The Yankees Refuse To Miss Aaron Judge!
The Yankees just finished a 5-1 road trip without Aaron Judge and continue proving they can survive without their superstar. We break down the series win over the Blue Jays, Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice silencing Toronto, Cam Schlittler ragebaiting the Blue Jays, the return of Jasson Domínguez, Camilo Doval's resurgence, concerning updates on Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham, and the one roster change the Yankees need to make immediately.
Video Transcript
What's up, everybody.
Thank you for tuning on in to the Yanks Go Yard podcast Monday, June 15th, 2:00 p.m. We are on time.
Why are we on time?
Because man, Amazing week for the Yankees.
5-1 on this road trip, they go 3-0 against the Guardians, they go 2-1 against the Blue Jays, taking those final two games on Saturday and Sunday after a disappointing opener, I would say.
Um, they managed to score 5 runs off Treya Savage, who has eaten their lunch, uh, for the better part of the last year, and they couldn't win that one.
was upsetting in the moment, but the rebound, incredible.
Um, there's a bunch to talk about today.
Uh, we have the New York Knicks.
NBA champions, first time in 53 years, absolutely incredible.
I know a lot of Yankees fans are Knicks fans as well, and they've been waiting for this moment.
Uh, New York was an absolutely incredible scene.
After that victory over the Spurs on Saturday night.
Wish I was there.
Wish I could have been there, and uh happy for everybody who celebrated, and you could see.
What a championship does to New York, dude.
It's, it's absolutely incredible.
Um, I know the Knicks was 53 years in the making, so that was very, uh, Uh, I would, I don't wanna say exaggerated , but it was, um, a little bit more, I think, chaotic and, uh, populated than you would expect to see from your average, um, championship celebration, um , and especially one for the Yankees, cause the Yankees regularly win, but Yankees fans are rabid.
They would turn out for any parade, they'd be, they'd be watching games in the streets for sure, um, as, uh, you know, we saw when they were playing the Dodgers in 2024, so , The ability for a New York team to win a championship and reinvigorate the energy of the city, it's just, you can't underestimate it whatsoever.
Um, what else we got here?
Jason Dominguez is back with the big league roster.
As a result of an injury that happened in the series, we'll get into that.
We have some other concerning injury news on Giancarlo Stanton as well.
Um, I have to talk about guys that I've criticized.
Camilo Duvall is one of them, and I don't know if we have to.
fall back on that.
Camillo Duval has been really damn good over his last few outings, and it's, it's apparent the Yankees may have fixed his issue.
Um, and one change the Yankees need to make right now, it's in the bullpen, and I think you all know what it is.
But thank you all for tuning in today.
Uh, don't forget to like and subscribe to the YouTube channel, Yanks Go Yard.
Uh, head on over to Yanksoyard.com.
That's where all the content is.
Find us on your favorite podcast platforms, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, wherever you listen to your podcasts.
We are there.
We wanna chat with you.
We wanna have a good time.
Um, my name is Thomas Carranante at Tommy's_takes.
You can find us at the official Yanks go Yard social media account that is at Yanks go Yard FS.
Oh, so the big story here, Yankees are 16 games over 500.
They are 43 and 27.
Um, they are the best team in the American League.
They are doing it without Aaron Judge.
Aaron Judge has not played in a game since two Sundays ago now.
Um, and They have not had Giancarlo Stanton over that same period of time.
They have not had Max Fried over that same period of time, they only got Jason Dominguez back on Saturday, um.
And, uh, the prediction that we had had when we had spoke about Aaron Judge going down was one of two things.
I didn't subscribe to this one, where everybody was doomsday and the Yankees were going to sink without Aaron Judge.
I really didn't believe that was gonna be the case, um, but that was one.
The second one was that the Yankees would develop a different identity, specifically in the offensive end.
While Judge was out, and then when Judge was able to come back.
They would be that much better of a team .
Aaron Judge is obviously the engine that drives this offense, even if he's not performing, him standing in the batter's box is elevating players around him, much like Giancarlo Stanton, yada yada.
But um if the Yankees could get a little bit away from their boom or bust approach, from their reliant on the home run, uh, reliance on the home run ball, and Win games at the margins, take that extra base, put the ball in play a little bit more.
Play good defense.
Saw that a lot in this series as well against the Blue Jays.
Then, you're talking about a team that's much more equipped and prepared for October innings.
October innings are very difficult, every, every ball and play matters, and The Yankees typically, um, as we've seen.
I don't know.
Even the year they went to the World Series, they were not equipped.
The defense was not there, the situational hitting was not there, and it doomed them when they faced a team that was more talented than that, than them.
Um, and in the previous years, We have seen a similar failure with uh runners in scoring position, um, inability to make big plays on defense, inability to get the big out uh when they needed to.
And I think that the tides are turning.
You have a lot of young players who are stepping up to the occasion.
Cam Schuller is one, we already knew that.
Uh, he, he was, uh, among, uh, the larger talking points last year, especially when he eliminated the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs.
Yeah, Ben Rice, who's an MVP candidate, um, We have other guys coming up.
Hopefully, they're gonna make a uh significant impact.
Um, you also have Jason Dominguez, who I think is going to change the narrative here.
Uh, a lot of fans, a lot of opposing fans like to give Yankee fans crap about Dominguez because of all the nicknames he was given, and the hype that was surrounding him.
Fact of the matter is that if Jason Dominguez can put forth Consistent, consistently solid at bats and not be a disaster on defense, he's gonna be a really good Major league player.
And he was the difference maker.
Saturday against uh Kevin Gossman and the Blue Jays.
So, sweep of the Guardians on the road, we talked about that.
Heading, headed into Toronto, uh, Rodgers Center was a bad, bad place for the Yankees last year.
Uh, that's where they, um, pretty much, that's where the season unfolded for them.
They Had a losing record against the Blue Jays, um, were awful at the Rodgers Center, and, uh, the tiebreaker at the end of the year ended up giving the Blue Jays.
The division, home field advantage, all that, and the rest is history, you saw what happened.
This year, the Blue Jays are dealing with a ton of injuries.
Uh, they have been.
Affected essentially since day one of the season.
Now I am.
I, I don't think that.
The, the, the, the Blue Jays have a lot to complain about, right?
The injuries have been killer, um, you know, the, the, the free agent additions that they've gotten, they're, they're not too thrilled with Kazuma Okamoto, even though he homered twice against the Yankees.
Um, Dylan Sea at the IL at some point, um.
Those are just, you know, the, the two bigger ones, uh, for whatever reason, Vlady took a backslide.
I guess, missing Bobachette is a bigger deal than we had suspected, um, for them.
But They've been dealing with adversity since day one.
Um, they have a number of guys returning from injury, so they should get that boost.
But, um, I don't know at this point if you could say that they've had worse luck than the Yankees.
The Yankees have lost Stanton since the end of April.
They were without Dominguez since the beginning of May, up until 2 days ago.
Um, they've now been without Judge for 2 weeks, and that's probably going to extend it at least another 4 to 6.
Um , they didn't have Gerritt Cole until June or end of May.
And at that point, they already lost Max Fried 2 weeks prior.
Um, What else do we got here?
Uh, Trent Grisham went down in the series, we could talk about that.
Uh, Austin Wells went down with a neck injury, uh, about a week and a half ago.
I, not, not really the, the, uh, not really the most impactful injury, but, uh, you know, it's a body, and the Yankees have to find solutions for it.
Um.
So, at this point, the Yankees go to Toronto, probably the most banged up they've been all year, and it's a battle of the depth.
Between the two teams.
Yankees came out on top, and you could argue that they probably should have, not should have, but could have won Friday night, if not for one of the problems in the bullpen that we'll talk about, or Ryan Weathers' I don't know.
Pension to give up a million home runs now.
This guy just keeps giving up home runs, all of his starts.
Uh, he, he's, he's looking like a bullpen candidate to me when the time comes.
Um, But anyway, this series, the Yankees' depth reigned supreme, the Yankees' ability to come through and clutch situations reigned supreme, um, Aaron Boone's managing the lineup, pinch hitting, uh, moving guys around reigned supreme.
Um, Friday, like I said, Blue Jays win, but the Yankees tag you Savage for 5 runs, which is something they never do.
Blue Jays win that 18 to 5.
Now, Ryan Weathers gives up two homers.
Um, I, I would say that the difference maker in this one was, uh, him hitting the number 9 hitter, Andres Jimenez, and then giving up a home run to George Springer on the next at bat.
This is with 2 outs in the inning, the Yankees end up losing, um, 8 to 5, but, uh, he had, um, uh, Weathers had struggled against.
Pretty much everybody, he didn't look good.
Um, he gave up 5 hits, a walk, um, and got taken out of the game with 82 pitches after 4 1/3 innings, like he was laboring throughout the entire, and again, has not looked good in his last 3 starts.
My question here is that Yankees go down 5-0 early.
It is what it is.
Then, They put together a 3-run 5th, Paul Goldschmidt, sackfly, uh, Cody Bellinger, Homer.
5-3, just like that.
OK, what's the next move?
Ryan Wethers wants to go out for the 5th.
All right, Aaron Boone wants to bring him out for the 5th.
What ends up happening there?
Um, he lets a runner on.
Aaron Boone goes to the bullpen.
Who does Aaron Boone call on in a 5-3 game?
He calls on Jake Bird.
This team just had um.
This team just had, hang on, uh, cause I wanted to pull up the uh specifics here.
Uh, here we go.
Yankees played the Guardians the week prior, um, Tuesday through Thursday, and I wouldn't say the um the bullpen was tremendously well rested, but if you're talking about trying to, let's see, Hedrick, Hill, Duval, Yarborough, so Yarborough doesn't even count in game 10 no, sorry, that's, that's a different one.
Even worse, guys, I had my weeks mixed up.
The Yankees had an off day on Thursday heading into this Blue Jays series.
And they managed to get, um, mostly solid outings from their starters.
Uh, Rodongo 6 innings and 3 earned in the finale.
Um.
I think the one, yeah, the one before that was Gerritt Cole laboring through 4 innings, and the Yankees uh needed to piece things together, but um they they managed to do it, uh, effectively.
Um, and in the first game, yeah, that was a tough one too.
So, look, I think, uh, I, the bullpen was taxed a little bit, I will say.
Um, but you're still not, um, you're still not gonna get me on board by bringing in Jake Bird in that situation in Toronto, especially when Jake Bird was used twice in that Guardian series.
You had an off day on Thursday.
I understand you don't wanna waste the bullpen, um, when you're looking at, uh, bringing a reliever in in the 5th inning, but, I mean, Come on, Jake Bird's been terrible.
Uh, he gave up two runs in 2 innings in this series, and both of them ended up, uh, one definitely screwed the Yankees because, uh, Bird gave up an additional run, um, Uh, against the Jays.
He, he, uh, gave, he gave up a run that was charged to Weathers and then gave up an additional one, and that made the game 7 to 3 instead of 5 to 3, so he single-handedly ruined that game.
Um, and then the finale, he was brought in again, I don't know why, in a, a high-ish leverage, I would say medium leverage tied, uh, 2-2 in the sixth, and he gives up a run with ease.
Blue Jays take a 3-2 lead before the Yankees come back.
Um.
So, if we really wanna get down to it, this is the change the Yankees need to make.
Jake Bird, if, if he's not going to be used properly, if he's not going to be used as the last guy in the pen type situation, um, he needs to be off this roster.
Option to Triple-A, bring up Kirvin Castro, bring up Giovanni Cruz , bring up Brendan Beck.
Like, you know, you wanna talk about giving guys opportunities and having guys who can actually give you length and Um, not consistently unravel whenever you bring them into games.
Give somebody else a chance.
Either that or Jake Bird should be the last guy in the bullpen.
And you gotta get rid of Paul Blackburn or Ryan Yarborough, cause again, I don't know what the point of them being here is, is if they're not in mop-up duty or throwing 50 pitches every time they come in for an outing.
Like, you think you're turning either of those guys into a single inning relief pitcher, you're not.
So, This is the one clear change that the Yankees need to make.
Jake Bird, the bullpen, and here's the reason why.
The bullpen is already not great.
The bullpen had a, uh has had an excellent turnaround, but the bullpen is still not the bullpen.
That's going to propel this team to a World Series, right?
It's not happening.
Um.
I think there's gonna be a couple of prospect promotions, there's gonna be one major trade at the deadline, and then we'll be there.
But, Aaron Judge is out.
That's one.
Giancarlo Stanton's out, Trent Grisham's out.
Austin Wells is out.
If you have that many starters out.
Everything else needs to get tighter.
Chris Landers and I talked about this last week.
You cannot have Jake Bird as one of your key-ish relievers.
Again, last guy in the bullpen or not on this team.
He has a 514 ERA, a 411 FIP, a 143 whip.
That is not good enough.
He gives up a ton of contact.
Yes, he has some swing and miss, 24 strikeouts in, in 21 innings, but he's given up 10 hits per 9 innings.
The, the answer is no.
1.3 homers per nine innings.
Not good.
Not, not good for a reliever, not good for a reliever who you think is going to get you out of an inning.
And again, this was not any, this was, especially, um, I think it was uh yesterday in the finale.
This was not rocket science for Jake Bird.
He faced, I think, the bottom of the lineup and they were all righties.
Let me, uh let me just double confirm this.
Jake Bird pitching for New York Yankees.
Yeah, he faced Ernie Clement, who's good, uh, Davis Schneider, who homered off of him, I don't know how, um, and Charles McAdoo, who is a prospect who they called up.
Um, He got Clement to fly out, gave up the homer to Schneider, struck out McAdoo, and got George Springer to fly out to end the inning, but still, like, there is no other lane for Jake Bird, other than 3 righties at the bottom of the lineup.
Um, and I understand Ernie Clement at the bottom of the lineup is not really.
Uh, it's not a real, he's batting 304 on the air, so that's a leadoff hitter batting 7th.
I don't know why, um, I don't know why that was the lineup construction, but still, like, Get the outs, and Davis Schneider is hitting 145 on the air, you can't give up that home run.
So, that's the one thing for me before we get into the uh the positives in the news.
Um.
I would say this, the resilience this team has showed, because again, the wins weren't like, they didn't knock your socks off, right?
Uh, two of these games were tied going into the 9th, um.
One was 3-3, the other one was uh 1-1.
So the Yankees weren't generating a whole ton of runs in this series, granted, they faced Kevin Gossman, who's very good, that was one of the games that they won.
Um, on, uh, on Friday, they faced the Savage, who was very good, and they had, they had a good offensive day that day, except they just didn't really cash in with the runners in scoring position.
They ended up scoring 5 runs, but they only went 2 for 10 with risk.
Um, and then against, uh, Patrick Corbin, they got to Corbin and knocked him out of the game, which was great, um.
And ended up going 5 for 16 with runners in scoring position, uh, which was good, but they only, um, how many of those runs came with actual runners in scoring position?
Cause I think the 9th inning was a little bit, uh, McMahon Oh, OK, so, one of the runs that 3 of the runs that Two of the runs that came with the runners in scoring position were a result of homer.
So , Ben Rice homered, um, with Ryan McMahon on 2nd after Paul Goldschmidt's infield single forced an error that got him over to 2nd base.
Um, and then Jazz Chisholm walked to put Jason Dominguez on 2nd base, and then Jose Caballero homered on a 3-run blast.
Um, the clutch hits from this game, believe it or not, came from Anthony Volpe and Ali Sanchez.
Two RBI, uh, uh , hits for Anthony Volpe and an RBI double from Ollie Sanchez that had the Yankees in the game going into the ninth inning, so, That's my point.
If this team can.
Remain resilient, limit, limit the opposition to, you know, no, no blow-up games, and then they have guys like Volpe coming through, the bottom of the lineup coming through like that.
Doesn't have to be every game.
Once or twice a week, it's gonna make all the difference because the pressure cannot keep remaining on the top hitters in the lineup.
Paul Goldschmidt should not be doing what he's doing, so he can't be tasked with any more responsibility.
Ben Rice is, is still a, a, a very young player.
Um, as much as I would love him to take that true like MVP step, I don't wanna put any more pressure on the kid .
I want him to be himself, and be able to just go through the motions and continue what he's doing.
Cody Bellinger, I think is another guy who can take on the burden, but I'd rather him .
Be a supporting cast member.
He's playing at an MVP level, but I think he's best as a 1A, 1B supporting act, uh, where he can kind of do a little bit of everything, he can deliver the clutch hit.
Um, and then we've seen when You're heaping too much pressure on someone like Jazz Chisholm, uh, or Anthony Volpe, as we've seen in years past.
It doesn't go over well.
That said, I think Jazz, we talked about last week, has come through tremendously since Judge has been out for the most part.
He's been playing great defense.
Um , he, uh, Uh, he's been getting on base regularly.
He had all those clutch hits against, uh, the Red Sox and the Guardians, uh, the week prior.
Um, so, loving what I'm seeing from him, and then you have Volpe who's largely been boom or bust, right?
The 1st 5 games he was up with the team, he was really good.
The next 15.
Games were awful.
Then he gets benched in the first two games of this series and comes in to start the finale, and he goes 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and makes 2 sterling defensive plays.
Sterling defensive plays is it's like watching a completely different player.
So again, maybe the solution here is Everybody gets their reps. Aaron Boone manages with gut instinct and feel.
Anthony Volpe gets a couple of starts a week, if that, and the limited playing time helps him out.
The limited playing time relieves him of some pressure and some workload, and he's able to be smoother on the defensive end and more concentrated in the batter's box.
A lot of the Anthony Volpe problems have stemmed from a lack of concentration, clear, like, clear signs of being run down.
Again, he played in He averaged 160 games over his first, uh, over his first three seasons or something.
It was like 158 games, like, he's, he had never played over 120 in a single season before, and then they're just, they, oh, you're on full-time MLB duty now.
Um, and then also, I think just the mental aspect of it, like, you, you even caught him in this series, he pinch ran on Saturday, and Ben Rice hit a single to right field and Volpe was on 1st, and he, you know, he was already taking off for 2nd, and he like hesitated at 2nd as the ball was going into right field, and even David Cone is like, head down, dude, like you're running to 3rd, you're looking at the 3rd base.
Why are you looking at right field?
What do you do?
The, the ball was hit.
Your job is to run as quickly as you can, look up, see what the third base coach is telling you.
And if there's two outs, you're running regardless .
So, there, there, there's, there, there should be no hesitation, there should be no waiting.
You saw the gap that he had at Triple-A this year when Spencer Jones hit a moonshot to the wall.
It hit the wall at Triple-A.
Volpe was on, I think, 2nd or uh he was on 1st base.
And he was jogging to 2nd base and then jogged to 3rd, and then stood at 3rd when the ball was coming in from the cutoff, man, he should have just been running the whole time to go home.
We've seen a multitude of mental lapses like that from Volpe where it's just like, it's unacceptable.
So, he's gotta be a little bit more dialed in, and I think with limited playing time, that's what we're gonna see.
I don't think he's a full-time Major League player.
I think he's a really solid bench piece, depth piece.
Regardless, um, Paul Goldschmidt on Saturday, hits the first homer of the year of Blue Jays closer Louis Barlin just silences the Rodgers Center.
Um, that lifts the Yankees to a, a 3-0 win.
And then, uh, Ben Rice victimizes Braden Fisher yesterday with a two-run homer.
Jose Caballero breaks it up with a 3, breaks it open with a 3-run homer, the Yankees win that 18-3.
So, you have all these instances of clutch hitting and even on Friday, I would call it.
Semi-clutch because they're down 5-0.
Um, they come back to score 3 runs, then they go down 7 to 3, and then they immediately score 2 runs again.
Um, Trent Grisham singled to center and, and, and drove in, uh, a couple more.
And that would have been huge if Jake Bird had not come into the game.
It would have been a completely different game.
I think the Blue Jays at that point are then on their heels, but it is what it is.
Nonetheless, um, In this series, in that opener, you had, uh, Grisham got that hit to cut the deficit, um, and got injured running the bases, and I'm sick of seeing this man.
I don't know how this team suffers so many injuries running the bases, and not injuries running the bases, um, Like hurting himself, uh, uh, not in like, uh, diving or colliding with somebody, injuring the bases on, injuring yourself on the bases on routine plays.
Trent Grisham is jogging to first and, then starts sprinting because he sees that the, the ball is gonna come home on the throw.
So I think the, the slow.
Start, eventually hurt his hamstring, and then he has a terrible awkward slide into second base that looked like it made it even more worse.
He leaves the game with hamstring tightness.
The next day, they placed him on the injured, 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain, um, and Jason Dominguez got recalled.
So, Grisham's out for at least 10 days.
Um, he, I believe, he had a similar hamstring issue last year, so the Yankees might wanna play it cautious here.
Um.
Uh, I'm looking at the comments now.
What if Kony admitted he was wrong?
What was he wrong about?
The Volpe thing Even if he admitted he was wrong, you saw the replay, like Volpe should not have been looking into right field.
He should have been running and looking at the third base coach.
There is no reason anytime you're running the bases, you should be staring at the ball, unless there's like a questionable ball that's in the air.
This was a line, this was a ground ball through the hole.
Um, there was, the, the, there, Volpe again has to be paying attention to his coach and not looking at what the defense is doing.
So, I don't, uh, he, I, I think if he admitted he was wrong, given maybe the context of the situation or whatever, that's fine, but the fact of the matter is Volpe should be running.
He's a fast runner, he should always be looking to take 1st or 3rd, especially when the ball is hit to right field because that's the opportunity to take 1st to 3rd.
There's no other, you're not taking it if it's hit to left field.
So, um, yeah.
I, uh, I, I, I mean, I'm not arguing with you about Stanton stuff and things, and I, I told you last episode, I'm not doing that.
Um, but Trent Grisham is down, so Jason Dominguez comes up.
Jason Dominguez got the only hit off Kevin Gosman on Saturday against the Blue Jays.
It was a solo homer, it tied the game, that allowed the Yankees to go into the 9th inning, uh, playing a little bit more relaxed as opposed to being down 1-0.
Um.
Dominguez went 2 for 8 in this series.
He had the home run, he scored 2 runs, he got both starts in right field.
The defense in right field was, I don't think he was tested a whole lot, but he didn't make any mistakes, looked fine to me, he had a really good throw home.
Um, on, uh, on one of the days, I forgot which one it was, so, So far, so good.
If he could be a versatile defensive outfielder by just like Aaron Boone can put in places without worrying about missing routine plays, this is gonna be awesome.
Cause Dominguez is incredibly key to this team.
If he could switch it, um, the Yankees need more right-handed hitters who can, um, handle lefties.
And we already know Jason Dominguez puts up really good lefty at bats.
That was never a problem with him.
That was always his number one strength.
So, he comes back, he gets the call at 11 o'clock the night before, um, Friday when Trent Grisham got injured.
Arrives in Toronto, um, I think I arrived at the Rodgers Center at 2 o'clock.
The game started at 3:30.
He told reporters that he had um 4 shots of espresso, 2 energy drinks, and a pre-workout, and he was ready to go.
I guess that helped him hit the home run.
Um, but that's dedication.
Again, like, this is a guy who has responded to every opportunity, who has responded to every, like every instance of adversity.
He comes up in 2023, immediately undergoes Tommy John.
They put him at Triple-A the next year after they acquire Juan Soto.
He fights to get a roster spot, comes up and rosters expand.
Pinch runs for the team in the playoffs, next, uh, next season, um, Starts 123 games, ebbs and flows, good, bad, uh, they option him to the minor leagues to start this year.
He forces the issue, cause you gotta call me up, I'm playing well and then obviously, injuries paved the path for him.
Then this time, gets injured uh in early May, comes back.
I would say a speedy recovery after that collision.
I think we thought it would have been worse than that.
Um, immediately starts proving himself on Triple-A, went on a rehab assignment last Friday.
Homers hitting from the right side, making solid defensive plays.
Comes up first day after a, a really difficult promotion situation, hits a home run against one of the league's best pitchers.
So, I mean, I'm sold on him, uh, maybe not as an everyday Major leaguer, but as a key component for this Yankees roster because, um, Uh, the, the versatility, the athleticism, um, is all needed.
The speed, all that's gonna be crucial.
Um, and then we have Giancarlo Stanton, who, uh, is still not ready.
Apparently suffered a setback.
Um, yeah , the caption says Stanton update, that's what it is.
Um, it's an update on his injury, it's not an update on you judging what he did in 2024 versus what he could do now.
Um.
Suffered a setback with his calf, uh, don't know how much longer it's gonna be, I guess I'll have to go, uh, through some more, uh, I'll have to slow down the rehab, probably, um, and then undergo imaging to see if he's capable of taking the next step.
Look, Giancarlo Stanton here or not here, it is what it is.
If he's not here, the lineup gets more flexibility.
Um, and again, they rely a little bit less on power, and they, Aaron Boone can piece things together, give some reps to other guys who deserve the time and, and, uh, can help him better identify defensive alignments that are most favorable to the team.
If Stanton's here, he's, he's a, a 30-homer power threat, 40 homer when he's actually healthy.
Um, And protects other guys in the lineup.
So, either way, it's good.
Um, I'm not bummed that he's gonna be out longer solely because I like when the lineup's a little bit more flexible, and, uh, maybe there's a situation where when he comes back, he's on the bench for 2.
Two days a week against right-handed pitching in some instances, um, depending on who it is.
So, Aaron Boone can move guys around.
I don't know.
I, I like, you know, at, at that point too, you're gonna have to manage his workload throughout the rest of the year.
This injury is now gonna keep him out for, we're going on 2, he's gonna be out for at least 2 months cause he's, there's, there's no way he's coming back in 2 weeks if he had to setback and he had to kind of uh slow everything down.
So, he's gonna be out for at least 2 months.
He's not getting reinserted to the lineup right away, but, um, you know, it, it's good and bad.
The Yankees need reinforcements right now, but also if they're gonna have guys step up and make things a little bit better for their um current situation, then it's a win-win.
I'd rather see what this team can do um with less, and then they get reinforced with more when We're talking stretch run, playoffs, and all that, um.
And, uh, you know, they're, they're still generating a ton of power, like Ben Rice is a monster, um, Cody Bellinger has been slugging some homers, Paul Goldschmidt's been, um, been a godsend.
Um, so, yeah, I mean, Brian McMahon's even homered a bunch, uh, Jose Caballera homered yesterday, you almost never see that.
So, And look, I, I wanna see more of Spencer Jones.
Like, truthfully, I wanna see more of Spencer Jones.
And uh we, we, we need to get more reps from these young players to see A, what we have in them, and B, if they, if they could become a trade deadline assets, and that's what it is.
So, it's not the easiest situations right now for the Yankees, but um, If they can, if they can get through this, and be better off for it, it's gonna be probably the most well positioned they've ever been to make a playoff run in the modern era.
Um, but Goldschmidt is, and again, Goldschmidt, like, we need Goldschmidt to get some rest, like the whole.
Issue last year, was he got run into the ground in the first half.
He had an excellent first half, and then he fell off a cliff in the second half because he's 38, 39 years old, and probably can't handle the rigors of a 162 game season, but he's playing a ton on both sides of the ball right now.
So, I'm a little bit cautiously optimistic about that.
I need him to kind of uh um I need him to kind of get a couple days off of his feet.
So, nonetheless, Really good road trip, really good way to kind of shut the Blue Jays down, um, and show them that you're the better team even with similar high-impact injuries, like the Blue Jays are 34 and 38.
They're not out of it by any means, but, uh, it's gonna be a much tougher hill to climb, and if they're in the wild card picture, um, yeah, it's just not a situation you wanna be in.
We've all been there.
Yankees have been there plenty since uh 2020.
You don't wanna be in the wild card picture.
You wanna just skirt ahead to the DS if you can, you get that one seed.
Um, so, Outside of that, I think there is hopefully a bit of an edge shift, so.
You have the Blue Jays, who owned the Yankees last year, it ended up changing the entire complexion of the season, um, The Blue Jays had their way with them in the regular season, in the playoffs, the Blue Jays won the American League, they represented the AL in the World Series.
It was a banner year for them, um, up until they endured the worst choke in World Series history, arguably, um, just for the context of everything and how it went down.
What everybody kind of forgets, I think, because everybody else hates the Yankees.
Is that The Yankees have owned the Blue Jays for the better part of 30 years.
Like, outside of the Blue Jays' two ALCS runs in like the mid 2010s , um, the Yankees routinely would beat up on the Blue Jays, routinely ended their seasons, um, even as recently as the 2020s.
I think the Yankees ended their season in 2022 .
And at the Rodgers Center, like the Blue Jays were competing for a playoff spot, the Yankees eliminated them, and the Yankees uh won the division on their soil, while Vlady was saying , you know, not in my house, if you guys remember that.
Um, or did the Blue Jays make the playoffs that year, and that was the year they choked against the Mariners, like, awfully.
Yeah, I think that was.
Yeah, so the Blue Jays up until, so the Blue Jays from 2017 to 2024 did not win a single playoff game.
And this is an organization and a fan base that's gonna tell me you own the fucking Yankees.
You don't own shit, dude.
You're terrible.
Um, so you had one good year where all the performances came together for you, um, all the injury breaks and bounces, all that, all that went your way.
Um, You played to the peak of your projected performance.
They built a team predicated on contact and good baserunning, um, and it all worked out until it didn't.
So, I, once that season ended , and they lost the World Series in the manner that they did, I said, good luck getting back here, cause you gotta take that opportunity by the horns and you gotta own it.
You, that, that, that the, the, the cosmic.
Nature of everything coming together like that, very rare.
Very rare, and the Blue Jays are seeing it now with the injuries that they have, with the regressions to the mean of some of these performances.
Vladimir Junior has 3 homers on the season, like, every year is very different.
So the fact that you had all those aspects come together for you in the manner that they did last year and you blew it, like, good luck this year.
That's all I'm saying.
I said no Blue Jays playoffs since the beginning.
I'm gonna stand by that.
I think the Yankees did a good job of taking back the edge a little bit by winning that series, and also Cam Schlittler, um, Controlled them, which was great.
Cam Shutler gave the Blue Jays bulletin board material um before his outing on Saturday, and the Blue Jays still couldn't touch him.
Um, what did Cam go?
Just make sure I have the right numbers here.
7 innings, 1 earned, he had 4 walks, which is uncharacteristic, 6 hits, um , struck out 7, 101 pitches.
He was absolutely awesome.
Before that game, He said, the Blue Jays are easy to rage bait, I think.
All that stuff, last year in the playoffs or whatever it is, they got the whole country behind them, so there's a lot.
They're passionate about it, you respect them for that, but I don't really like them.
They ended our season last year.
I hope everyone has that chip on their shoulder.
So, He says all that.
Usually, the trash talk for the Yankees backfires um in their face.
This time it didn't.
Cam Schuttler dominated them.
The Yankees had an awesome 9th inning win.
Um, and again, this is where I, this is where the tides turning is very crucial.
The tides can turn on the field, which is obviously important, but the mental game.
The Yankees, whenever they talk shit, it never works out for them.
Something always goes wrong.
Somebody always uses it as bulletin board material.
The Yankees have welcomed Cam Schuller especially.
has welcomed other teams.
The Red Sox has given them bulletin board material.
Red Sox haven't responded.
Blue Jays haven't responded.
So, I'm liking the edge that these young guys are possessing.
Um, Cam Schuller is obviously, I think, Absolutely entitled to talk the shit that he wants based on how his career has started.
Um, that can all change, but so far this year, I mean, best pitcher in the American League, can't deny it.
Um, So really glad with what we saw in that series.
Especially after Friday night's result, it was demoralizing, right?
Like you were mounting a comeback, scratching and clawing, Trent Grisham goes down, bullpen, lets you down in a big way, and that's that.
Um, one bullpen trend that I do wanna talk about here quickly is, uh, Camilo Duval.
Camilo Duval has been really good in some recent outings.
His numbers still are not there.
He's got a 506 ERA, um, and Has, I mean, everything else is fine.
He's just, he's given up homers, and uh 1.4 homers per nine innings, but he's got a 374 FIP which is pretty good, and a 1.16 whip, which I like to use that as a good reference because that that calculates how many runners are on base when you're in the game.
Um, Camilo Duval has not given up a run.
In Just to confirm, 1234, in 5 appearances.
Now, were all those high leverage?
No.
He was in the game for the 9th inning against the Red Sox when the Yankees were down 5 to 3.
That was a clean frame.
Um, He had a high leverage one against the Guardians, where he was only in there for 1/3 of an inning and gave up two hits.
Um.
Not great there.
But the next 3 are something to look at.
So you have the Guardians where he gets the win.
One inning, 1 hit, clean.
Next game, he pitches against Toronto on Friday night.
In the 7th inning when they're down, I think it was 7 to 5.
Yeah, they were down 7 to 51 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, but strikes out 2.
And then yesterday in the 8th inning, he gets the win, um, in a tie game 3-3, 1 inning, 2 strikeouts.
What's going on here?
Um, so, We thought we identified the issue with Camilo Duval.
Um, he was throwing a slider too many times, um, and that's his weakest pitch by far .
It's getting absolutely hammered, both average and slugging.
Um, and not only was it getting hammered, but he was leaving it up in the zone.
So, there are two solutions here.
One, you stop throwing the slider cause you can't throw it, and opponents are destroying it.
Or two, you lower the slider in the zone.
That's simple.
Prob that option is probably the best cause then you can actually see what you have in the slider.
Long story short, over these last 34 outings, the slider has been used a little bit less frequently, and he's using it lower in the zone.
And we've seen better results, or at least we have seen no runs being scored, which hopefully is a trend that continues.
If Camilo Duval, don't really need him to be an 8th or 9th inning guy, if he could be a 7th inning dude, that's massive for the team.
That's absolutely massive.
Um, he's got amazing stuff.
He's throwing 103 mile an hour turbo sinkers.
Harness that, harness that, changes the game for the Yankees, please.
Then it's one less thing on the list for Brian Cashman to get at the trade deadline, you know, can't have all this.
Um, they can't be going into the trade deadline with 4 needs.
It's gotta be 1 to 2 here and there, Guy prospects coming up to bolster the roster, other guys stepping up down the stretch, getting the rest that they need, that's it.
Um, So the Yankees have a day off today.
They got White Sox and Rednecks.
White Sox are might, might be the hottest team in baseball.
They just won a series against the Dodgers in Chicago, um.
See, what are they?
White Sox Atop the AL Central, 38 and 32.
I think the Yankees are gonna handle them.
I don't think it's gonna be a problem, but it's a young up and coming team, and they've been good.
So, um, What's especially uh helpful here is that, um, Correct me if I'm wrong, Gerritt Cole on the bump for the opener.
Yeah, it's Cole Rodon and Weathers.
So, I like Cole and Rodon against his former team.
I like that.
Um, Cole and Rodon is the two veterans taking on a very young White Sox lineup, kind of, you know, welcome to baseball, pals.
Here we go.
Um, And then Reds, we will throw Schlitler, Warren, and Cole, but we'll be podcasting before that series, so, um, we got a day off today, please enjoy it.
Um, please celebrate this Knicks win.
The New York Knicks, man.
Like I said, 53 years, you might not be the most rabid basketball fan, um, if you're a Yankee supporter, but you love New York, you love New York's success, um, and this embodied everything.
New York is a global city.
It's not just people from New York, right?
Um, Most people who live in New York are transplants.
They're coming from across the country, they're coming from the Midwest, or there're some parts of the South, um, like, and those people were rooting on the Knicks during this finals round cause they wanted to be a part of something special, they wanted to be part of the energy, and they wanted to have a good time, and they knew what a championship.
to native New Yorkers and how the energy is infectious and um it uplifts everything, especially when times are tough, which they are for a lot of people.
So, just imagine what a Yankees World Series win would, would do.
Um , last time the Knicks made the finals, um, the Yankees won the World Series in 1999.
So, if you wanna play that game, then keep your hopes high.
Yankees.
16 games above 500, um, dealing with some adversity right now with injuries and some other issues, but guys are stepping up, uh.
We get a day off here, which is crucial, um, especially because of Dominguez's travel situation, um, and the team being on the road for, uh, the last, I think it was 7 or 8 days.
So, Um, take the day off.
You got Davis Martin, who's really good for the White Sox, Anthony Kay, who's, I believe, Michael K's son, right?
Um, and then Sean Burke.
So the, the White Sox are throwing some good pitchers at the Yankees, but I think it's the AL Central, man.
Um, I'm not saying the White Sox are like definitively a part of that, but, um, Yankees, Yankees have their way with the AL Central, and I think it can, can continue.
Um, anyway, 5 and 1 on the road trip, 16 games above 500, Yankees are looking great.
Um, you gotta feel good about them.
Yes, like, you know, there's, there, there's gonna be problems, there's gonna be bumps in the road for the most part, things are going really well.
Um, and, uh, in over these next couple of episodes, we're gonna be talking about, um, maybe trade deadline stuff, some rumors popping up.
Players they should target depending on what's happening.
Um, we still need updates on a number of other, uh, injured players.
Max Fried's gradually making his way back.
We still don't really know what's gonna happen with Aaron Judge, but we'll see.
Um, and until then, we'll talk to you guys on Thursday or Friday.
We'll see what the deal is with this White Sox series and how it, uh, transpires.
I wanna have the episode scheduled where it makes the most sense, uh, for the listeners to have a good time.
Um, so thank you guys for tuning in, as always, please like and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
Uh, don't forget it, Yanks go yard.
Um, my name is Thomas Karinati.
You can find me at Tommy_takes.
That's on, uh, Twitter.
I'm at TC fan siteed on TikTok, having a great time over there.
Don't forget.
Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, for Yanks Go Yard.
Um, and of course, YanksoYard.com.
That's where all the written content is.
We got a great editorial team over there keeping you up to date with all things Yanks.
Let's go, baby.
Thank you guys for tuning in.
We'll chat soon, all right?
