And that usually creates an issue.
06:17But more times than not, the umpire is going to say, okay, Jazz doesn't do it.
06:22A ground ball kind of gets distracted for him by the second base umpire, and Jazz misses
06:28it, and then is visibly angry at the umpire.
06:30And we're all watching it.
06:32And David Cohn jumped on it quickly to say, Jazz could have said something.
06:35You should say something.
06:37So I think with Jazz, he's not hitting.
06:39He's making defensive miscues.
06:41I'm not ready to bench bench him.
06:43But I am ready to say, dude, you're not guaranteed at bats every single day.
06:46Yeah, I don't mind him with the Caballero platoon, if that's what it has to be.
06:51Because, Jazz, he's frustrating you now.
06:54Because not only is he not hitting, but he's striking out.
06:56Yeah.
06:57He struck out a lot over the last three or four games.
07:00Yeah.
07:01He's not performing.
07:02No.
07:03Now, the beauty of the playoffs is come October, if he gets hot at the right time, none of this
07:06is going to matter.
07:07But Jazz Chisholm gave you kind of his typical frustrating performance.
07:11On the injury standpoint, let me start with Aaron Judge.
07:14The fact that he's, and the way they phrased it is just ridiculous, he's being introduced
07:18to a hitting program.
07:21It's like a baby step of progress.
07:24Like, it doesn't mean he's back in a week.
07:26It doesn't even mean he's back in two weeks.
07:27But any update on Aaron Judge that moves in the right direction is a good update.
07:32And I'll continue to keep you posted about this, because I think it's really important.
07:35And since Aaron Judge went down, the Yankees have now played 65 games.
07:39They are 33 and 32.
07:42So they continue to be very consistently average without Aaron Judge.
07:47Yeah.
07:47That's the story.
07:48And it's been the story basically since he got hurt.
07:51At first, they played well.
07:53Then they struggled.
07:53And now they've kind of evened itself out to where we have a 65-game sample size without
07:58Aaron Judge.
07:59And they're a 33 and 32 team.
08:01And the reason I don't think the Yankees will win the East Teague is I think that's
08:05going to continue until he walks through the door.
08:07Yeah, no.
08:07They need some more consistent hitting.
08:08They need someone who is going to be feared, put the fear of baseball into the opposing pitchers.
08:15Now, last week, we saw that Aaron Judge was throwing.
08:18Yes.
08:19So now he's cleared to swing.
08:22And he's swinging in a pool.
08:23Yeah.
08:23Swinging in a pool.
08:24Yeah.
08:25He's making slow progress.
08:26Okay.
08:26So he's not ready.
08:27He's not going to be ready anytime soon.
08:28No, I don't think he's going to be ready anytime soon.
08:30I think the goal for Aaron Judge is not to impact the pennant race.
08:33I don't think he will.
08:34It's to impact the postseason whenever they get there.
08:36So that's the update on Judge.
08:38It's not a great update that's going to cause you to dance in the streets, but it's at least
08:41moving in the right direction.
08:42Same thing with Giancarlo.
08:43He's running.
08:45That's a step in the right direction.
08:46And I think with Stanton, it's very different.
08:48If the Yankees told us today Giancarlo is going to be activated this weekend, I wouldn't
08:53be surprised.
08:54He doesn't do a lot of rehab assignments in general, just for the most part.
08:57He's going to DH.
08:58He's not going to play the outfield.
09:00He's not going to play every single day.
09:02Like when he comes back, it'll probably be once a week.
09:04So I think with Stanton, what I would expect is that when they activate him, it's just going
09:09to happen.
09:10And even though Aaron Boone says we have no timetable for him, that doesn't mean like
09:15it's a bad no time.
09:16Yeah, it felt like last year or two years ago, when was he hurt?
09:20Every year.
09:21He pulled himself out of the game.
09:22Remember he was rounding third base.
09:23Was that last year?
09:23I think it was last year.
09:24I can't remember.
09:25Whatever.
09:25Yeah, because we were over there and Aaron Boone told us he would be back in a certain
09:29amount of time.
09:30That's exactly what happened.
09:34Giancarlo Stanton knew when he wanted to come back.
09:36He told Aaron Boone when he thought he'd be back.
09:38And that's when he came back.
09:39And he didn't do any rehab assignments.
09:41He just came back and started playing again.
09:43But that's likely what is going to happen again.
09:45I agree.
09:46Now, the big update is Max Fried.
09:48Let me give credit to Susan Wallman.
09:49She did a great job last night of describing kind of the mixed emotions that the Yankee fan
09:54had last night.
09:55You had the return of Carlos Rodon, but you also had the injury to Max Fried.
09:59Carlos Rodon is coming back.
10:00Yay.
10:01And then all of a sudden, Max Fried goes on the injured list.
10:04Boo.
10:04Very well said.
10:06I couldn't say it better myself.
10:08So Susan Wallman, very accurate.
10:10Don't complicate it.
10:11Just make it simple, Susan.
10:13Yay.
10:14And boo.
10:14Now, Aaron Boone said a lot about the Max Fried update.
10:18And we could sit here and listen to five minutes of Aaron Boone.
10:20And I'm telling you, there's a lot of Aaron basically saying, I don't know.
10:24There's even one point where Aaron says, I'm not the doctor.
10:27There was one clip of Aaron Boone that I pulled that, to me, gives me a level of confidence.
10:33Because yesterday, when we spoke about this, obviously, there was no update.
10:36It was simply the Yankees putting out a press release that he's going on the injured list
10:40with a bone bruise, the same injury he had previously had that missed two months.
10:43So I was certainly not positive yesterday.
10:45I was almost expecting, we're not going to see him again this season.
10:49I'm listening to Aaron Boone.
10:50I'm taking my opinion.
10:52I'm throwing it out because that was just my opinion yesterday.
10:54Let me hear what Aaron Boone has to say, and maybe it'll change my mind.
10:57And as he was talking, I'm like, this doesn't make me feel better.
11:00There was one line that gave me peace of mind that Freed could be back very, very soon.
11:07Here's what Aaron said.
11:08In a lot of ways, I feel like he can, you know, close to being able to make his next
11:13start.
11:14But we're just trying to be a little bit cautious here and kind of manage this thing as we get
11:20now
11:20here down the stretch.
11:21So, yeah, we'll see.
11:24That makes me think that if this was October, he's making the start.
11:28Well, it also makes it feel like this is purely precautionary.
11:32Right.
11:32This is not a new complication, even though it's the same injury.
11:38It's not a new complication.
11:39It's, you know what, we want to give him some time.
11:42Maybe he could make the next start, but let's not give him the option.
11:46This is a protecting Max Freed against Max Freed.
11:50And I think the Yankees realized something that I said earlier in this segment.
11:53As much as we watch all the games and you're invested in all the games, the Yankees know
11:58what I know, what you know, which is they're in the playoffs.
12:02This is all about positioning.
12:04Now, it's different than the NBA because I think with the Knicks, it's positioning just
12:07strictly based on who you play, your seeds, and home court advantage.
12:11Obviously, a first-round buy in Major League Baseball is significant.
12:14If you win the division, that's a big deal.
12:17And we all know the impact of the Yankees having home field advantage in the postseason over
12:21the last decade.
12:22We've pointed that out.
12:23Right.
12:23They don't win when they don't have it.
12:25Right.
12:25And they do win when they do have it.
12:27They have not lost a playoff series in the Aaron Boone era in which they have home field
12:31advantage.
12:31So we are fully aware of what the results have been.
12:34And that's every level.
12:35Every level.
12:36Every level.
12:36But you even get to the World Series.
12:38They didn't have home field against the Dodgers.
12:39That's right.
12:40But they had a home field advantage in all the prior rounds.
12:43But I think the Yankees also realize that while that matters, and they'd like to win the
12:47division, and they'd like to be the number one seed, they have to be smart over the final
12:53month and a half of the season.
12:54And so it does sound, at least in that one clip of Aaron Boone, that this is just an extra
13:00cautious move.
13:01It's not the conspiracy that they're just resting him, as some callers tried to suggest yesterday.
13:06But it might be.
13:07I mean, it's not far from that.
13:08I agree with you, it's not that.
13:09But it doesn't feel far from that.
13:12Well, I think it's precautionary.
13:13Precautionary, preemptive.
13:14This is getting ahead of what could be some discomfort for Max Freed if he stayed on every
13:20five-day rotation.
13:21And so you're just making it so he's getting extra rest.
13:25Yeah, well, you're making sure he's 100% instead of 80%, and you're also equipped to
13:30deal with it.
13:31Yeah.
13:31Like, right.
13:32Especially because Rodon just comes back.
13:33Rodon's coming back.
13:34Will Warren is, you know, he's been up and down, but he's a rotation fine guy.
13:39Ryan Weathers is pitching his ass off, and we know about Schlittler and Garrett Cole.
13:43So I think the combination of where they are in the standings, the big picture of the final
13:47month and a half of the season, and then obviously being equipped to handle it because of the
13:51depth of the rotation allows the Yankees to take this conservative approach.
13:54But here's a bottom line with Aaron Boone and these comments, and whether you want to
13:57feel good about Max Freed, bad about Max Freed, or indifferent about Max Freed.
14:01The results will tell us, is he back in 15 days?
14:05Is he back this season?
14:06Is he back next month?
14:08That's going to tell us.
14:09Because Aaron Boone would also throw in there, look, you never know.
14:12He threw yesterday at home.
14:15It wasn't like a full bullpen session.
14:16He threw.
14:17That sounds great.
14:18But all of a sudden, if he stops throwing because the bone bruise is worse and the pain
14:22is worse, then this goes haywire.
14:24So it's one of those things where you just don't know.
14:27And that's really the story of the Yankee season.
14:29It's so frustrating.
14:30We have spent, not just me and you, but everybody, Yankee fans, at the bar, at the game, we've
14:35spent more times talking about injuries and timetables than the actual baseball.
14:42This has been such an injury-riddled season.
14:45Now, that doesn't mean they can't win.
14:46It doesn't mean it isn't in the cards.
14:48I can give you a million examples of teams that have won despite injuries or getting
14:51healthy at the right time.
14:52But it is amazing that here we are in the middle of August, T, and it never ends.
14:56There's always a new injury or an old injury to diagnose and talk about.
15:00Yeah, this is almost a credit to Aaron Boone because with all the injuries that they've
15:04had, they, again, they're, they're a little above a 500 team.
15:09I'm not talking about on the season.
15:11I'm talking about since all these injuries kind of started to take over.
15:13Yes.
15:13And most managers, I think most teams wouldn't withstand it, but they are treading water and
15:20they've been treading water for a long time.
15:22And one of two things is going to happen.
15:25This constant trying to stay afloat, you're going to wear out, you're going to get tired.
15:31The Brent Hedricks of the world are going to stop being productive.
15:34Paul Blackburn, all those guys are going to fall apart and you just get, fatigue gets to
15:39you or you weather it, you get the reinforcements and then you get inspired by it because now
15:45judge is back.
15:47Now John Carlos Stanton is back.
15:48You know, now Cody Bellinger is back, right?
15:51All those things could come together at the right time, but it's such a fine line that Aaron
15:57Boone and this Yankee team is managing right now with all, you know, everything aside,
16:03you kind of got to give them credit, even though you're frustrated by this team because it would
16:08have been easy to completely fall apart if you're the Yankee team.
16:12Yeah, but there's two ways to look at this and this is the beauty of sports and the beauty
16:16of being a fan.
16:16They would have, my point is they would have every excuse to have had a bad season.
16:20Okay, I respect that because of all the injuries they've dealt with led by Aaron Judge.
16:24Now I could reverse that and tell you considering how ridiculously good their pitching has been
16:30to only be a 500 team in that sample size is actually the opposite of what you just said.
16:36I hear you, but think of what they're missing from their lineup and think about how great
16:41their pitching is.
16:42Yeah, but we can play the same game.
16:44Everybody gets hit.
16:47Max Fried lost his not this.
16:50Was it his last start?
16:51No, it was his previous start.
16:52Not this one.
16:54The one before because he gave up one run.
16:56I gotcha.
16:57He gave up a run.
16:58I know, but that's the point.
16:59Their pitching has been so good.
17:00So what was the fault of that game?
17:03They don't hit.
17:05It wasn't because their pitching faltered.
17:07But that's my point.
17:08For everyone who says, and you're not wrong.
17:10I'm not wrong either.
17:11It's all about perspective and how you want to view it.
17:13Yes, that's true.
17:14It's amazing that despite all these injuries, the Yankees have survived.
17:18True statement.
17:19Just like my statement is true.
17:20It is amazing despite having ridiculously good pitching, they only win half their game.
17:24I mean, look about yesterday.
17:25Both of them are true.
17:26The thing about yesterday, who would have thought two weeks ago we'd be saying, thank
17:32God for Trent Grisham.
17:33Right.
17:34Seriously.
17:34I know.
17:35Right.
17:35I know.
17:36Who would have thought that?
17:37I mean, he's been great over the last week and, you know, two weeks or so, but nobody
17:42would have said he's going to be our savior.
17:43The only reason we scored three runs and beat the Orioles 3-1 is because of Trent Grisham.
17:48Nobody would have said that.
17:49The Trent Grisham game last night down in Baltimore, Maryland.
17:53We'll get to your Yankee calls coming up and more, 888-808-1019.
17:57You talk about reinforcements.
17:59It's not just the guys coming off the injured list.
18:01I'm going to throw a name at you you've completely forgotten about that could make a huge impact
18:06on the Yankees down the stretch.
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