0:04

Welcome to episode

0:06

eight of the

0:08

views from 314

0:10

feet podcast on

0:13

the picture list

0:15

podcast network.

0:24

My name is Randy Wilkins. And

0:26

as always, I'm joined by Yankees beat reporter

0:28

from the athletic Chris Kirshner. Chris, how are

0:31

you? Doing well.

0:33

The Knicks are up three, one over the Sixers. Not

0:36

much to complain about in my life.

0:38

How you doing? I'm

0:41

doing pretty well. The Rangers advanced. They

0:43

swept the the Capitals, the increasingly

0:46

dirty play of the Washington Capitals.

0:49

So they got past that. So

0:52

at least for non Yankees, New

0:54

York City sports, I think we're both happy.

0:56

So it was a good weekend for pretty

0:58

much everybody. Yeah,

1:00

I mean, there's there's really nothing to complain about

1:03

in New York sports right

1:05

now. I'm

1:07

not really a hockey fan. So I don't know what's

1:09

really going on with the Rangers.

1:11

I did see that they swept and obviously you

1:13

just you just said that. But

1:15

I haven't watched. I haven't watched a

1:19

hockey game, I think, at all this

1:21

season. Yeah, I over

1:24

the last 10 years, I've paid more attention to

1:27

it. But the last couple of years, I guess,

1:29

with the rise of this iteration of the Rangers

1:31

team, I've made a much more concerted effort to

1:33

get into hockey and the Rangers specifically. So

1:36

I've I've it's interesting

1:38

because I don't know that much about the

1:40

league. So like

1:42

when the Yankees play the Brewers, I have

1:44

a sense of who's good, what they're good

1:46

at, what they're not good at. You

1:49

know, I'm pretty familiar with all

1:51

the teams in the league. Same thing with

1:53

the NFL and majority of the

1:55

NBA. I think the NBA is generally

1:57

boring at this point. So. I'm

2:00

not as into it as I have been in the past. But

2:03

with the NHL, it's

2:05

just weird as a fan because I don't know every nuance

2:08

of the game I'm still learning. And

2:10

I don't really know the league. So

2:12

I kind of embrace it too.

2:15

I just have very basic visceral

2:18

fan reactions to stuff. I

2:20

understand the Rangers better. And I have a good idea

2:23

of what they're good at. And I ask questions and

2:25

ask people I know way more about it than I

2:27

do. But I love hockey. I mean, I

2:29

think it's fun to watch, especially

2:31

live. I like

2:33

this Rangers team. They're going to have

2:35

a much tougher test against probably the

2:37

Hurricanes. So

2:40

that's going to the Hurricanes are one

2:42

of the odds on favorites to win the cup, even though

2:45

I feel like the Rangers get disrespected in

2:47

a lot of ways. But

2:49

yeah, I mean, hockey is

2:51

fun. And I like looking at it from a very novice

2:54

fan perspective because then I could just I don't

2:57

have to overthink it. This is like somebody gets

2:59

hit. I applaud it. My guy

3:01

gets hit. I hate him. I hate the person. I

3:03

hate the team. It's like very

3:05

simple. It's great. Yeah. No, I love

3:07

hockey in person. I've been

3:09

to a couple of games. I've

3:11

only been to one Rangers

3:14

game. I mean, they're just so expensive.

3:16

And I don't know the players. So

3:20

it's like I'm not going to drop 200 plus dollars

3:23

on a regular season game when

3:25

I don't really know what's going on. I mean,

3:27

I love it in person. But

3:29

I just don't watch on

3:32

TV. I mean, it's fun. It's certainly

3:34

fun to watch. It's a fun sport.

3:37

You know, it's pretty easy

3:39

to understand, like even if you don't know the

3:41

rules, like I don't

3:43

know the rules. But I

3:46

just wish the games would be a little

3:48

cheaper because the environments, I mean,

3:50

just from the highlights I've seen

3:52

look incredible. Yeah. Yeah, they're

3:54

awesome. But I agree. They're way too expensive,

3:57

especially the Rangers and

3:59

Knicks tickets. Nick. tickets are also like

4:01

wildly expensive. It's

4:04

the garden, I get all that but I

4:07

just feel like that building is

4:09

expensive. Even WWE tickets, the building

4:11

is expensive. Yeah, super expensive. I

4:13

mean, I just don't... I

4:15

don't know how like regular people can afford to

4:17

go to the garden for

4:20

like anything. I was looking at just

4:23

in the regular season because I don't

4:25

live far away from MSG and like

4:27

all the tickets, like no matter who

4:30

they're playing, it's like they're over $100.

4:33

It's like why do I want to see the Charlotte Hornets for

4:35

like $120? Right,

4:38

you should see it for $1.20. Yeah, I

4:41

mean it's like why?

4:43

I don't get it.

4:45

Thankfully, I don't have children or anything

4:48

because it's like I don't know how a family of

4:50

four is affording to go there on a

4:53

regular Tuesday night in the

4:55

regular season. Yeah,

4:58

so I'm curious. We'll connect

5:00

it to baseball in a second. So

5:04

everybody knows I hate the Knicks. I can't

5:06

stand them. But

5:08

I do not hate Jaylen Brunson at

5:10

all. That guy's a monster. I have

5:12

nothing but the utmost respect for him.

5:14

He's a beast and made

5:16

me think and this is

5:19

not an original question. People have asked this since

5:21

I guess yesterday with that great performance. But

5:25

besides Brunson, is there

5:27

another Yankees free agent?

5:29

I'm sorry, is there another New York

5:31

City free agent that has

5:33

made such an impact in the last 10 or 15

5:35

years on a New York sports team? I mean the

5:38

only person I could think of is

5:40

Cece, like as a

5:42

free agent. But I can't think of

5:44

anybody else that's transformed a

5:47

New York sports team

5:49

the way he has. Aaron Rodgers.

5:52

No, that was a trick. I

5:58

can't, I mean, there may be high. hockey people

6:00

and you know hockey fans really oh I can't believe

6:02

you missed this again like I don't I don't know

6:04

hockey. Cece is

6:06

definitely a good one he won a title. It's

6:14

hard. On this level that Brunson is

6:16

at where Brunson is like a top

6:18

12 player

6:21

right now in the NBA. I

6:24

don't think there's any again maybe

6:26

hockey I don't know but for

6:28

NBA and football NBA I

6:31

can't think of one who's coming out of mind

6:33

who's who's on like that level where they're they

6:35

were like a top 10 to 12 player in

6:37

the sport. Yeah it's been

6:41

I had to give him his respect. I mean the

6:43

rest of those guys on the team I could care

6:45

less about but Jaylen Brunson I mean unbelievable

6:48

player like he's he

6:51

deserves like all the credit and

6:53

respect that one could give a

6:55

professional athlete really impressive.

6:59

100% and also it's like when he

7:01

was with the Mavericks you know when I was

7:03

covering the NBA at the time he was nowhere

7:05

near this player. I mean the Mavericks let him

7:07

go they didn't sign him I think

7:09

they could have offered him I think

7:12

it was like 40 million dollars at the time

7:14

but you know he's playing alongside Bukid Dontchich

7:17

and the fit wasn't like that great but

7:20

they let him go and you know

7:22

I didn't really think much of it at the

7:24

time when the Knicks signed him it's like all

7:26

right yeah I think Brunson's a good player is

7:28

he like a star no is he

7:31

gonna be you know is he gonna

7:34

transform the franchise no. So

7:36

to go from that to where he is now

7:38

I mean it's absolutely incredible

7:42

to watch over these

7:44

past few years of just like what he's

7:47

done to really elevate his

7:49

game from the Mavericks not wanting him

7:51

to where he is now it's I

7:53

mean I think the Knicks have a chance to win the

7:57

title and it's really because Brunson is one

7:59

of the best. players in the world. And

8:01

whenever you have one of the best players in the

8:03

world, especially in the NBA, you

8:05

have a decent chance of winning it all.

8:09

So speaking of one of the best players

8:11

in the world, the Yankees have two of

8:13

them. And the new guy,

8:15

the shiny new toy, if you will, Juan

8:18

Soto has helped

8:21

lead the New York Yankees to

8:23

a 19 and 10 record as we pretty

8:25

much get through the one

8:27

month mark of the 2024 MLB season. And

8:32

we wanted to spend this episode just kind

8:34

of given a

8:36

one month assessment of the Yankees. And

8:39

if there's any trends who stood out, who hasn't

8:41

stood out and who needs to get things going.

8:43

But I think it makes all

8:45

the sense in the world to start

8:47

with Juan Soto and

8:49

the incredible impact he's made on this

8:51

team. And I

8:54

know some people have at certain

8:56

points in the season have

8:59

said, this is the 2023 lineup

9:01

plus Juan Soto. I

9:04

strongly disagree with that sentiment, but you

9:07

do have to single out Soto. And

9:09

I know that you wrote a

9:11

piece for the athletic recently about

9:13

his impact on the

9:16

Yankees in the first month. So can you tell

9:18

us a little bit about that? And just

9:21

in what ways has Juan

9:23

Soto in many ways

9:25

changed this team over the first month? I

9:29

mean, for one, he's been the

9:31

best American league hitter. Coming

9:37

into the season, obviously everybody

9:39

knew Soto was good. There's

9:42

no one who could say otherwise, but

9:44

I think he's been better than expected. I

9:48

don't think anybody expected him to

9:50

post right now before

9:52

Monday night's game against the Orioles. He

9:55

has a 188 WRC plus. So

10:00

that means he's 88% better than

10:03

the average Major League hitter. He's

10:06

never posted a number that high. Last

10:10

year he was, I think, eighth

10:12

in WRC+, across baseball.

10:14

He's third right now behind

10:16

Mookie Betts and Marcelo Zuna.

10:20

So for the first month he's been

10:22

the MVP of the American League, which

10:26

is, I mean, you can't ask for more

10:28

than that, obviously. Even just

10:30

the impact he's had for

10:33

the things you can't measure. We talked

10:35

about it early on with Oswaldo Cabrera

10:37

changing his approach at the plate just

10:39

because he was watching Soto

10:41

take batting practice. The

10:45

team's obviously been more patient at the plate,

10:47

and that's something that has

10:49

rubbed off just from watching Soto because he's

10:51

one of the more patient hitters in the

10:53

sport. So there are things

10:56

that he's doing that can't be measured that

10:58

I think have been impressive and also

11:00

he's been a good defender, which

11:02

really nobody thought that

11:05

would be the case a month into the season

11:07

because of how bad he was in

11:09

San Diego this past year. So there's

11:11

really, I don't even know if you

11:14

wanted to nitpick over Soto's

11:17

game. I don't even

11:20

know what you can nitpick just because of

11:22

how incredible he's been. He's

11:24

been more than expected. He's been better

11:27

than advertised. He's a

11:29

special player, and if

11:32

he continues this up, obviously he's going to

11:34

get paid a significant amount

11:36

of money in the off-season. I

11:40

think we talked about it a couple

11:42

episodes ago, but it's definitely reached the

11:44

point where if the Yankees

11:47

don't re-sign him in free agency, the

11:49

fan base is going to revolt. He's already become

11:51

a fan favorite. So it's like

11:54

House Steinbrenner has to bring

11:56

him back, otherwise he Risks

11:58

the fan base. Turning against

12:00

him. And. Turning it but a

12:02

against the organization I think it's as

12:05

already speech that point Twenty nine games

12:07

into the into the season. So.

12:10

What do you think is contributing to

12:12

this hot start? Because we seen many

12:14

times not just a New York but

12:17

with new players or new team to

12:19

take some little while to adjust. It

12:21

takes them a little while to get

12:23

their feet wide and see they can

12:25

really acclimate themselves to a team to

12:27

an organization to. A. Fan Base:

12:29

x Y Z. By.

12:31

It feels like. Soto.

12:34

Has. Just

12:37

totally maximized. His.

12:40

Introduction I guess sued the team

12:43

like on in every single fast

12:45

that a player can do such

12:47

a thing and. I'm. Curious! as

12:49

a there's in I am. I'm asking this

12:52

question because there's a stat that you brought

12:54

up in your piece about how. He's

12:56

sitting the fastball even better than

12:58

he has in previous seasons. And

13:01

I'm curious if this is a situation

13:03

where. One. Sotos doing all

13:05

this because is a contract year and

13:07

he's this is is like real last

13:10

opportunity to say I'm worth five hundred

13:12

six hundred million dollars. Whatever it is,

13:14

do Thing is the natural evolution of

13:16

an incredibly gifted player. Who's. Now.

13:20

Into. His sixties and twenty five Eastern

13:22

answers prime which is crazy to say

13:24

for somebody that's been so good. For.

13:26

So long already. Is

13:29

it a combination of those things? What?

13:31

Do you think it's conservative to him being able

13:33

to at green is a month and but what

13:35

do you can see be to. Him.

13:38

Elevating his game as such. Good

13:40

elite level so quickly with the

13:42

Yankees. I mean

13:44

a thing is a combination of everything he

13:47

mentioned in our hit his twenty five and

13:49

and I know sometimes in a may be

13:51

forgotten because he's done in the league since

13:53

he's A since he's been nineteen years old.

13:56

And. He's not in his prime yet, which

13:58

is crazy to say. Usually know the

14:01

prime of someone's careers. you know,

14:03

twenty seven to thirty in that

14:05

area and so does not there

14:07

yet. I think he's just. He's.

14:09

Already been one of the best players in

14:12

the sport. I think he's

14:14

just continuously getting better. Like I don't

14:16

think this, this is his peak yet.

14:19

So. I think it. I think that is

14:21

certainly a major part of it. As.

14:23

As for free agency you never really

14:26

know how players going to perform in

14:28

their walk year I'd be saw the

14:30

labour to our season as walk year.

14:33

hasn't really done anything. Your. He

14:35

had a good weekend ago in in

14:37

Milwaukee but before that obviously he was

14:39

struggling at and and was one of

14:41

the bigger. The supplements said it's. It's.

14:44

Hard to say whether that's impacting

14:46

Soto because even if Soto had

14:48

like of or of regular good

14:51

season let's say he he had

14:53

like a upon thirty. Wrc.

14:55

Flaws which is. And a bad for

14:57

him which is crazy or it's. Just

15:00

just because of how special he's been. But

15:02

let's say he had a one thirty. He

15:05

still gonna get paid. So. It's not

15:07

like. You. Know. If. He if

15:09

he had a seasoned like that. If he's

15:11

gonna get yup, two hundred million dollars. Such

15:13

as not the case, he's gonna get paid

15:16

because one. Not. Many players

15:18

who were going to be twenty

15:20

six years old and are answering

15:22

free agency and also not for

15:25

yet in their primes. He's already.

15:27

Accomplished so much at his age. so

15:30

aren't even think like that, Is it?

15:32

I'm playing a factor in service. I

15:34

just think robot watching someone who's a

15:37

very special hitter. Arm.

15:39

He's very confident, which I think.

15:41

Is important in New York's you know.

15:43

We saw with a couple of other

15:45

players joey Gallo. Aaron Hicks.

15:48

You know they. They. Get down

15:50

and they just can't get out of. The

15:52

right there in but Soto just

15:55

from talking with them since spring

15:57

Training started. Ah he as swagger.

16:01

that just you don't

16:03

really see very often. He's very confident

16:05

in himself. He knows he's good. It's

16:08

not like someone who's like, am I

16:11

good? Like he knows he's good. And

16:13

I think that that definitely helps, especially

16:15

in this city, especially with

16:17

so many eyeballs on him, knowing

16:20

what's waiting for him at the end

16:22

of the season, when we look

16:24

ahead to December when he may sign

16:26

a contract. I just think we're

16:28

watching someone who's really a special

16:31

player who, again,

16:33

I don't think has reached his peak yet.

16:35

I think he's still calming, which is,

16:37

you know, insane to say because when you look

16:40

at all of his metrics, he's one of the

16:42

best five players in the

16:44

sport and I still think he

16:46

still has room to grow. Yeah, I

16:50

agree. I mean, that's the that's the scary part

16:52

that I think he's going to

16:55

maintain this level or even increase this level as

16:58

the season goes on. I mean, I think moving

17:01

down career wise, I think he's just going to

17:03

get better and he'll improve

17:06

at the margins, which I

17:08

mean, I don't know how much more juice he can get out of

17:10

that, but I feel like whatever's there, he's going to be able to

17:12

do that. But I just I

17:15

feel like extremely confident that he's

17:18

going to have this level of production

17:20

throughout the entire year. I mean, it just it

17:22

just seems like it's one of those years for

17:24

a great player where he's

17:27

figuring things out. And this

17:30

is something that I think is very important. He's been.

17:33

I think you guys also mentioned in

17:35

the athletic pieces, how comfortable he is

17:37

here that it just

17:39

feels like he's in an environment where

17:42

the emphasis is on winning is very

17:44

baseball hungry. That's the focus. The

17:47

fan base is focused on that. The organization is

17:49

focused on that. His teammates are focused

17:51

on that manager, like

17:54

top to bottom. The emphasis is

17:56

on winning baseball, and it

17:58

feels like that's something that someone

18:02

of his makeup and interest and character

18:04

is only interested in. We

18:06

haven't really talked about it that much, but it

18:08

feels like his time in San Diego, that wasn't

18:10

always the case for

18:12

various reasons. Yeah. And that's

18:14

something that he talked about

18:18

in spring training and even going back to

18:20

last year when he was still with the

18:22

Padres, that season definitely

18:24

brought him down. There

18:26

were a ton of expectations on that

18:28

team. You know, you can make the

18:30

case that they were one of the

18:33

most talented rosters and they flamed out.

18:35

It didn't seem like it was a good clubhouse. There

18:39

was a lot of infighting with the

18:41

Padres. Soto and Machado did not

18:43

get along. And it's

18:45

kind of like Machado's team in San

18:47

Diego. So there were a

18:49

lot of factors at play for Soto

18:53

last year. You know,

18:56

Richard Rolley, my colleague, wrote a

18:58

story a few weeks ago just

19:00

about everything that went down in

19:02

San Diego, how his attitude changed.

19:04

That really hasn't been the case

19:06

with the Yankees at least one

19:09

month in and even going back

19:11

to spring training. He's been very

19:14

approachable from a media standpoint.

19:16

I don't feel intimidated

19:18

or I don't feel like I

19:22

don't know what mood Juan is in. He may

19:24

not want to talk to me today. That hasn't

19:26

been the case. That was the case in San

19:28

Diego. He

19:30

just seems happy. And just from talking with

19:32

his teammates, he's been

19:35

very involved with everything that's been going on

19:37

in the clubhouse. It's

19:40

not like he's just talking

19:42

with a group of players and he's

19:45

not assimilating himself in with

19:48

the whole team. That just hasn't been the

19:50

case. He seems happy. When you

19:53

talk to him, he looks

19:56

happy. He looks comfortable like

19:58

we wrote in the story. story. Again,

20:01

I don't see any negatives

20:04

right now with how things are

20:06

going. And maybe it's because the

20:08

Yankees are doing well and he's

20:10

doing well individually, but it's

20:12

as good of a start as you could possibly

20:15

want from Soto.

20:18

He's been special to watch. So

20:21

not everyone in this first

20:24

month of the season is

20:26

off to a great start and the perfect start

20:28

or the way that they would want their

20:30

season to begin. Is there

20:32

anybody either on the position

20:35

player side or the pitching side? We don't

20:37

have to keep this just at the offense,

20:39

but is there or are there a couple

20:42

of players that have stood

20:44

out to you that have struggled that

20:48

either you feel like

20:50

this might be the beginning of a long season

20:52

or it might just be a

20:54

slow start out of the gate? Who stands out

20:56

to you out of the players

20:59

on the team, either on the position

21:01

player side or the pitching side that have

21:03

struggled that might either

21:06

give you concern or you feel like, okay, this is just

21:08

a bad start. They can turn it around. Yeah,

21:11

I mean, it has to be Gleymatoras. That

21:13

has to be the number one

21:15

player. Before

21:18

this weekend, he was struggling. He

21:20

looked lost at the plate. And

21:22

we just talked about the

21:25

confidence that Soto has. Like even over

21:27

the past several years with Glaber, it

21:29

feels like whenever he makes a mistake,

21:31

he lets it bubble up

21:33

and it carries over whether it's at the plate

21:35

or in the field on the

21:37

base paths. We've seen

21:39

that a couple of times this year with Glaber.

21:43

He's certainly an emotional player, which

21:45

there's nothing wrong with that. But

21:47

sometimes the emotions bubble

21:49

over and they skew

21:52

negatively and impact his performance.

21:55

He mentioned this past weekend after the

21:57

three-run double he hit, I believe it

21:59

was in SAC. Saturday's game where he's

22:01

like, I can rest comfortably now. It

22:04

was certainly eating at him. And

22:06

for good reason, because like Soto, he

22:08

has a big contract waiting for him

22:10

at the end of the season. He

22:14

also has to face reality

22:16

and say,

22:19

this may be it for me in New York.

22:21

And he's made it very clear that he wants

22:23

to remain a Yankee. But

22:26

we've seen the Yankees in the past,

22:28

they give someone a huge contract and

22:30

obviously they're saving money for Soto. In

22:33

years past, Soto gets a contract with the

22:35

Yankees and that means someone like Glaber Torres

22:37

is playing elsewhere because they don't want to

22:39

pay him. So I think

22:41

for Glaber, that's certainly something that

22:45

he has to think about long term.

22:49

And you never know how these things impact

22:52

people. I talked with Glaber

22:55

in a story I did last week

22:57

about if free agency was on his mind,

23:00

he says no. But when

23:02

he talked to James Drousen, the hitting coach, he's

23:04

like, well, we're all human. So I

23:07

think those things certainly would

23:10

get in someone's head, just the

23:13

amount of money that's at stake. So if

23:16

we're talking about someone who's been a disappointment and

23:18

who could have a long season, I do think

23:20

that it's

23:23

possibly Torres. But

23:25

on the other hand, he is a really good hitter.

23:27

I don't think he forgot how to hit. But

23:31

like we were talking about Aaron Judge for

23:34

the past couple of weeks now, with Judge,

23:36

he was still hitting the ball hard. It

23:39

seemed like it was just a timing issue with

23:41

Glaber. It didn't seem like it was a timing

23:43

issue. There were just several things

23:46

wrong with where he was offensively. I

23:48

still feel that way now. Maybe

23:52

this weekend changes things for him.

23:55

Maybe he is breaking out of

23:57

it and now he feels comfortable.

23:59

at the plate. I

24:01

think this is a good series

24:04

for success where he is. Four

24:07

games against Baltimore. Baltimore is obviously one

24:09

of the best teams in the sport.

24:11

A good four games here could

24:13

be the difference in changing his season around,

24:15

but we'll see. I'm definitely

24:17

skeptical of Glaber. Yeah,

24:22

I'm not skeptical of Glaber,

24:25

but I am beginning to think

24:27

that the type of year that I thought he

24:29

was going to have probably isn't going to happen.

24:33

I thought that he was going

24:35

to be able to replicate 2023

24:37

and he's going to have

24:39

to play catch up. I think to get to that

24:41

type of year, I think he's

24:43

going to be much better than what he

24:45

has been simply because he's a good hitter

24:47

in the bar so far as on the

24:49

ground. I mean, he's been, I think

24:52

he's been the worst player both

24:55

offensively and defensively, but

24:57

I still have a lot of confidence in him that he can

24:59

have a respectable year and a

25:01

pretty solid year. It's just that I think

25:05

he would have to really turn it on

25:07

to kind of replicate what he did last

25:09

year. I'm not

25:12

sure if that's possible

25:14

given what we've seen so

25:16

far. I guess for

25:19

the sake of the question and out of the

25:22

performances, I would tend to agree that Glaber is

25:24

the one that you would be the most concerned

25:26

about moving forward, but I also

25:28

feel like I still have confidence in him

25:30

and I think he'll still be a pretty

25:33

significant contributor for them. I guess

25:35

the person for me that has

25:37

gotten off to a quote unquote slow

25:40

start, but I feel like that's

25:42

not really telling of what

25:45

he's actually doing is Austin

25:48

Wells. I was thinking about somebody

25:50

in the bullpen. I was thinking about Ian Hamilton

25:52

actually, because I think he's been pretty

25:56

inconsistent, but I

25:58

think the bullpen as a whole. is, you

26:01

know, it's not their best unit out of

26:03

the three groups that they have. But

26:05

I always go back to Austin Wells in terms

26:07

of someone that is performing

26:09

much better than the results are

26:12

indicating. And I

26:15

know that the Yes broadcast brought this

26:17

up almost ad nauseam this

26:19

weekend in

26:21

regards to how unlucky Austin Wells

26:23

has been. But it's really true.

26:26

I mean, he's smoking the ball.

26:28

He's hitting it hard. And for whatever

26:31

reason, he's just not getting the production

26:33

to match with his actual

26:36

hitting performance. And

26:39

the thing that I like, yes,

26:41

it's a month, but it doesn't

26:43

seem like the lack of production

26:46

or the bad luck is

26:48

impacting his approach at the plate. I

26:51

think he's, I think he still has more walks

26:53

and strikeouts. He's still hitting

26:55

the ball hard. He's still being selective at the

26:57

plate. He's still hitting pitches that

26:59

he knows that he can do some damage

27:01

on. You know,

27:03

he's still taking care of those pitches. So

27:06

I feel like at some point Austin

27:08

Wells is going to have a

27:11

course correction where the production starts

27:13

to match the actual performance. And

27:15

it's great that Jose Trevino has

27:17

been able to really

27:20

contribute from the catching position. So Austin

27:22

Wells kind of working through whatever he's

27:24

going through, has

27:27

some, you know, he has some leeway. It's not

27:29

like there's a lot of pressure on that position

27:31

because Trevino has been so good recently, but I

27:34

think Austin Wells is somebody that I

27:37

wouldn't be surprised moving forward. He,

27:40

he starts making like a significant impact

27:42

at the bottom of the lineup, just

27:44

because his approach and his performance

27:49

is much better than the lack

27:51

of results at this point. He's

27:53

been the unluckiest hitter in

27:56

the sport, according to

27:58

the difference between

28:00

his ex-Woba and Woba,

28:02

which is basically the contact

28:04

quality like you were just

28:07

talking about. I

28:10

appreciate that stack cast, like you're able to see

28:13

that like on the screen because it

28:15

really puts into context just of like

28:18

how unlucky Wells has been.

28:20

I mean, it seriously feels

28:22

like every hard hit ball

28:25

he's had this season is just directly

28:27

to a fielder. And like,

28:29

you know, you can't, you obviously can't control

28:31

that as a hitter. And

28:33

it's, I'm sure it's very frustrating for

28:35

a hitter when you look up at

28:37

the scoreboard and like your average, I

28:39

think before this weekend, it was like

28:41

below 100, which

28:44

doesn't like, it doesn't

28:46

factor in just like how good

28:48

he's been, but just

28:51

how frustrating baseball can

28:53

also be at the same time. Right.

28:56

Yeah, there were a couple of people that have criticized

28:58

them and gotten on

29:01

his case on Twitter. And I'm just like,

29:03

are you, there's no way you're watching these

29:05

games or like looking at the metrics. I

29:07

mean, I know the batting average

29:09

is what it is. And of course, like

29:11

people are gonna go by the stats, which

29:13

is totally fine and fair, but

29:15

also think there's like avenues for context

29:18

that at this point kind of inform what's

29:21

going on here. And I don't

29:23

know, I just, I just feel like as long

29:25

as Austin Wells is mindful

29:27

that his approach is working and that

29:29

he is actually hitting the ball well

29:32

and keeps that up and is consistent with that, then

29:35

it just feels like the law averages will start to

29:37

work in his favor at some point. So

29:39

that's another spot or another player

29:41

that can continue to elevate this

29:44

offense. And

29:47

I think he will, you know, coming into

29:49

the season, I expected

29:51

him to play more than

29:54

Trevino just because of his bat. And

29:58

like we were just talking about. at

30:00

least when you look at the raw numbers and if you're just

30:02

like looking at the the

30:05

numbers on the screen you know the

30:07

batting average the slugging the on base

30:10

you just look at that and you're like well

30:12

this guy should go back to triple a but

30:14

it's really not the case at all with wells

30:16

i do think that he's going to be fine like

30:19

you said i think it'll all average out

30:21

at some point you can't be like this

30:23

unlucky for the entirety of

30:25

the season i mean that would be insane

30:28

and it just wouldn't make sense from a

30:33

standpoint of just like looking at the numbers of like

30:35

how good they've been so i

30:37

think he'll be fine you know

30:39

obviously it's not a guarantee but if he

30:41

continues to have the right process which he's

30:43

had so far you know you

30:45

mentioned that he's walking more than he's striking

30:47

out especially for a hitter who has

30:50

barely any major league experience i think

30:52

that bodes well for him moving

30:54

forward so

30:57

we're going to go to break and when we come

30:59

back we'll talk a little

31:01

bit about and

31:03

ask if this 1910 record

31:06

that the yankees have is

31:08

a good or flukey representation

31:11

of how they've played to this

31:13

point and what that could portend

31:16

for the future of this yankees team

31:18

so we'll be back after

31:20

this break and

31:24

we're back with the views

31:26

from 314 feet podcast it's randy it's

31:28

chris so right

31:30

now as we're speaking

31:32

on monday morning april

31:34

29th we're about a month in and the

31:38

yankees are currently 19 and

31:40

10 i believe they have the third or

31:42

fourth best record in major league baseball they

31:45

just wrapped up in my mind

31:48

a very impressive series win over the brewers

31:50

i i thought that they could take the

31:52

series from the brewers but

31:54

i didn't expect two out of the three

31:56

games where the yankees would score 30 runs

31:58

and have the brewers have multiple

32:01

position players finish out their

32:03

game. So that went better

32:05

than I certainly expected, even though I felt

32:07

like they were gonna win the series, but

32:09

not in that fashion. So Chris,

32:11

I'll ask you this very general

32:14

question and we can take it in different

32:16

directions. In your mind, is

32:19

this 19 and 10 record

32:21

an accurate reflection of how this

32:23

team collectively has performed? Do

32:25

you think it's flukey? Do you think

32:27

that they've underperformed and

32:30

should have a better record? Where do you think this

32:33

Yankee team is in relation to their record

32:35

in their first month of the season? Yeah,

32:38

I mean, I think it's a good

32:40

reflection of how they've played. They've been

32:43

in every single game

32:45

outside of like two, I feel

32:47

like, which is usually a good

32:49

sign of how good a team is. Like they're

32:51

not getting blown out. I

32:54

think the offense has been good, even

32:59

with guys like Judge

33:01

Torres, Rizzo, Trevino, for

33:04

like the first week or two of the season,

33:06

he was struggling. Like it

33:08

hasn't been perfect for sure. But

33:11

when you look at it on

33:13

a whole, we're talking about a

33:16

Yankee team that has a top five offense. The

33:18

pitching staff has been good. It's

33:21

held up outside of not

33:24

having Garrett Cole, which I think a lot

33:26

of people coming into the year felt

33:29

like they are gonna be struggling.

33:33

They've been good. There's really

33:35

like not much to complain

33:37

about. Like, the bullpen has been a

33:39

little shaky. We've talked about that. It

33:42

hasn't been the greatest. It's not the greatest

33:44

Yankee bullpen that we've seen in our lifetimes,

33:47

nowhere close to it. But again,

33:49

they're 19 and 10. They didn't

33:52

win 19 games just

33:55

because every game's been a fluke. I think they're a

33:57

good team. Again, nothing's

33:59

been perfect. We're not talking

34:01

about a team that like has just mowed people

34:03

down. I do think it's possible

34:05

that You know the starting

34:08

rotation has Outperforms

34:10

like there the the advanced

34:12

metrics, you know, we

34:15

can talk about individuals, you know I

34:17

think some guys have certainly Overperformed

34:20

I think Carlos Redon has

34:22

been good. I don't

34:24

know if he's been as good as like the

34:26

numbers would say You know,

34:28

I think there's certainly a possibility that

34:32

You know, he's over performed his

34:35

metrics Marcus Stroman

34:37

hasn't looked that great in

34:39

his past few outings. So

34:42

I think there's certainly I Think

34:46

there's certainly a reason to be

34:48

a little Concern of just like

34:50

how well the pitching staff is done. I don't

34:52

think like that they've been like Amazing

34:55

like it like the raw numbers

34:57

would suggest so there's certainly Course

35:00

correction that could be coming for the

35:02

starting rotation But again, like

35:05

we're nipip we're nitpicking over this like

35:07

they're 19 and 10 there They

35:09

have the third best record in

35:11

baseball right now. They're a good team

35:13

I think they're gonna be in it,

35:15

you know I'm October and

35:18

who knows what they will what they'll do

35:21

at the trade deadline to improve their roster

35:23

even furthers But as of now, I think

35:25

you know, it's very encouraging just

35:27

how they performed I Would

35:31

make the argument that they

35:34

should have an even better record than they

35:36

do and I

35:39

attribute that thought to their

35:43

pretty Inconsistent performance

35:45

with runners in scoring position, which I

35:48

think is kind of It's

35:50

not a reliable stat. So I'm acknowledging

35:52

that like I

35:55

feel like that's a area

35:57

of performance that has a lot

35:59

of variants to it from

36:01

team to team, year to year. But

36:05

to me, it's

36:07

frustrating but also encouraging, because they've had

36:10

a ton of runners on

36:12

base through the first month. And

36:14

there are many instances where they just didn't

36:16

get a big hit. They hit into a

36:18

double play. There's some instances where they don't

36:20

necessarily execute fundamental baseball to get some cheap

36:22

runs across the board. But

36:25

I think that in many ways, that's a good

36:27

sign, because I don't think we've

36:29

talked about this before. I don't think that

36:32

their approach from at bat to at

36:34

bat is going to change. They've kind of laid the

36:36

foundation in this first month that they're going

36:38

to grind at bats. They're going to grind pitchers.

36:40

They're going to have long at bats. And

36:43

that's kind of part of their identity

36:46

with this version of the team,

36:48

which obviously has its history with

36:50

the Yankees going back forever. But

36:52

I think that there's been a

36:54

very clear emphasis on that. And it's worked.

36:57

They get on base

36:59

a lot. They don't chase a ton. They

37:02

have traffic, a lot of

37:04

traffic in many games so far. And

37:06

it's just that they're like one or two big

37:08

hits away from really cashing in. And

37:10

I feel like the Brewers

37:13

series is an indicator of how potent

37:15

this offense can be when they get

37:17

a couple big hits with

37:19

runners in scoring position. I feel like they finally

37:22

had multiple moments over

37:25

games where they were able to cash

37:27

in. And I know that there was

37:29

that statistic that, yes, that brought

37:31

up a few times about how many games

37:34

they've had where they scored five plus runs in

37:36

their top three and then how many games they've

37:38

had where they scored two runs or less in

37:40

their bottom three in

37:42

that. So there's obviously a lot of

37:44

variance going on. And I think it just comes down to

37:47

a couple hits with some

37:49

guys in scoring position, which I think over

37:51

the course of the year, and we've talked

37:53

about Judge and Glaber and Rizzo and

37:57

the up and down nature of

37:59

Volpe. starts of the year. It just

38:02

feels like more times than not one of those

38:04

guys if they're in that situation moving forward is

38:06

going to cash in. So I

38:09

think you can make a case that they

38:11

should have an even better record because as

38:13

you said they've been in so many close

38:16

games or they've been in every game where

38:18

one or two hits matters or one or

38:20

two situations that didn't work their way really

38:24

like kind of tipped the scales with with some

38:26

games. Like I think about that Oakland series the

38:29

two losses came

38:31

down to like not knocking in

38:33

a couple runs when they had the opportunity to

38:35

one of those games they had bases loaded with

38:37

no outs and didn't score

38:39

you know early on and then the

38:41

game just kind of like fell apart from there. So I

38:45

don't know I'm really encouraged

38:47

I know that I'm like the optimist

38:49

and the positive guy but

38:52

I do think with this team there are a lot

38:54

of moments you

38:56

can point to where a double

38:58

play here kind of like takes

39:01

the game away from them and

39:03

I don't I don't think that that'll keep happening

39:06

the entire year. So I think

39:08

19-10 is accurate I think they are a 19-10

39:11

team. I don't

39:13

feel like there is anything flooky going on

39:15

or it certainly

39:18

doesn't remind me of 2022 where there people

39:20

are playing over their heads and one guy's

39:22

like starting a

39:24

career year that none of us have

39:26

really seen before. Nobody's really doing that

39:28

at that level. Soto's

39:31

obviously been the best performer but I

39:34

don't think there's something that you can turn

39:36

to where you're just like wow this one

39:38

or this one player or these two players

39:40

are doing something so out of character that

39:43

it makes this 19-10 record feel hollow.

39:47

I think collectively they just have a good

39:49

team and they're a deep team which

39:52

I think is also very important that

39:54

you have guys like Verdugo coming through,

39:56

Cabrera stepped up, Trevino has stepped up.

40:01

I think Clark Schmidt is

40:03

starting to like figure it out, you know,

40:05

piece by piece, start by start. You

40:07

know, I just think that they have a lot of

40:10

pieces depth wise that are contributed that

40:13

pretend well for them moving forward. I

40:16

have a stat for you that may surprise you

40:18

from from what you just said. The

40:23

Yankees have probably better in running the

40:25

scoring position than than I think. Better?

40:28

They're the best. They have a 148

40:30

WRC plus which is the best in the sport. But

40:39

it doesn't feel like that though because it

40:41

doesn't feel like that. No, it doesn't because

40:43

there have been so many moments this year

40:45

where it's like they had bases loaded and then

40:48

they end the inning because they hit into a

40:50

double play. So not

40:54

to cut you off, but my initial thought

40:56

about that is part of

40:58

that is because they have so many guys on base.

41:01

Like they have to be towards

41:04

the top five, top three of

41:07

actual like traffic. Like I don't know what the

41:09

specific like metric or stat would be to like reflect

41:12

that. But I mean,

41:14

I'm looking at it now. They're

41:19

11th in plate appearances and with

41:21

runners in scoring position. So it's

41:23

not like they're they're top. The

41:26

Dodgers have the most right now.

41:30

365 plate appearances with runners in scoring

41:32

position and they've been right over

41:34

the average. So it's not like they're

41:36

just getting a

41:40

billion guys on base and runners in scoring

41:42

position. I think it's I mean, the stats

41:44

are showing that when guys

41:46

are in scoring position, they're driving them

41:48

home. So it

41:51

doesn't it certainly doesn't like feel that way.

41:53

I was surprised when I saw that they

41:55

were the best team with runners in scoring

41:57

position just because of like how many moments.

42:00

It's it felt like

42:02

they've wasted opportunities. Maybe we're just

42:04

watching too many Yankee games maybe

42:09

to feel that way but Yeah,

42:11

I mean like i'm certainly surprised that

42:13

they have the best offense with runners

42:15

in scoring position I

42:17

mean i'm obviously very surprised because it doesn't feel that

42:20

way in the slightest. I mean, I feel like we

42:22

watch Three or four innings

42:24

a game where they have all these guys on

42:26

base and they don't score you

42:28

know what I mean like The oakland

42:30

series isn't as an example. I mean there

42:32

there are a bunch of moments where you're

42:34

just like You just remember the

42:36

double plays. Maybe it's just a double plays like

42:39

leave a A mark, uh

42:41

more so than the hits when they when they

42:43

cash in But I

42:46

mean it just feels like every other time there's

42:48

a there there's like a lot of traffic on

42:50

the bases Somebody sending it to

42:53

a double play. So i'm I'm

42:55

shocked. You know what I mean? It's just like Maybe

42:58

maybe they just do it in bunches You know what

43:01

I mean? Because we we mentioned that stat of multiple

43:03

games with five plus runs and then games where

43:06

they They can't score more than

43:08

two runs so Maybe

43:10

it's like when they cash in they really cash

43:12

in and kind of go off like they did

43:14

in Milwaukee and then when they don't You

43:17

know, it's bad news. Like they didn't

43:19

against oakland. You know what I mean? It's just

43:21

yeah I'm like really surprised by that because I It

43:24

feels like i'm not we're watching like two

43:26

different teams when it comes to that sometimes Well,

43:29

obviously it's an issue across the sport.

43:31

Um, right, but I I just I

43:34

just um Changed the

43:36

dates. So before the Milwaukee

43:39

series began obviously they went

43:41

nuclear in Milwaukee Before

43:44

that they were eighth In

43:46

uh with runners in scoring position, which

43:48

is still really good. Obviously. It's good.

43:50

Yeah Yeah, it's certainly good. Um, but

43:53

this weekend Pushed them all

43:55

the way to first and that kind of shows

43:57

you like just

43:59

how early we still are

44:01

in the season. Like there's still

44:04

a ton of baseball

44:06

left and if the numbers can

44:08

jump like that dramatically over three

44:10

games, I think that's

44:12

a good reminder for fans to

44:14

realize that the

44:17

numbers could change dramatically

44:20

over a five-game sample size just because

44:22

of how early we are in

44:25

the season. Like you don't go from, you

44:27

know, if we're having this conversation in, you

44:30

know, late August and they jump from 8

44:32

to 1, like that's not happening just because

44:34

of like how the sample size

44:36

is obviously much larger. So that's also

44:39

a good reminder for fans of

44:41

just like how early we

44:44

still are in the season because, I

44:46

mean, we talked about Judge

44:48

plenty of times before. It's

44:50

like it's still so

44:52

early that his numbers could jump and

44:56

they did, you know, dramatically

44:58

because of how well he's played

45:00

in the past like three to

45:02

four games. Yeah,

45:04

I mean, I'm glad you did

45:07

the date range because that makes

45:09

way more sense, especially after a weekend

45:11

where in two games they score 30 runs,

45:13

you know, and just went nuclear for a

45:15

couple days. So that

45:18

makes way more sense because like when

45:20

you said that I was still like trying to process

45:22

how they could be number one, but if you include

45:25

Milwaukee then that makes total sense because that was

45:28

insane what they did over the weekend. And

45:31

speaking of like numbers jumping, you can look

45:33

at Rizzo, like when

45:35

that Milwaukee series started, didn't

45:37

have great looking numbers and I think that

45:39

reflected his performance at the time. And then

45:42

he goes off as a great series and

45:44

now his numbers look much more respectable and

45:46

look like something that's closer to

45:48

the Rizzo we've seen as

45:50

a Yankee. So yeah, I

45:53

mean, it's definitely early, you know,

45:55

things are gonna fluctuate and I mean,

45:57

if they're number one, we're runners in scoring position in all

46:00

I think they'll they

46:03

would be having a very good season in my

46:05

opinion You mentioned Rizzo. I just I just

46:07

did the numbers. He had an 88 WRC

46:10

plus before Milwaukee

46:12

series After

46:15

the Milwaukee series, he's got

46:17

a 131. Yeah Yeah,

46:20

he's great. Yeah, I mean

46:22

he was fantastic but again it's just

46:24

a reminder because if you're just

46:26

looking at the raw numbers and You

46:28

know you tell someone who would like hasn't really

46:30

been watching the games like Rizzo hasn't been like

46:32

that good And then they just look at

46:35

the numbers and like what are you talking about? He's been one

46:37

of the best players in the sport. It's like no

46:39

he has but

46:42

again, like it's Another reminder

46:44

of just like how crazy the

46:46

numbers can jump in either

46:48

direction and and Rizzo is like the

46:50

perfect example of that because if

46:52

you sell anybody who's watched all 29

46:55

games that Anthony Rizzo's been incredible.

46:58

He's been fantastic. It looks like no he has

47:01

Yeah, yeah at all He

47:04

had a good he had a good series

47:06

in Milwaukee for sure and like obviously that

47:09

is impacting the overall numbers But

47:11

yeah I mean like he hasn't looked

47:13

like the Rizzo That we saw

47:15

before he got the concussion last season

47:17

when he was a very very good

47:19

player on both sides Of

47:22

the ball defensively he was really good and

47:24

then offensively he was he was really good

47:26

and he was trending towards being an all-star

47:28

just because of like how great

47:30

of a season he was having but again,

47:32

it's it's still very early in the

47:35

year and You

47:37

know he has a 131 WRC plus, so I guess

47:39

he's been fantastic right

47:45

So you've kind of hit on this So

47:47

I'd like to get into a little bit more, but are

47:50

there any areas in the

47:53

team so far in the first month where You're

47:57

like, okay. This might be a problem moving forward

47:59

or this is an area that needs to

48:01

be addressed at some point or this

48:03

is a potential red flag to kind

48:05

of limit the outlook of the team. Is

48:07

there anything or any trends that you've noticed watching

48:09

the team over the first month that

48:12

stand out to you that could be

48:14

a problem either in the short

48:16

term of this season or the long term? I

48:19

mean, I go back to the bullpen. Like I

48:21

don't think the bullpen is like overwhelmingly

48:24

good. Like I don't know who, like

48:28

outside of Clay Holmes who I think has been really

48:30

good and gets hate for whatever reason. Yeah,

48:33

it's weird. Yeah, I mean like

48:35

he's not, he's not Rivera,

48:38

but no one's going to be Rivera ever. But

48:41

he's been good. But outside of Clay,

48:43

it's like I need,

48:45

you know, we're

48:47

up to, there's bases

48:50

loaded, no out and

48:53

I really need to preserve this win and

48:55

Clay's not available. Like I don't know who

48:57

they're going to. You mentioned

48:59

Hamilton earlier in the episode. Like he's

49:01

been very shaky for,

49:03

I feel like six or seven straight

49:05

outings now. Like he hasn't been

49:08

very good. Like even the advanced

49:10

numbers suggest that he's been very

49:13

lucky so far with just

49:15

where his numbers are. He has a

49:17

293 ERA. His

49:21

expected ERA is over 4.5. Yeah,

49:26

like I think that's

49:28

probably, that would be Boone's answer

49:30

of like, all right, I'll give

49:32

you the situation. Like, who are you going to go to? I

49:34

think he'd say Hamilton. But

49:37

again, he's been very shaky. Marinaccio has been better

49:39

than expected. He was awful last year and had

49:41

to get sent down triple A just because of

49:44

how bad he was. Not a

49:46

bad spring. I didn't think he was going to

49:48

be up this early.

49:51

I know there's injuries obviously. But

49:55

yeah, it has to be the bullpen

49:57

of just like how shaky it's

49:59

been. And obviously, when we're

50:01

talking about October

50:03

baseball, you

50:06

need a really good bullpen in October. You

50:09

really do. And like right now,

50:12

again, it's April and it's still early and

50:15

the roster is going to change and there's

50:17

probably going to be four guys who we're

50:19

not talking about who are

50:21

impacting the bullpen in October. And

50:24

just outside of the guys who

50:27

are injured like Luca Vino, Scott Afros,

50:29

Tommy Caimley, there's probably

50:31

four more guys who we're not talking about right

50:33

now who may be a big part of the

50:36

bullpen. But if you're asking me

50:38

today, it has to be the

50:40

bullpen just because it's not impressive.

50:44

It's really not like the numbers say

50:47

they've been good. Again,

50:49

it's early. So

50:51

that's probably the area that I

50:54

would be most concerned about. I

50:56

assume you would say the same or

50:58

do you have something else? Oh,

51:01

no, it's absolutely the bullpen. I

51:05

don't think the bullpen is very good outside of

51:07

Cleo Holmes. I mean, it's

51:09

very much I

51:12

hope this works out today kind of feeling when

51:14

they come into the game. Yeah,

51:20

I mean, I think until

51:22

there are reinforcements both internally and externally, that's

51:25

always going to be my concern with this

51:27

team. I just don't feel comfortable with this

51:29

bullpen. Part of it is being spoiled

51:33

from how great some of their bullpens have

51:35

been in the past and the profiles and

51:38

players that they've had. I

51:40

just thought every time a guy comes

51:42

into the game, I just

51:45

feel unsteady, to be quite honest. I'm

51:49

curious what

51:51

you think or what you thought of

51:54

Boone's bullpen management on Friday

51:56

in Milwaukee, because that was

51:58

obviously. a big point

52:01

of contention amongst Yankees fans. I think

52:04

the media talked about it. I

52:07

just want to say this. I

52:10

have never been a fan of Aaron

52:12

Boone, bullpen manager. I think he's one

52:14

of the worst bullpen managers in

52:17

the league. I think he's been like that from the

52:19

beginning. So I'm in no way

52:22

defending him in this instance, but

52:27

I didn't really think outside of sending

52:30

heel out in the six. I

52:33

didn't really think that he had many options

52:36

and didn't make like

52:38

poor decisions. I think, you

52:40

know, I even understand the

52:42

heel thing logically because he's trying to steal

52:44

as many outs because he doesn't have many

52:47

bullpen guys available, but also just think

52:49

the bullpen is not that good or deep. You

52:52

know, like people were complaining about Tonkin being

52:54

in the game. Tonkin's in the game

52:56

because one, they don't have many guys to turn to

52:58

and they don't have a lot of good guys to

53:00

turn to. You know, I mean, I think some

53:02

of it is just the bullpen is not good. And I

53:04

know like people don't want

53:06

to say that or admit that or whatever,

53:09

but outside of homes, I

53:11

don't know who I mean, I

53:13

don't there's not one guy. I'm like, oh man,

53:15

okay. I feel good about this situation. It's just okay.

53:17

I hope he gets an out and

53:20

Friday to me was just one of those

53:22

moments. It was very clear at this bullpen

53:25

is just not very good and it's not

53:27

all because of the manager's decision-making is because

53:29

the bullpen to me is not that

53:31

good right now. Yeah,

53:34

I mean, I

53:36

get it from a fan perspective because it's like

53:39

you want to win every game and you

53:41

know, Michael Tonkin doesn't

53:44

give you the best chance to

53:46

win. So I get it from that perspective.

53:49

I also get it from Boone's perspective. It's

53:51

you know, when

53:54

if you look at last year, the bullpen

53:56

was shot in like June like

53:59

they started off high. like they were

54:01

like the best bullpen and from

54:03

like June on they

54:05

weren't they weren't good because like they

54:07

were like shot they they were overused

54:10

overworked and

54:12

I think whether

54:15

I mean the Yankees would not admit this

54:17

but a

54:19

game on April 27th

54:22

is not as important as the the

54:24

games coming down the wire in

54:26

September I get the wins count the same I

54:29

get the losses count the same but

54:31

you have to look at it like

54:33

from a long-term perspective which is what

54:35

the Yankees are doing you know

54:37

clay Holmes has been used a lot so

54:39

far you want clay very

54:42

fresh if this is gonna

54:44

be a playoff team which I think it will

54:46

be and you know the

54:49

pitches add up it's like every

54:51

pitchers arm is like a ticking time bomb

54:54

every single one of them you don't you never

54:56

know which pitch is gonna be their

54:59

their last so for

55:01

Holmes it's like okay like he got out of the

55:03

inning what do you throw like 10 pitches on Friday

55:06

so I like I get it like he yeah

55:08

he had he obviously had more

55:10

pitches to throw that night if if if

55:12

they wanted to use him but

55:14

it's also like the the

55:16

offense like had plenty

55:18

of red like the

55:20

offense was the reason why they lost that

55:22

game on Friday not Michael Thompson they had

55:24

they had plenty of opportunities to score in

55:26

that game and they didn't do it so

55:29

if you want to blame someone for Friday's loss

55:31

I think I would look at the offense first

55:33

rather than clay Holmes not pitching the second inning

55:36

I don't think that was the reason

55:38

why they lost the game and also you know

55:40

like we were just talking about with Hamilton

55:43

I think Hamilton's probably the the second option

55:45

out of the bullpen he was unavailable he

55:47

was sore that day he ended

55:49

up pitching on Sunday's

55:51

game but he was unavailable and

55:54

I think Luke Weaver was

55:56

also unavailable that night and Victor Gonzalez

55:58

was the only one left in

56:00

the bullpen at the time

56:03

when Tonkin went out there in relief

56:06

of Holmes. I think the Brewers

56:08

had three straight righties up and

56:12

Gonzalez is better against left-handed hitters. They

56:15

didn't have any left-handed hitters in that lane. So

56:18

I got it from that perspective, especially if

56:20

you don't want to burn clay. It's

56:24

the first game of the series. He pitches two innings.

56:26

He's probably not going to be available the rest of

56:29

the series. You don't know what's going to

56:31

happen in Saturday's

56:33

game or Sunday's game. You can't

56:35

expect them to score 15 runs

56:38

back to back games. So it's like you're

56:40

not thinking about that either. It's

56:43

easy to look back now and say, oh, clay could

56:45

have easily pitched two innings. Well,

56:47

of course, because hindsight is 20-20.

56:50

So I get it from that perspective. It's

56:53

like you don't want to burn your best

56:55

reliever per game in April. The

56:57

offense should have scored

56:59

more runs. It's really that

57:02

simple. That's

57:04

my opinion on it. I

57:07

really didn't understand the outrage behind

57:09

it. Yankee

57:12

fans get outraged

57:14

over everything. And I

57:16

certainly appreciate the passion.

57:19

But I didn't think that was something

57:21

to be outraged over.

57:24

It's just like they had opportunities to score

57:27

and they didn't. That's why they lost. Yeah,

57:30

I mean, I agree. And with

57:33

the bullpen, I really think this is a situation

57:35

that's pretty obvious that they're going to need some

57:38

of their internal guys to come back from

57:40

injury and perform well. And

57:43

they're definitely going to have to add externally. And I don't know

57:45

if that means Heel at some

57:47

point joins the pen when Cole is there.

57:49

That'll play itself out. The

57:52

bullpen, to me, is the one clear area

57:54

where they just they're going to have to

57:56

make additions and multiple

57:59

additions. uh to kind of

58:01

fix it. I just don't think this version of

58:03

their bullpen is

58:06

going to unlock something for this team. I think

58:08

that that's the one, the one

58:10

area that's going to be the limiting factor

58:12

on whether they have an incredible

58:15

year or a disappointing year to be

58:17

quite honest. But there's so much time

58:19

and there are options. I think

58:21

it'll get better as time goes on but they're

58:24

going to have to make moves. Like the bullpen the

58:26

way it is now is just, I don't think it's

58:28

good enough, you know, for a championship contender. So, um,

58:31

we'll see what happens. So

58:34

after this break, we'll get

58:36

to your mailbag questions and

58:38

then we'll briefly touch upon

58:40

the Baltimore series that

58:43

starts as we're

58:45

recording tonight, Monday night. So

58:47

we will be back after this break. And

58:51

we're back. It's Randy, it's

58:53

Chris. It's the View some 314 feet podcasts

58:57

on the picture list podcast

58:59

network. I'm doing better

59:01

at pronouncing that and not adding an S even

59:03

though it's very uh tempting to

59:05

do so but I'm getting it right. So

59:08

it's mailbag time. We'll

59:11

jump right into it. The

59:15

first question is

59:17

from, I hope I don't mispronounce

59:20

your name, but Brian

59:22

Rastuchea. Rastuchea.

59:27

Considering its declining performance and its being

59:29

is walkier, on

59:31

a scale of one to 10, how likely

59:33

are the Yankees to trade Glaber

59:36

Torres at the trading deadline? I

59:40

don't think it's likely. You know, especially if

59:42

they're one of the best teams in

59:45

the sport at that time, you know,

59:48

I think Glaber

59:50

will, you know, rebound at some point. I don't

59:52

think he's going to be, you know,

59:55

a well below average hitter.

59:57

So I think he'll be fine. And also,

1:00:00

There are really no better

1:00:02

options right now that the Yankees have, at

1:00:05

least internally, and it doesn't

1:00:07

really make sense to trade for a second

1:00:10

baseman on the roster. We

1:00:15

talked about it before, but it's certainly

1:00:17

possible that the Yankees do

1:00:19

part ways with Glaber at the end, but

1:00:21

I also think Glaber, like

1:00:23

having him on the roster through October,

1:00:26

probably gives you your best chance of

1:00:28

winning a title. Because

1:00:30

there just aren't many second baseman

1:00:33

who can hit the way he

1:00:35

does when he's looking

1:00:38

right at the plate. So I

1:00:40

would be very surprised if they moved on for him.

1:00:44

I think really the only way they

1:00:47

would trade him, in my opinion, at

1:00:49

least right now, is if

1:00:52

they're faltering, they're not

1:00:54

looking like a team that is

1:00:57

in contention, which I don't

1:01:00

think is going to be the case. I think the Yankees

1:01:02

are a good team, and I think they're going to be

1:01:04

contending by the time the trade

1:01:06

deadline comes around. Yeah,

1:01:09

on a scale of 1 to 10, in my

1:01:11

opinion, the answer is zero. I

1:01:14

mean, I just... Yeah, I don't think you're going to trade

1:01:16

them. No, I mean,

1:01:18

who plays second base? I mean, I

1:01:20

don't know who plays second base right now if he got a

1:01:22

day off. The only person

1:01:24

is Oswaldo, but then

1:01:27

who's playing third? I mean, I guess Jamyad

1:01:29

Jones, but I mean, that's

1:01:31

only to give Glaber a day

1:01:33

off. So DJ

1:01:36

LeMay who's not going to play second base, I mean,

1:01:39

you don't even know if his foot's going to

1:01:42

hold up for one game, let alone one game

1:01:44

at second base.

1:01:46

So yeah, I don't think he's

1:01:48

going to trade it. And

1:01:50

also, what's his value? You

1:01:52

know, like he's entering his walk

1:01:55

year. You're only going to have him for a couple

1:01:57

months. At this point, he hasn't hit well. I mean,

1:01:59

I don't even know. going to bring

1:02:01

back of what value. Yeah, that's

1:02:03

a good, yeah, that's certainly a good point

1:02:05

to make. You know, he's under contract for

1:02:07

the rest of the season, so he's

1:02:09

not going to like bring back a

1:02:12

hole that you would think

1:02:14

like if, you know, if you would think like, oh

1:02:16

yeah, Glaber's one of the best second baseman, we can

1:02:18

get a ton for him. No,

1:02:20

because of his contract situation. So

1:02:22

it really makes no sense from

1:02:24

the Yankees perspective to trade someone

1:02:26

like him. Yeah, he's

1:02:29

more valuable to the Yankees than he is anybody

1:02:31

else at this point. And I mean,

1:02:33

I think you'll, like I said,

1:02:35

and what we said, we both think you'll have

1:02:38

a better season moving forward. So

1:02:40

I don't, I don't see that happening. Like,

1:02:42

I think a lot of things would have to go

1:02:45

wrong for people for the Yankees to consider trading. Okay,

1:02:48

thank you for your question. And I hope

1:02:51

I pronounced your name correctly. If I

1:02:53

didn't, you could let me know. Second

1:02:56

question from Joshua Fincheler. He's

1:02:59

back with another question. Okay,

1:03:03

this is a long email, so I'm going to try to

1:03:05

find the point that I could jump

1:03:07

in. This is

1:03:09

also about the bullpen. The

1:03:12

lack of bullpen depth lingers in Friday

1:03:14

with evidence of this sadly, a sad

1:03:16

and to a promising effort. We

1:03:19

know that the personnel isn't going to see

1:03:21

a major shakeup this early in the season,

1:03:23

but at what point do you see the

1:03:25

Yankees try new approaches with usage or sequencing

1:03:27

to try and squeeze a little

1:03:29

more out of this bullpen? Some

1:03:31

things that come to mind using homes in multiple innings

1:03:33

or potentially trying to save them for the 10th if

1:03:36

things are tied in the ninth, trying

1:03:38

to use Hamilton or Santana as firemen

1:03:40

immediately following the starter rather than a

1:03:42

730 inning, or even tapping into the

1:03:47

major league holding cell relievers

1:03:49

at AAA. I

1:03:52

know this is a long question. Yes, it is,

1:03:54

Joshua. So I'll leave it at that.

1:03:56

Thanks. Okay, so we've kind of talked about this,

1:03:58

but. I mean,

1:04:00

I don't... This goes

1:04:03

back to like my idea of like changing

1:04:05

the lineup. I think it's

1:04:07

okay to a certain extent but that's not gonna

1:04:09

make somebody hit better, you know, they're in a

1:04:11

different position and you hope that you

1:04:14

know, there's a certain order

1:04:17

of events that happens that can contribute to

1:04:19

a hitter hitting better if

1:04:21

he changes his spot in the lineup. But

1:04:23

I also feel the same way about sequencing

1:04:26

the bullpen in usage. Like either you're gonna

1:04:28

pitch well, you're not gonna pitch well. So

1:04:30

I don't... You just

1:04:32

need them to pitch well or get better pitchers. I mean,

1:04:34

I don't... For my like,

1:04:36

I'm not a pitching coach, obviously. I'm not

1:04:38

like the GM of the Yankees but it

1:04:41

just feels like sometimes we're overcomplicating it

1:04:44

and that it's ultimately

1:04:46

not to say that Joshua is. I get he's

1:04:48

trying to find a solution for an area that

1:04:51

has struggled to a degree. But

1:04:54

I don't think sequencing or usage is

1:04:56

going to have them perform better.

1:05:00

Like I, you know, I don't

1:05:02

think it's gonna save... Also, we talked about this,

1:05:05

like there's also many bullets in a pitcher's arm.

1:05:08

You know what I mean? So there's a

1:05:10

lot of things that go into the bullpen

1:05:12

management and just like the sequencing of who

1:05:14

comes when and what their roles are. Yeah,

1:05:18

I agree with you. I don't think... I

1:05:20

mean, I think this bullpen is... They

1:05:22

are what they are. I don't think you

1:05:24

use Hamilton in the 6th. He's

1:05:27

gonna perform better there than in the 8th.

1:05:29

Like I just don't... I don't

1:05:31

see it right now. And also the Yankees are

1:05:35

kind of making it clear what their plan is with

1:05:37

the bullpen right now. You know, they have

1:05:40

Michael Tonkin on the roster. He's

1:05:42

someone who could be easily DFA'd to bring

1:05:44

in a new arm. I think they're just

1:05:46

gonna cycle in arms and

1:05:48

see if any of them stick. You know,

1:05:50

they had Josh

1:05:52

Machieski earlier in the season. I

1:05:55

think he pitched like one game.

1:05:58

Jake Cousins. I think he pitched

1:06:00

like two games. I think they're just going to bring

1:06:03

in arms because again, it's still

1:06:05

early in the season. Let

1:06:07

them burn the bullets. Let

1:06:09

them take, if

1:06:12

it's a blowout, pitch two to three innings.

1:06:15

The FAM, it sucks. That's

1:06:18

just the reality of Major League Baseball.

1:06:20

You bring in these guys to pitch

1:06:23

a couple innings and then

1:06:25

you send them on their way like

1:06:27

the following day. But I think

1:06:29

that's what the Yankees are doing right

1:06:31

now, letting these guys burn some bullets.

1:06:35

They're not going to be on the roster, nowhere near

1:06:37

the roster, when the games actually

1:06:40

matter come October. I

1:06:42

think there's still plenty of time for

1:06:44

the bullpen to sort itself out. We're

1:06:49

still five months away from October.

1:06:51

Like I said earlier in the episode, there's

1:06:55

probably going to be like four names who

1:06:58

were not talking about right now

1:07:00

who are going to be on the postseason

1:07:02

roster. So again, it's a

1:07:04

concern right now, but let's see

1:07:06

if it's a concern in five months. All

1:07:10

right. Final question from

1:07:13

Dan Gibbons. Oh,

1:07:15

thank you, Joshua, for your question. Appreciate it.

1:07:18

So Dan Gibbons, have either

1:07:20

of you guys noticed any subtle changes

1:07:22

in judges stance over the weekend in

1:07:24

Milwaukee because he seems to have unlocked

1:07:26

it again. I

1:07:31

didn't notice anything other than, I

1:07:33

mean, I think his biggest issue from

1:07:36

what I could see on television and like

1:07:38

not breaking it down. And again, I'm not

1:07:41

the hitting coach for the New York Yankees

1:07:43

and I will never pretend to be. But

1:07:46

I think it was pretty obvious on TV that, I mean,

1:07:49

he was just pulling off for pitches. I mean, his front

1:07:52

hit was leaking like

1:07:55

a bad faucet or something. I mean, it was

1:07:57

pretty obvious. I mean, it felt like labor and.

1:08:00

Judge had the same issue at the same time

1:08:03

and it's not a coincidence that They

1:08:05

had a couple hits going the other way and

1:08:07

then all of a sudden like they got some

1:08:09

hits You know what I mean?

1:08:11

I I didn't see anything like super noticeable, but

1:08:14

That was the one thing that stood out to me is

1:08:16

it just seemed for a while that Judge's

1:08:18

front hit was leaking and he was going

1:08:20

one way and the the barrel was going

1:08:22

in The other direction and you know kind

1:08:24

of yanks your barrel out of his own

1:08:26

pretty quickly Especially away and you can tell

1:08:29

by how pictures pitched to him that they

1:08:31

were noticing it too Because he

1:08:33

was getting a steady diet of Off-speed

1:08:36

away. That is a pitch that he's done

1:08:38

really well against the last couple of years

1:08:41

and he was just Falling victim to it

1:08:43

at bat after a bat. So I think Sometimes

1:08:46

opposing pictures tell you what the batter's

1:08:49

doing wrong or like what's off and then

1:08:51

they spam them And I

1:08:53

feel like that's what happened. But in Milwaukee, he kind of

1:08:55

cleaned it up a little bit Yeah,

1:08:57

I didn't I didn't see any Noticable

1:09:00

difference with with his stance

1:09:03

I think Again, it was

1:09:05

just a matter of him being off

1:09:07

with his timing Since

1:09:10

timing has looked pretty good in

1:09:12

the past five-ish games We'll

1:09:14

see if it continues but as far

1:09:16

as like noticeable difference with his stance.

1:09:19

No, I I honestly just think Judges

1:09:22

timing was off and that's why

1:09:24

he's been struggling to start the season All

1:09:28

right, Dan, thank you for your questions. Thank you

1:09:30

everyone for your questions. We appreciate it Uh,

1:09:32

they're great as always so we want to

1:09:34

wrap this up with a question Going

1:09:37

into this baltimore series that

1:09:39

starts tonight monday night A

1:09:42

four-game set in baltimore the two best teams

1:09:44

in the division so far two of the

1:09:46

best teams in the league so far And

1:09:50

i'm of the mind that

1:09:54

Series like this when it's

1:09:57

two really competitive teams division

1:09:59

rival I think at

1:10:02

least early on, there

1:10:04

are more fun than important. I

1:10:07

understand there are not as many division

1:10:09

games, so there's a value to it. I understand

1:10:12

that games in April

1:10:14

have as much importance as

1:10:16

a game in September. I'm

1:10:18

not sure I totally agree with that, but

1:10:20

I understand the idea behind it. I

1:10:25

think this series is going to be fun. I do think

1:10:27

it's a test for the Yankees, but I don't think it's

1:10:29

the most crucial thing in the world. I don't think it's

1:10:31

going to tell us about the

1:10:34

Yankees fortunes in the division or the Orioles

1:10:36

fortunes in the division. I think it's just

1:10:39

a nice test for right now. It's going

1:10:41

to be fun and competitive and people

1:10:44

get fired up over it. I don't think it's

1:10:46

a referendum on how

1:10:48

the division is going to play out

1:10:51

four months, five months from now. What

1:10:54

are your thoughts? I

1:10:56

definitely get your point. I think it's a big

1:10:58

series just because of the fact that I

1:11:01

expect that these two teams are going to

1:11:03

be the top two teams in the A.L.

1:11:05

East. These

1:11:07

games certainly matter towards winning the

1:11:09

division. I also think

1:11:11

winning the division, especially now in

1:11:13

the expanded wildcard era, is overrated

1:11:16

and not as important as it

1:11:18

once was. As

1:11:20

we've seen over the past few years, the

1:11:23

teams that have been winning

1:11:25

titles are teams

1:11:27

that enter October extremely

1:11:29

hot. The Rangers, the

1:11:31

Braves a couple years ago, just like

1:11:34

it doesn't... I

1:11:36

don't know if the division titles matter as much as

1:11:38

they once did, but if

1:11:41

we're talking about the

1:11:43

19-10 record of Fluke

1:11:45

or whatever, I think

1:11:48

these four games certainly are

1:11:51

a good measuring stick for where the team is

1:11:53

right now. They're going to have all

1:11:55

their best pitchers pitch

1:11:57

in the series. I think that's certainly going to be

1:11:59

a big one. a good

1:12:01

way to measure where those guys

1:12:04

are especially because

1:12:06

the Orioles lineup is really deep

1:12:09

and I think it's going to be a challenge

1:12:12

for every starter

1:12:14

the Yankees are throwing in the series

1:12:16

just because of how special Baltimore's

1:12:19

lineup is. In that

1:12:21

regard I think it's certainly a good

1:12:25

four data point set for

1:12:27

the Yankees but is it

1:12:29

going to be a referendum on the rest of

1:12:31

the season? Obviously not but I do think

1:12:33

that the games certainly matter just

1:12:36

because of the fact that this is going

1:12:38

to be a playoff team most likely Baltimore.

1:12:40

You want to have some sort of tiebreaker

1:12:42

over them at the end of the season

1:12:45

if it comes down to that and these

1:12:47

four games are the start of that. Yeah,

1:12:51

I mean point taken. I

1:12:53

just feel like sometimes there's too

1:12:56

much emphasis or weight on some of these series.

1:12:58

I mean it's a 162 game series. I

1:13:02

understand it's a division rival and

1:13:04

all those things but depending

1:13:07

on how seasons play out you could be

1:13:10

playing the Reds at the end of

1:13:12

August and that series has just as

1:13:14

much weight in some ways as a

1:13:17

Baltimore series depending on where the Yankees are

1:13:19

at or where Baltimore is at.

1:13:22

You know it's just I feel like

1:13:24

there's so many ebbs and flows and highs

1:13:26

and lows and you know injuries and so

1:13:28

many so much variance that

1:13:31

you know we you

1:13:34

can't really it's difficult

1:13:36

to pinpoint what could be like a

1:13:38

turning point or some kind of big

1:13:40

inflection point for a team. You

1:13:43

know I think it just kind of happens. I

1:13:46

will say though to your

1:13:48

point about the lineup I

1:13:50

am very interested to see how this pitching

1:13:52

staff will go up against Baltimore's

1:13:54

lineup. That's the thing that I'm

1:13:57

really paying attention to and if I'm being honest there's

1:13:59

a little bit of concern for

1:14:02

both the starters and the bullpen and, you

1:14:04

know, trying to limit the damage of a

1:14:06

very good Baltimore lineup. So I think out

1:14:09

of everything in this series,

1:14:12

that's the thing that I'm going to pay attention

1:14:14

to the most because eventually

1:14:16

the Yankees will get cold back. But how does

1:14:18

the rest of this pitching staff kind

1:14:20

of match up to an elite

1:14:22

offense? And I'm

1:14:24

not sure they've come

1:14:27

across great offenses that much so far.

1:14:29

You know, I think if you look at the teams that

1:14:32

they've played, they've beaten some good teams and teams that

1:14:34

are doing well. But I think

1:14:36

on the offensive side, this is their biggest

1:14:38

test and will give us

1:14:40

an indication of right now how

1:14:43

good and effective the non-cold pitchers

1:14:45

can be. So

1:14:48

I think that, you know, you talk

1:14:50

about data points, I feel like that for me,

1:14:52

that's the most important data point to pay

1:14:55

attention to is how is this pitching staff

1:14:57

going to go after this Baltimore lineup

1:14:59

for four games. Yeah,

1:15:02

I certainly agree. Right

1:15:04

now, as we're recording, Baltimore

1:15:07

has the second best offense

1:15:09

in the sport. The Yankees are right behind

1:15:11

them. Houston

1:15:14

coming up next week, fifth

1:15:17

best in the sport right

1:15:19

now. So there's

1:15:22

some big series looking ahead because we

1:15:24

talked about, you know, I do think

1:15:26

that it's possible that there's some course

1:15:28

correction coming for the starting rotation because

1:15:30

I don't think they've been as good

1:15:32

as the numbers would suggest. And those

1:15:34

two series in particular are

1:15:36

certainly good

1:15:39

early tests for the state of

1:15:41

the rotation. I

1:15:43

agree. So with that,

1:15:45

we'll bring episode eight to a close. I

1:15:49

hope everybody enjoys the Baltimore

1:15:51

series. Hopefully the Yankees come on

1:15:53

on top. They win the series. And there are

1:15:55

a lot of positives that we can speak on

1:15:57

after that series takes place. You

1:16:00

can find us on all of your favorite

1:16:02

podcast platforms. Please leave us a five star

1:16:04

review if you feel inclined to

1:16:06

do so. And if

1:16:08

you have any suggestions on what we can

1:16:10

do on the podcast or ways to make

1:16:12

it more engaging or interesting or entertaining for

1:16:14

you guys, don't hesitate to tweet

1:16:17

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1:16:19

we do it for you guys. So anything

1:16:21

to make it better or better experience for

1:16:23

you guys, let us know. We appreciate it.

1:16:27

We will have a second episode this week

1:16:29

and we will have a special guest, Mike

1:16:33

Petriello from mlb.com and

1:16:35

one of the brainchilds

1:16:38

of, or

1:16:40

well, I'll restate

1:16:42

that, one of the geniuses behind

1:16:46

baseball savant. So we're really

1:16:48

looking forward to that. And

1:16:52

we'll have another guest next week, but we'll announce

1:16:54

that later on. So we'll have two

1:16:56

episodes this week. The second

1:16:58

one will be with Mike Petriello

1:17:00

from mlb.com and we'll

1:17:02

talk a little bit more about the Baltimore series. So

1:17:05

Chris, any final words before we get out of here?

1:17:08

No, I'm excited to see that

1:17:10

beautiful left field wall at Camden

1:17:12

Yards. Yeah,

1:17:15

it's so stupid. Yeah,

1:17:18

yeah. You can thank the Yankees for

1:17:20

that, I think. Yeah. They

1:17:22

had like 20 home runs, I think, in one

1:17:24

year. That's probably why

1:17:26

they ended up changing it. Yeah,

1:17:29

yeah. I definitely think that contributed to it.

1:17:31

I'm sure there's some other ALEs teams that

1:17:33

contributed to that decision as well, but the

1:17:35

Yankees were probably at the top of that

1:17:37

list. Oh yeah. So

1:17:40

thank you everyone for listening. We appreciate it. We'll

1:17:42

be back with a new episode at the

1:17:44

end of this week and we will

1:17:46

speak to you then. you