Latest / Who's On First? / Episode 3- Yankees Hold Best Record In A Struggling American League
Transcript
- -: Pretty cool stuff right there from Michael K as well as Aaron Judge for supplying the home run. And such a great way to honor such an amazing man in John Sterling. A voice so recognizable and so synonymous with those incredibly successful Yankees teams of the late 90s and the early 2000s. And a man that will be incredibly missed by the entirety of the baseball community. Again, a final tip of the cap to John Sterling on such an amazing life, such an amazing career. Well, hello, hello, welcome to Who's On First. I'm Joseph Lund. So happy you could be joining me for episode three. We got a lot to cover today as I was out for a little bit taking some AP tests. Yes, that's one of the fun perks of being in high school and having a baseball podcast. So what are we going to be covering today? Well, we got a lot to talk about as I mentioned. The Yankees, currently the kings of a faltering American league. The wheels are quickly falling off for the Boston Red Sox. up in the Yankees booth. Now moving on, I to talk a little bit about the Red Sox. Things continue to go wrong for the Red Sox and a lot of it is self-inflicted. Over the weekend they lost 2 of 3 to the Houston Astros. In that Sunday game that they lost, they went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position and they stranded 13 runners on the base paths and they're not going to I'm gonna bring you a new segment today. I'm gonna talk the injury report with Ronald Acuna Jr. and Tarek Scoobel. I'll talk about one of Scoobel's teammates from Rivaldez and the hot water he finds himself in. I'm gonna give you my opinions on who I think has the best chance to win the AL Cy Young. And of course, as always, gonna finish things out, giving you the standings in the MLB. So let's get going. Our first major storyline of the day. Not getting it done in any facet of the game. I talked about how the Yankees are having well-rounded success on every side of the ball. It's the complete opposite for the Red Sox. They can't get it done on the pitching side and they're struggling with injuries on the pitching side. They can't get it done on the offensive side and the defense has been subpar at best. And then they go out and make it even worse in their quotes to the media. This was this past week, Wilson Contreras after the firing. The Yankees are cruising while the rest of the AL is snoozing. Currently 25 and 12 puts them at the top of the American League and second in baseball behind the Atlanta Braves. And this team is being led and driven by their stars. This was a team with some lofty expectations coming into the year. And that's a constant from Yankees fans. They always expect a lot from the Yankees. And so far they have been delivering, which has given them this stellar start. said, it's different with Alex not here. After Alex Cora got fired, the guys got loose a little more because I feel like the tension was gone. That's what I felt. That's my own opinion. When Alex wasn't in the dugout anymore, the team was kind of like loose, end quote. And it's just why is this needed right now from a veteran catcher in Wilson Contreras? Specifically three players on the offensive front have been driving this team along and in their last seven games These are the splits from their three stars Aaron judge hitting 440 with 11 hits for home runs and nine RBI's Ben Rice is hitting 360 with nine hits three home runs and six RBI's and Cody Bellinger is hitting 357 with 10 hits two home runs and nine RBI's that's all in their last seven games You can't read this or hear this or see this and not think this is a direct shot at Alex Cora. And you could understand it a little bit if A, your team is having success right now, but right now they find themselves at the bottom of the American League East. And two, you can understand it if it weren't for some other notable veterans in the clubhouse going to the media directly after the firing and coming out in support of the manager. That was what I talked about. And that is the production you want from your stars if you are a baseball fan. You're lucky to get that from one star, let alone have three guys hitting at that level over the past week. Stellar numbers from the Yankees, top of the lineup. This powered them to a sweep over another ALS team in the East team in the Baltimore Orioles. They won game one, seven to two. in the first episode how guys like Trevor Story and Garrett Crochet and very notable well-known players and well-respected players throughout the league coming out and saying how this was on them this was a team thing that they needed to work on but now Wilson Contreras goes to the media talks about how the clubhouse is feeling better and says it was Alex Koros fault even though after the firing the winds are still not coming in Fenway They win game two, nine to four as Cody Bellinger in that one went four for four with two home runs and four RBIs. They win game three, 11 to three as a young star Jason Dominguez goes three for five with a home run and three RBIs. And they win game four, 12 to one as this time on the pitching side it was Cam Schlitler getting things done going five and two thirds only allowing one earned run and four. And so you're thinking this is it for Wilson Contreras. Surely that's all he said, but no, he went even further later on in the week with some more rough PR for the Red Sox. He said after the losses, quote, probably doesn't help that the lineup has a number of young players who don't have much experience in dealing with slumps. And it's just, again, why is this needed to go to the media? If you go and address this in the clubhouse, Strikeouts their offense is clicking on all cylinders that is in four games Against the Baltimore Orioles. They put up 39 runs They were just shy of averaging 10 runs a game in this series sweep and They currently lead the MLB on the offensive side. They lead the MLB in runs. They lead in the home runs They have 61 the second team in the AL is the Astros at 47 That's one thing and it's a completely fine and respectable thing to do and it's something he should be doing as a veteran in the clubhouse. Instead he takes the easy way out and goes and finds another escape goat after the Red Sox already pinned their struggles on Alex Cora. He goes out and then blames the young guys. And this is just a horrible look. Again, he needs to step up and be the veteran presence in that clubhouse along with guys like Trevor Story. They lead the AL in walks. They lead the American League in stolen bases, slugging percentage, and OPS. Then it's not just the offense. On the pitching side of things, they lead the American League in earned run average, shutouts. They have the fewest runs allowed and the fewest home runs allowed. And they're second in the American League in opponent batting average by one point. One point separates them and the Rays. The Rays. allowing a opponent batting average, the Yankees right behind them at 222. And it's just been a stellar start in the Bronx to start the year. There's no one that's really slumping right now. The pitching rotation is getting things done. The offense is getting things done. Everyone can rely on people. And that's a great place to be if you're a baseball team. There's no one or no side of the ball that feels like they have to go do everything. and Garrett Crochet and go help those young guys as this team is navigating this season and off to a miserable start. He can't be going to the media and flaming the young guys for their lack of inexperience. It's not their fault that they're inexperienced. They're all rookies, second year, third year guys in that clubhouse. And that's a lot of the makeup of the team is younger guys. And this is where Wilson Contreras, he made his debut with the Cubs in 2016. It's an example for the Astros. Right now, they're one of the best offenses in baseball. The problem is their pitching rotation has not been great to where the offense has been feeling the pressure where they need to go out and win every single game for them. But on the Yankees side of things, they got all facets of their game clicking. That allows people to play carefree, just lose baseball. That's when you have your most successes when you're playing carefree in baseball. It's a very mental game. So he had guys to look up to, probably two of the most well-known leaders and respected guys in the MLB of Chris Bryan and Anthony Rizzo. And those are two guys who would never go out and flame the younger guys in a clubhouse for something like this or the struggles of a team. But that's the route that Wilson-Caturres takes. Then later after that, those quotes broke, Marcelo Mayer came out and kind of... And so that's what this start has allowed them to do. And this is not just the start and Yankees fans, you gotta be feeling good about this because reinforcements are on the way, especially in the pitching side of things. Garrett Cole is on his third rehab start in double A. He's expected to be back late May, early June. And Carlos Rodan through his first simulated game, he is expected to be back in late May. So more good things to come for the Yankees. Let's see. took the side of the younger guys being a younger guy himself and he said quote, me that's just kind of an excuse. Blame the young guys. And I agree with Mayer. It is a tough look again going to the media and calling out Wilson Contreras on this. This was obviously something he was asked in response to the Contreras quote, which is just another negative is that it brings up more ammo for the reporters every day in your locker room that it's then another thing in addition to how long they can keep up this pace of the start they've been off to to start the year. Also want to give a tip of the cap to legendary Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling announced this past week that he sadly passed away. He was the voice of the Yankees from 1989 to 2024. That's 36 seasons calling games in the Bronx. He called a total of 5,426 regular season games and 225 postseason games. the stress of Major League Baseball life, the stress of being a new guy on a team that is struggling, they now have to deal with reporters asking them about a veteran making comments about how it's almost pinning their fault on the recent struggles for the team. And I just don't understand it for Wilson-Conchuris. The entire eyes of the league are fixated on this team and what's going to happen with this team after the questionable firing of a manager. He called 5060 consecutive games from September 1989 to July 2019. He did not miss a single at bat of Derek Jeter's career or a single pitch of Mariano Rivera's career. He's called games for five World Series championship teams in 96, 1998, 1999, then 2000 and 2009, those five Yankees teams. And he's won 12 sports Emmy awards over his career. Your front office is in the crosshairs of most talk around baseball and how they've mismanaged a lot of the stuff with the firing of Alex Cora. And then you go out and say this, it just makes no sense. And I'm hoping the Red Sox can turn the season around. ⁓ I'm a fan of the Red Sox and hoping they can turn things around. But again, just more tough PR that they did not need. And so that's enough for the negative on the Red Sox. I wanna move on now. to a new segment, yes, our first segment here on Who's on First Show, and it's one I'm calling Stellar Stars, sponsored by nobody, because I don't have any sponsors yet. But on this, I wanna highlight each episode three players from the past week and their stellar days they had at the ballpark, getting things done out on the field, whether that be a hitter having an incredible day or a pitcher going out and going seven shut out or throwing a no hitter, things like that. I wanna be able to And this was so cool, especially as of course a fan of play by play. ⁓ Over the weekend in his the first inning after it was announced his passing, Aaron Judge went deep and this was the call by Yankees current TV broadcaster Michael Kay. highlight those players that you might not see if you're not watching games from around the league. So let's get going. I want to start off with Connor Griffin and his performance against the Reds in the 17 to 7 win they had on May the 2nd. In this game, he went four for five. He had two RBIs, one run scored, and seven total bases for the rookie. He had a double, a walk, triple, fly out, and then back to back singles to round out his day. Connor Griffin is a guy that I'm very much rooting for. He came up, obviously he has all the hype around being one of the top prospects in baseball, the number one prospect in baseball. When he came up and it started off slow, kind of like what we saw with Jackson Holliday with the Orioles, but it's awesome to see now him turning things around. In his last seven games, he's hitting 400. Big help comes from that day he had against the Reds as they win it 17 to seven. Second one Jackson Trujillo making his long-awaited season debut a very much awesome sight for Brewers fans in a season debut even though it was a 3-6 loss against the Cardinals. This was on May the 4th. He went 4 for 4, two doubles, one run, six total bases. His slash line on the day he had a double, single, single walk and a double. And so... Great start for the young phenom that is Jackson Chorio. I think he's one of the most underrated players in baseball. Part of that being the Brewers and more of a small market team and how they operate. Still making it to the playoffs consistently, but definitely an underrated player and one you should definitely watch out for throughout the season. And then lastly, want to give some credit to Peter Lambert of the Houston Astros. The Astros have had a tough year when it comes to the pitching side of things. I mentioned they have one of the best offenses in baseball. It's just been their pitching that's held them back and kept them at the bottom half of the American League record wise. But Lambert went up against Shohei Otani on the mound for the Dodgers on May 5th. As the Astros take home a 2-1 win, he out pitched Otani going seven innings pitched, zero runs allowed in four strikeouts. Lambert was from San Dimas High School. He grew up a Dodger fan. And it's also cool for me because he happens to be my cousin. So that was pretty fun. Getting to watch my cousin go out there against the Dodgers and absolutely show out. So shout out to all three of those guys. And I think a great first segment that I'm looking forward to continuing. So now to some more tougher news in the MLB. Wanna go over some recent injuries that were announced throughout the past week. Starting off, was announced Ronald Acuna Jr. had a grade one left hamstring strain. This was announced on May 3rd. He was moved to the 10 day injured list and is expected to be back In the clubhouse from May 20th to 21st. And this is one I'm not too worried about. Obviously there's been the injury history with Ronald Acuna Jr. So lucky for Braves fan that Braves fans that says that this wasn't something too serious as Acuna has had many season and season ending injuries in recent years. And the Braves again, the reasons I'm not worried for this injury. They're the best team in baseball at 26 and 13. and they're seven and three in their last 10 and they lead the league with a plus 79 run differential. They haven't just been relying on Acuna, just like the Yankees. It's been a full team effort that's gotten them off to this hot start. So not too worried there and should see Acuna Jr. back by the end of May. The second one is a big blow for the Tigers. Tarek Skubal announced that he needs arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow. He's expected to be back late August or early July. And this is a tough one for the Tigers. They're on a three game losing streak and they currently sit at 18 and 20. They're second place in the division and they're one game back of the Guardians. So they're not playing great baseball and they're just one game back is the silver lining and the positive you can find in this is that they're still in it. The problem is you lose your ace and you're without a doubt consensus best player on the team. and he'll only be available after the All-Star break. And so if you're the Tigers, this is a big moment in your season coming up in the next two to three months into August is how are you going to handle this? How is their front office going to handle this injury? This is more than likely your last year with Tarek Schubel because the reports so far have been that they're not willing to go up to the price that Schubel is asking in free agency or for an extension. And so if you're Tigers fan, you're rooting against the Mets, the Twins, the Marlins, and the Giants as they all have small year controllable stellar pitchers. For the Mets, it's Freddie Peralta. For the Twins, Sandy Alcantara. For the, check that, for the Twins, Joe Ryan. And for the Marlins, Sandy Alcantara. Also for the Giants, Robbie Ray, one year left in his deal. So how are the Tigers going to navigate this? Are they gonna go make a splash at the deadline? or they can continue to operate as a smaller market team and almost waste the last year of this scubal contract. This is such a golden opportunity for the Tigers, even with the injury, you're still gonna get them back towards the middle of the season right after the All-Star break and how are they going to navigate this? That's gonna be a big story to watch out for moving forward in the season. And so staying on the Tigers, that moves us to our next. Storyline segment of the day that being from Brevaldez sadly some more negative news. I got a cover He threw on Tuesday versus the Red Sox and he had a pretty abysmal slash line. He threw three innings pitched He allowed 10 hits 10 runs seven of them earned and he allowed three home runs in the performance and Once again, we keep seeing this over and over with from Brevaldez is his temperament got the best of him as he was ejected from the game after hitting Trevor Story in the back. This was following giving up back to back home runs to start off the fourth inning to our good friend Wilson Contreras as well as Wilier Abreu. And like to start off by saying Story did absolutely nothing wrong in this. was just Valdez annoyed in himself, annoyed in the way the game was going and the season's been going and taking his anger, his frustrations out on Trevor Story. and this is never something you should be doing. The competitive nature in you should never be saying, got beat today, I didn't have my best stuff, so now I need to go throw at the guy, throw at one of the team's leaders for them having the best of me, and I just don't get it. On the bright spot, at least he didn't throw at one of his teammates like he did last year when he was on the Astros. But again, just a not smart decision if you're from Brevaldez. You just hear about the loss of Tarek Schubel to an already hindered staff in the amount of arms they have in that rotation. And it was also announced after the game that Valdez was to be ejected after the ejection, he was announced that he was suspended four or five games. So this now leaves the Tigers with a two man pitching staff. All they have now is Jack Flaherty and Cater Montero. They're the only two pitchers in the Tiger staff. And this is one where you have to know the situation. If you're Valdez, you can't be throwing it, guys. You can't be risking missing starts with a state of the Tigers rotation. So I don't understand that. He will miss one start with the five game suspension. He'll be back after that. But again, like I mentioned, how are the Tigers going to navigate this trade deadline? They need to go out and get an arm. That's what you need to be hoping if you're a Tigers fan. If not, I think this is a big wasted opportunity in the franchise as a whole if you miss out on the window of the years that you have Tarek Scoobel. So that finishes out kind of our main talking points of the day. No, no.