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Another New York Yankees Checkpoint W/ Joba Chamberlain · Yankees Pod

• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: We are back on Yankees Pod.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: We have a very, very special guest.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: His third time on the show.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: 2009 World Series champion, Jabba Chamberlain.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Jabba, how you doing today?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Good, man.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: It was it's it's weird because somebody just posted something yesterday.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: It was 17 years since I made a diving catch in Cleveland.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't the bug game.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, hey, somebody posted something different.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: But 17 years, I'm like, holy crap.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm like, I realize, I'm like, oh, well, my son's 20, so I guess, yeah, here we are.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, and you know what?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: You are the most decorated guest on Yankee's pod, third time.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And since this is your third time on, can can we call each other friends at this point?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, 100%.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you got my phone numbers, so we're we're locked in.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, that that's one thing.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: I just I love baseball and and seeing how much you've grown and and to be a part of it is is an absolute honor.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I appreciate it.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: No, we appreciate you.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and yeah, I was gonna ask you about the 17 years thing because that diamond catch, and we'll put it in.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: That diamond catch was one of the most miraculous things I've ever seen from a baseball player.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, baseball players are athletes, but you know, you look like you look like Randy Moss catching that ball right there.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was uh I I don't know what happened.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody, like, I guess you just react.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: You don't really like, it's not like you plan to do anything like that.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: It just kind of, hey, he got a bun in the air, let me get the out.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I was I was just jacked that I caught it.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: Thank goodness that Jorge was literally, he was if if you saw it, he's like yelling at me to throw to second.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because I I wasn't I was was locked into the catch.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: I really didn't care what else was going on.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was like, well, I had way more time to get rid of it than than I thought.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so thank goodness he was he was there to to tell me that hey, throw to second, throw to second.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Well, I really had a bunch of time, and I'd glad I made the throw and we got the double play.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I pitched okay in that game, too.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it didn't it all comes out in the end.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you did.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you did.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: The 2026 New York Yankees.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, last time we checked, they were 20 and 10.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now they're 36 and 23.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Sunday's game was crazy.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: 43 minute, 13 run inning.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: What's it like when you have an inning like that and you're in the dugout?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you're hopefully on the other side of the fence and the ones scoring the runs and not watching it happen.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's like as a pitcher, it's it's it's weird because obviously you're excited, but sometimes like those long ones, you just gotta find ways to like try and stay busy.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like whether playing catch or whether it's just going to whatever your routine is.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so it just those innings are crazy, and like for me, it's just been baseball overload here in the last week.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: We've had regionals, we've had the women's college world series, and of course, baseball going on too, and and the Yankees, and just it's it's weird because it's for them, and especially like when they played the the A series, it's it's still weird to me to see Sacramento.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know if it's just me or if if that's everybody.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: I hope so, but it's weird.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then what about the ABS challenge that didn't even show up?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what I don't granted it it didn't go our way, which it should have been a ball.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm just like, what what are we doing?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm like, oh, well, it did go our way because then it was a strike, and they showed it all, and I'm just like, it's just a weird series when you see Sacramento, but those long innings are it's it's weird because hitting is contagious, right?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: And you see it, and when stuff like that happens, like you don't want it to stop, but you're like, damn, I kind of want to go pitch again.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is pitching is fun too.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, can you guys stop?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was crazy.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Forty 43 minutes long, 75 pitches.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: 75 pitches.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was a crazy, crazy, crazy inning.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the guy in the middle of that inning that keeps on getting it done, Ben Rice wins AL player of the week.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: At what point does this guy go from he's really hot to he's really good?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Are we there yet?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's the thing.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we we talked about it's like, hey, let's let's reconvene here, you know, when we get get close to break or whatever.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: I I think at this point you you've kind of just gotta, you know, you gotta do one of these, right?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you are that good.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think in what we've talked about this, the competition between him and Judgy, I think is great for him because it's like, you know, he Judge would pull away a little bit.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Then Ben, like whatever, but that's just the course of the season.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And he hasn't, he hasn't let up.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you kind of just have to say, Alright, enough's enough.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this dude is this dude's the real deal.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we've all seen it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's do we want to like voice it and let it be known like hey, Ben Grice is real?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yes, he's a there, he's a player, but no, there's some legitimacy to it.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, if you want to do the analytics side of it, which I know there's a part of it, but when he hits balls, he hits balls very hard.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And that's not just homers, that's singles.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's everything that he does.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I just it's weird because I don't think a lot gets noticed about him because he's not a me-me guy, he's not a flashy, he's not whatever, he just goes about his business.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's a cool part about him.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Am I an energy guy?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm the complete opposite.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: I understand that.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: But he's just he's a really good baseball player, and I think people just need to start realizing it.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: He's not gonna go out and tell you, he's gonna go out and just do his job, and that's what Ben Rice does.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know him, I've never met him, so I have no idea.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: But also, it's just that's the way he is from seeing it from afar and knowing the position that he's in and the and the spotlight that he's on.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: The dude is billed for it because he doesn't look like he he cares, and I know he cares, but it doesn't look like he does, and I think that's what makes him great.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's smooth, and we gotta get you uh to meet Ben Race.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that should be a layup.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and not that you even really it matters.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: He was 12 for 26 this week, 1.418 OPS this year though, 306, 17 home runs, 1.056 OPS, just an absolute beast.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, you're absolutely right.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: He just goes about his business and he gets the absolute crap out of the ball.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, to Garrett Cole, we go.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Garrett Cole, his two starts, he's allowed zero runs.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is it like having that horse back at the front of the rotation for a team?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it just, I mean, I don't think words can describe it.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: It it's not only his presence, but just knowing, you know, that he's there, he's healthy, and just his presence of of being on the mound and being in the dugout.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: And when you have a guy like that, I I always always refer to Cece in that in that realm.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: And just knowing that there's somebody to talk to, there's somebody that you can lean on, there's somebody that is gonna take care of whatever needs to be taken care of.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Those guys are undescribable in what they do for a team.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's like, oh, well, I get them every fifth day, and we know we we're probably gonna win.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just it, it's it's something that you can't describe because there's very few guys like that.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: There's a handful where it's like, okay, I know this.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we got young studs, right?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And we know who they all are.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: But when you have somebody that's done it for as long as they have and done it the way that he's done it, I think it's just it it does something to a team that you really can't describe, and you can kind of see it.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just with with what he does and how he goes about his business, and we don't see what's behind closed doors and what Garrett does, but we've we've obviously heard it from other guys of of how important he is, and I think for him and the team, I think it just it does it does so many things and just brings a a standard and it brings a a presence of what he is and and winning is is his ultimate goal, and we all know that.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, he just exudes it, and you see it every time he goes out, and and it doesn't seem like he missed a beat, really.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the crazy part because like you come off that surgery, you haven't pitched for a while, and then he just goes 12 and two thirds, gives up six hits, 12K's, just absolutely been uh amazing.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Two other guys who have been really, really good, um Ryan Weathers and Will Warren.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But there is, and their ERA is very similar, but there is a huge difference between these two guys.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Ryan Weathers is getting absolutely no run support.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Will Warren is seven and one has the best run support in baseball.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: What is it like?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: What does run support do to your psyche as a pitcher?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: I it it's it's funny you bring that up because like it brings me back to when Phil Hughes was an all-star the one year.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: He had a five ERA, but he was getting eight runs a game.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: So we like when you just knew, like, and I I think I went four and three, and I had like a three, and I was getting like two run support.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so you did it was just it was weird because we knew when Hughesy threw, we were just like, well, we're gonna get at least six runs.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's just what's gonna happen.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it was it, it's it's just sometimes that's the nature of the beast.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like that it just happens that way.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Baseball is such a weird game, and it is the greatest game in the world.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: But it's also like some guys go out there and it's just like, you know what's gonna happen.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we're gonna be in the game, but we're not gonna score a lot of runs.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then another guy comes in, and I think Hughesie got 18 wins that year with a 5 ERA, and you're just like, Well, we're gonna score when Hugh Z pitches.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it doesn't matter who he matches up with, something's gonna happen.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it it's weird because you recognize it, but obviously you still have to go pitch your game, and it's like, well, they usually don't score runs for me when I pitch, so I better I better keep it close.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's it's completely different.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it's such a weapon to have different guys, and they both pitched completely different.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, one's left-handed, one's right-handed.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: But it's just having weapons like that is is something that you can never have enough pitching.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: And bullpen we'll we'll figure that out as it goes.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's just part part of what baseball is, right?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, those two guys, it it's interesting because their numbers are very similar.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's weird.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is weird, it's weird.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And like you're like looking at what Warren, you look at his numbers and you're like, that's an all-star.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then you look at his numbers of run support, you're like, oh, they're scoring eight runs a game every single time he pitches.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, the starting pitching has been incredible.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, if Max Reed can pitch this season, if he comes back even in September, like uh we talked to Greg Joyce last week, and you know, he's doing light throwing and whatever, but like if Max Reed can come back and you have Cole, Schlittler, Freed, Warren, Weathers, Rodone, like they just the it's it's just an arsenal of pitchers, and you can use those guys in the bullpen.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited about it.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'm really excited about just how it just seems like the American League is kind of down this year, and the Yankees are the cream of the crop.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, regardless of the bullpen situation and the catcher situation, which we'll get to in a minute.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I look at the other teams in the AL and no one scares me.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the this is this is their year to make it back to the World Series.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, if you look at it too, and as history repeats itself, when's the last time the Knicks went to the finals?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: What did the Yankees do?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they won the World Series in 1999, yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, as it plays out, as I'm wearing my company in American Whiskey, I'll go to the Knicks pre-party games.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's great, it's a block and a half south of Madison Square Garden.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: But it's it's weird how it repeats itself, and and you bring up a great point because you look at the AL as a whole, and you know, you see, okay, a scoobal's out.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: You got, and there's nobody that like in in the division, you're like, I don't really get scared.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Granted, the Yankees are game back of the Rays, and the Rays, as the analytical part of it that they are, continue to change and do what they do, and it's obviously working, but that's just what they do.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: But they don't scare me.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: There's nobody out there where I'm like, okay, if we match up our pictures with your guys's, I don't care analytics and whatever, you still you still gotta go beat our guys.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I think with the staff in the arms, I don't think there's anybody better, honestly.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: Depth wise, too, and then that's not even counting, Max, because Max is hurt.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so if he does come back, I don't rush Max back.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't press panic button whatsoever.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: And knowing Garrett, he's going to be Garrett.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: That is that is what he's gonna do.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that that's a little bit off of their head, too, to not rush Max back.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, we don't have to say a damn thing about Cam.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Cam just go be Cam.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, don't say a word.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have to say anything.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of I was like, you know what?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Last time I asked you the Cam Schlittler question, he had a 1.51 ERA.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: This time he has a 1.50 ERA.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm just like leaving it alone.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, whatever's happening is happening.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's kind of just don't want to touch the money.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: The only team, it's crazy because they're two games under 500.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: The only team that scares me is the Blue Jays just because of you know how pesky they were hitting last year.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: But like, I'm not afraid of the Rays.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not afraid of the Guardians, I'm not afraid of any of these teams.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: The NL is stacked.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: You got the Dodgers, you got the Brewers, uh, you got a lot of good teams in the NL.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: But as far as the AL, like, it's a disappointment if this team doesn't make it back to the World Series, truly.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: No, it it 100% is.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it's weird because we're usually talking the other side of the fence.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Usually the NL is like the the stepbrother, right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's usually everybody in the AL, especially the East.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: But now I think it's obviously the Dodgers have changed the landscape of how things have done.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: But the Brewers are always the Brewers, they're they're they're what they are, but we're talking more about the NL now than we are really about the the AL just because of what it is.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we've seen, you know, obviously Mirakami, granted, he's hurt now, but having the year that he's having, but it's with the White Sox.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: And granted, they're only a game and a half back out of the central, and the Guardians are always gonna be there in the Central, but their pitching staff doesn't do anything, and it's just you can go and name off more in the NL than you can really in the AL with that that jumps out to you, right?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think that's that's the parody of baseball, and I love it, don't get me wrong.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: I I love the fact that you know now it's just not obviously everybody's gonna talk about the Dodgers and what they've done, but you still gotta go get W's, you still gotta score.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Granted, they have an unbelievable roster, but you still gotta go do it.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think just the way the landscape of sports have changed in general.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: That that's not just baseball, I think it's everything.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we saw a bunch of trades in football, we've seen, you know, everything that happens that way.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I just think it's it's really it's really great for the sport, and you know, hopefully like it goes into it.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: And granted, it's it's gonna be a tough year for baseball and what happens with the bargaining agreement and all the other stuff.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I just I think baseball is in such a good way where there's there's so many more fans, and you're seeing like tarps off, like just cool stuff like that, and that and that's just really cool, and I think it's it's bringing more eyes to the game of baseball.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen it on a college level.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: The regionals have started.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: My son was playing college baseball, and you're seeing it, and it's just it there's more eyes to the game of baseball, and I think the more eyes we can get, especially on a junk younger generation, is making the game great, and there's they're seeing these things, and sometimes they go a little overboard, which that that is I'm an emotional guy, I get it, I understand it.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: But I I think just for what the game is right now, I I think it's in a really, really good spot, and hopefully it it doesn't end.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh yeah, I'm worried about maybe maybe next time we'll talk about the collective barbering agreement because we could talk about that probably for 15-20 minutes itself.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm worried.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm scared.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really scared.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: The other team that I do want to give a little credit to is the Atlanta Braves because they're playing really well as uh really, really good baseball.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what I tend to look at more than anything is just the run differentials when it when it, you know, you know, it's June 2nd, like so, you know, we're not but like the Yankees are plus 98 in run differential, and the Braves and the Dodgers and the Brewers, they have those high run differentials, and I I think that means just as much as the record.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the record is the the most important thing, but yeah, the run differential is huge.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Yankees are at 98 and the Braves are at 109.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're just playing unbelievable baseball, uh, the Atlanta Braves.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm a born and bred a Braves fan.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: So well you're rooting for the Yankees if they if the Yankees are playing.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, 100%.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: But being from Nebraska, that was the only team I gotta watch every day.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's PBS.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I just I I'd been a Braves fan, and and I always have loved the Braves.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Chipper Jones is my favorite player, and gotta face him.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Granted, he went two for three off me with a double.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna sulk on that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to strike him out and I didn't, but that's neither here nor there.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: But no, it's it's I think it's huge because when when you look at those differentials and everything, and you look at the the standings of what you know teams are in first place, like the Guardians have a one differential.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I I hear and uh shout out to my father-in-law Art, who is a huge Braves fan.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: So how to how to throw that in there.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out Art.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's uh he's a subscriber, so shout out him.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, well, he's a Braves fan, so he's a he's a he's a friend of mine now.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect, perfect.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: He'll love to hear that.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: He'll love to hear that.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: The catcher situation is something we do have to talk about.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Austin Wells, he hasn't been great.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: JC Escara hasn't been great, especially the splits on Austin Wells just doing horrible versus lefties.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: How how valid do you think that statement of Escara saying he wants to switch it because they're looking for a left handed catcher?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I like listen, if I'm JC Ascara.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been through what I've been through, like, you know, all the trials and tribulations of him.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, he was an Uber driver a few years ago.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And like he's just trying to make it like good for him.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's just trying to survive.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I respect it.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: But like, shout out to the great, late great John Sterling, who said at the beginning of the year, why do we have two left-handed uh catchers?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's tough, and I like the Escar story.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think it's time to try to go get her right-handed bat.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not even my question.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: My question is this the hitting has been bad, but from a pitcher's perspective, when does it really matter about the offensive side if they're calling a good game for you as a pitcher?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, really, is he calling it or is is we we don't know that.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: I I I was very fortunate because I had great catchers, and I ended up being managed by a lot of great catchers.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so it it does that there's a comfort level in knowing.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like when we signed AJ, Molina ended up becoming his personal catcher because that was he was comfortable.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: Did we care what Hose hit?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: No, because he could receive, he could get us strikes.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: I had Cervelli, I had Jorge, I had Russell Martin, I had Chad Moller.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's a name that people don't know.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: But the dude was an unbelievable catcher.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And we didn't care.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Name other than Jorge, name Russell Martin is probably the other best hitting catcher, but they were all great receivers of the baseball.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: So really at the end of the day, I I get the game has changed a little bit.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: But having a guy that you know, if I need to bury a one-two backfoot slider, I know it's not getting away.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: I know he's gonna block it, I know he's gonna save runs and throw guys out.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe if I'm a little slower to the plate, I know I still got a chance.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: So for me, I don't really care.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: If you're receiving the baseball and if you're you're saving me outs and you're getting me strikes, granted, with ABS everything has changed a little bit, but I don't really care.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like the buster posies of the world are gone.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and that's just that's just the way you're gonna you're gonna get one every once in a while.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: But I'll use Yadir Molina as an example.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: All the Molinas, let's let's use all of them.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're great receivers of the baseball.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: And they can catch, they know how to navigate a game.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: They're the quarterback, they know when to slow it down, when you know to make a mound visit, when's the right time.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: So for me, the comfort level is if you're still in a good head space, and Austin Wells is he's self-admitted.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, I in other words, he said, I'm I'm sucking.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I know it's not a secret.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm out here every day just like you guys are.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: But if you're still doing your job behind the plate, I don't care.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: If you're hitting 300.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Fair.
• 25:16
  unknown: Fair.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think from a pitcher standpoint, for me, it was like I knew those guys behind the plate, they're gonna get hit every once in a while, but their job is to navigate this baseball game, is to make sure that I'm comfortable, to know, like, okay, he's calling.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the one thing that really bothers me from like, I guess, the younger generation and and evolving into hopefully getting to the big leagues, is a lot of these catchers become robots because it's just they hear the pitch comments, you put stick a finger down.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: You're not watching and navigating.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, he can't locate a fastball to his glove side.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so let's let's let's figure it out.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Can he still spin it okay?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: Or what are we doing?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: Where it's taking away what the position is and how they can literally slow a game down, speed a game up, make me comfortable when I may not have nothing that day.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: And they make me feel comfortable and get outs.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: And there's other days where you feel great, and it's just like boom, boom, fingers down, here we go.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're on the same page, here you go.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's that's very important.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's getting taken away a little bit with these kids that are coming up being catchers, and like you said, you love the scar story.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, he worked his tail off to get where he's at.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let him let him be what he is that got him to this point, and that's being a great game caller, that's being a great blocker of the baseball, that's just navigating what being a catcher is about, and I think a little bit is is has been taken away from that.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's fair, it's fair.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just you're right, you're right.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't know it's Wells calling the game, I don't know who's calling the game.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: So you're absolutely right.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe, you know, maybe it matters a little bit less.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what the fans are always gonna just look at the offensive numbers and that be it, but I'm talking to a World Series champion pitcher, uh, so I wanted to get you know a little bit of your perspective behind, you know, just the fans just screaming, oh, he's bad at 183, blah, blah, blah.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I appreciate that.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: I would I would love to see like his, I guess obviously his war is not gonna be great because they take in offense to obviously offensive production, but behind the plate, I mean, I I just there's there's so much value into that.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: And as we know, there's so many analytics that that go into this game now, where it's like, okay, push push that aside.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Push that aside.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: What is he doing behind the plate for us?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: Is he saving runs?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is like you just presented the question to me.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: Present the question to them.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, he's hitting 199.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like throwing to him?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: Is does he get you pitches?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, like, I mean, there's two parts, there's there's always three sides of the story theirs, yours, and the truth.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, which one are we getting?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect, perfect.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a couple more questions.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Fill in the blank.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: The most important Yankee, not named Aaron Judge, is blank.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: Ben Rice.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Ben Rice.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: We don't even have to talk about anything else because we already talked about him.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I I agree.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I was going back and forth because I was like, is it Ben?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Is it Cam?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is it Garrett?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I kind of agree with you.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: He he's that important.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and it's protection for Judge, too.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because now it's like, obviously, we're standing out.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't even mind because give me playoff stand.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Just get him to the end of the year, give me playoff stand.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: Don't care.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: And we've all seen it.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we knew there was gonna be an injury that happened.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's that's just his that's just what his history is.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you can't deny it, it's just what it is.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: You're just stating facts of of kind of how his career has gone, right?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think he's he's he's a part, but we don't need to talk about Garrett Camp.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, they're they're gonna be them.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: We've seen it.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: Cam's obviously stepped up, he doesn't have the tenure that obviously Cole does, right?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: But also, we've seen him in the biggest pressure situations and what he's done.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: And he just he's gonna do it.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I think I think another one, too, honestly, that is going to come into play, and I I know it's it's a hot topic with with all Yankee fans and whatever, is if Volpe can continue to do what he's done, I think I think he's if he's probably 1B.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: Ben is obviously 1A for protection for Judge and then know it's like, well, okay, is he gonna cool down?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Well, he hasn't cooled down for three months.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: So um let's ride that out.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I I think that protection for him.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, another one too is Goldie.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: And just what he's brought to the team.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: And just the professional, like, I always hated facing him because you knew it was gonna be a tough at-bat.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: I always had decent luck against him, but he brings so much more to the game, like legitimate Hall of Famer, I think.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: And what he's done, I think, for the team shouldn't be understated because he's like just a professional at what he does, and so I think for me, those three, I think Volpe's probably the last one, but Goldie's gonna go do what Goldie does, and we've seen his numbers in the playing time that he's had, and his numbers are good.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's not let's not throw that aside.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: But I think Ben is probably the most important.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Fair, totally fair.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: And what you were saying about J.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Carlos Stanton is right, I always equate him to uh Rob Gronkowski, where the Patriots are like, we know we're making the playoffs, just have him ready for the wildcard round.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of how I feel about J.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Carlos Stanton.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: We know we're gonna make the we know we're gonna make the pro season, just have him ready for September so that you know, that just make sure he can swing a bat.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's really that's really all we need with Jan Carlos Stanton.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, final question sponsored by Torch Picks, go download Torch Picks, having a really great time over there, having a little competitive group going back and forth.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's free.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's not for the gamblers out there, it's just for fun.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: So download Torch.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Who is your Mount Rushmore of Yankees teammates?
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you can pick four guys.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to necessarily be the four best players, but your four favorite Yankees teammates.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um Cece Jason Giami.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, this is tough.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um Chin Ming Wong.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: Other than he tried to break my thumb every time we played catch.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and Mike Nisina.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's my favorite.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's my guy, number 35, love that.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: Moose Moose was one, because I was the annoying little brother, right?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: And when Moose had his struggle in 07, and he ended up no, it was yeah, 07.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: Or was it 08?
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: Can't remember.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I was the annoying little brother, like nobody expected me to be the big leagues as fast as I did, and whatever.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: And he was always a guy that's synonymous for literally doing crosswords with pen.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, who does well, granted, he is ridiculously smart, and I'm like, I would have to erase stuff all the time, so I'm using pencil, and he's using pen and get it done.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: And he would always be looking at like tractors because he's got a farm in Pennsylvania and all this other stuff, and I'd be like, What are you looking at?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: And he had a rough year, and he ended up coming to the bullpen at the old stadium, and he just gave me a hug and said, Thank you.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just like the coolest thing.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm 20, 21 years old and living a dream that I never thought.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is a decorated Hall of Famer.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: And in Moose, and just the stoic that he is, drinks Mountain Dew and Snickers.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's that that was his pregame.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: He'd work out with like the old man, like workout gloves and stuff, and I'm like, what are we doing?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this guy's old as Paul's.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like breaking that mold.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's why one for me that just like stands out because it's like, and then he just gave me a hug and said, Thank you.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, What the hell did I do?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't do anything.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: And he goes, You made it fun again.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, he called me in 09 when he retired because he got 20 wins in 08, and I almost blew it for him.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but Mo came and saved my butt, so thanks, Mo.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but he uh he called me and I I think I had two or three rough starts after Kansas City was my first one, and he goes, Am I gonna have to come out of retirement to save your ass?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, nah, Moose, I I think I got this.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Jabba, we'll try to get you back on uh after the all-star break.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: We really honestly, from the bottom of my heart, really appreciate you coming on and giving us your uh your uh your side, and you know, we love having you on.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Musina is second now.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: Jabba Chamberlain is number one.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Jabba, really, really appreciate you having coming on.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Sounds good, man.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.