Aaron Boone Breaks Down the Issues at the Bottom of the Order | 1342

Today is April 7th, the Yankees coming off an off day, hosting the A's tonight, and Boone joining the show to banter with us about the Bronx Bombers. Let's talk Yanks. Talking into his old John boy, John boy Jake Recaps galore, weekly awards, stat lines, the theme and hot takes, oh Welcome to Talkin' Yanks, presented to you by Fanatics Sportsbook. My name is Jimmy, his name is Jake, BBD in the corner. Boone, manager of the New York Yankees, will be joining us soon. Jake, how are you? New York Yankees. Yankees. James. Yankees, that's how my kids say Yankees. Davis, everyone tuning in. How are you? Shout out to the grounds crew, you know? Why not? They're the real front lines, and they... What's the weather? A nice gentleman from the grounds crew, CCSU alum. Oh. Had a big CCSU opening. I totally forgot to tell you this. Grounds crew, CCSU love, and Talking Yanks fans, so we love that. Marlins weight coach, CCSU guy. Pointed me out in the hallway, called me over, had two CCSU shirts waiting for you and me. He said, I was waiting to see you guys. Wow. What was he like our age? Vega. Um. Around our age. I think a younger or older. He's in shape. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's cool. Maybe we hung out with him once. Well, never trust a skinny chef. How are you? The thing about Boone is he keeps losing right before he comes on the show. God, we got to stop doing shows. The other thing is it's nine games in, so I want to ask about the bottom of the lineup. I want to ask about the bullpen, but I know he's not going to really give us any real conversation. He's just, it's early. So we're going to ask some questions and try to figure some stuff out. It is early. I'm interested in some more ABS follow-ups, some of the base path stuff, the stealing. Those stats are fun. What's your most pressing question you want to ask him as he joins us in a couple minutes? Yeah, I think there's more tangible things than you might be thinking. I think between the pinch hit, between some of the max free decision making. The bottom of the lineup in general, and what can you really do? Like, I'd love to know if there's any thoughts about just even shuffling up. I know it doesn't matter, but back in the day, they used to do stuff like that. So, Max Fried, should he have gotten one more batter? Like, you know, thinking about our bullpen, he almost didn't want to send Max Freed out there, but then he got two outs so easily. So, I don't know. I think there's some bones to be chewed on. I hate the bones. That's my camera. New tech. Yeah. It's like candy in the office. This is your new camera. Yeah. We're at home? Yeah. Oh, nice. I was wondering what this was and what it's for. It's cool. Yeah, so Boone's coming on. Anything else? We have the A's coming up. You know what, Jake? We can talk at the end of the show after Boone, but they need to win tonight. Maybe we even play a little guess at lineup on the way out. It could be a fun one, because Rosario, even though it's a righty, who's pitching for the A's? Let's find out if they have reverse splits. It's Aaron Savali versus Cam Schlittler. The first time two Northeastern Huskies have met on a major league mound. Really? Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. All right. Someone messaged me that on Instagram. Okay. So. Huskies. It's a really risky message if you don't know it. It's true. All right, so that's everything we're going to chat with Boone about. And now, let's just throw to Boone. Stop keeping him waiting. First, there's an ad, and then Boone. Today's episode is sponsored by Shady Rays. Shady Rays are built for real sports fans, like me. No more squinting through the sun to track a fly ball when you already got your sun bows on. I wore my Shady Rays to opening day. Big old facts. And if you're looking for sunglasses, which you should, people, we're getting back to sun season. And whether you're at the ballpark, the golf course, watching the game on the outside patio, Shady Rays is there. And they're there with their lost and broken protection. If you lose or break them, even right after you get them, Shady Rays replaces them. No drama, no stress, no replacement guilt. Just a new pair headed your way. And when we team up with Shady Rays, we get you an exclusive offer. Head to ShadyRays.com. Use code YANKS40. 40% off two or more polarized sunglasses. So get yourself two or maybe go in with a frenzy. Hello. Yanks40. Shadyrays.com. Welcome back to Bannering with Boone, presented by T-Mobile. Skip, happy Tuesday morning. How are you? I'm well. How are you guys? Happy Easter as well. Happy Easter. Thank you. We're good, I think. Did you have a good Easter on the four-hour delay? What were the vibes like in the clubhouse during that rain delay? Fine, you know, I mean, the night before, having almost a four-hour game in a nine-inning, not even hitting the bottom of the ninth, was kind of crazy. Obviously, the longest game, you don't see that. So that was kind of odd, and then it's a quick turnaround, but you kind of are looking at the weather going, if this, you know, you went to bed going, looks like it's going to rain all afternoon, and we get there, and the forecast was kind of exactly what they were predicting. So it was like, I know we're going to be waiting a few hours, but it looks like it definitely clears out and we're playing this game. So probably in a weird way, it kind of gave some guys a little time to recover from the night before and, you know, get going. And unfortunately, we couldn't finish off the sweep, though. You had the longest game since pitch clock and the umpire Copa getting taken out, removed, added like maybe 10 minutes. Then another long game. The stat was like since pitch clock, there's been 40 something games that have gone three and a half hours. These numbers are not correct, but it's something. And then you guys played back to back. Jake, you're just a bad matchup versus the Marlins. Yeah, I don't want I don't want to face them in the World Series. I think you guys are a bad matchup. Yeah. I mean, when we have 30 walks, you know, they were not giving in by any means. So, I think obviously that added to it. All Yeah, just a little odd to see that length of game in today's game. Question for myself. Do you think in the last two years they would have tried to start that game, right. but now with this new schedule where you play all 30 teams, People have realized like, hey. Rain outs don't really happen because Marlins are never traveling. Let's wait until we actually get this in. I think the Marlins, us playing them, and obviously the only time we play them, I think certainly factored into it. Thank But I do think this forecast was, it was leaving. It was just going to be several hours. So I kind of feel like we would have waited, you know, if it was the Orioles, for example. For example... Just because of the clear nature of the back end of the forecast. you. Like, if there was still some uncertainty on the back end and you knew it was going to rain for a few hours, then I think it would have been postponed. But with the certainty, what looked like, you know, once the rain was gone, I think we would have hung around. You've had... Four off days and played nine games. You're coming up on a 13-game stretch. Are you excited? I mean, part of me is excited to dive into the steadiness of it. I know 13 games in a row can be taxing on the bullpen and everything else, but it's good to get some night games and some normal baseball schedule hitting us. Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, you always like that one day a week, you know, You know, I think four and nine is a little. And part of that is they moved that first game up, so it was really kind of like three after nine. So, yeah, now it's into the nuts and bolts of things and the everyday nature. So, you know, hopefully these off days kind of, you know, play in whatever nine days and nine games in 13 days kind of is a nice buildup into now every single day. Hey, last fun one, and then, you know, we got a grill, you Boony, coming off a loss. That's our job here. Yeah. Give me the rainy day vibes. Like, what's going on in there? Who's playing video games? Who's playing ping pong? Brad's telling the same stories. Like, what's going on in there? Yeah, I don't know. You know, it's so spread out in there. So, you know, some guys probably get off and take a nap or something. You The weight room's kind of full. Guys are getting some of their workouts in. and know Guys are eating. Food's changing. I was looking for a poker game or something. you. I think there was some putting going on at one point. Putting? Yeah, I think there was some putting going on at one point. Okay, that's good news. Um... And then you're kind of doing your normal prep. you. Pitchers still have their meetings, hitters meeting. But then just some downtime to get ready and kind of try and stay abreast of like, okay, it looks like it's going to be a couple more hours. I'm trying to constantly, especially keep in contact with Max. Like, hey, this is the latest update. But I don't know. We're used to it. It's something that comes with being a baseball player, especially in the Northeast. All right. I'm going to start with some fun questions, positive things that are happening. You've got a winning record, playing very well. Base running, last year, you know, your quote about actually we make the fewest mistakes got misinterpreted. You said, I want us to make more mistakes. I want us to be more aggressive. As of now, you guys are first, I believe, in bases taken, like extra bases taken on, you know, sac flies or just advancing first and third, pass balls, wild pitches. Last year, you were 30th. Has that... I mean, obviously, you were public that you wanted to take more chances. We've seen guys getting picked off. We've seen Judge getting thrown out, stealing the next game. Obviously, what Stanton's doing. Was it a big emphasis, or do you think the players just heard you out loud last year? Yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's been an emphasis the last couple years. We have a better makeup of guys. We've made some key mistakes on the bases that guys want to make sure. Doesn't happen anymore, but again, especially here where it can get loud when we do make an out on the base, which is inevitable. You're going to make a mistake out there in aggression or maybe even one that's, hey, that wasn't a good base running play. I feel like there's been times where that's made us gun shy and pulled guys back like I can't screw up instead of, no, that's part of the game. You're going to make outs on the bases, especially when you push the envelope a little bit. Now, at the same time. Because of what I believe our offense is, I don't want us to be some teams that have to just go crazy on the bases. Like, there is a risk adverse thing to this, too, because of some of our personnel and that we're going to put points on the board. But just trying to be. And the guys did a really good job of spring training, of creating situations and working on different things and kind of knowing who they are on the bases. And then trying to, when you do get some good matchups in the base stealing game and things like that, which are going to pop up, sometimes you go 10 days and you're up against a team that has a lot of pitchers that are really quick to the plate, good throwing catchers, so it doesn't match up. But when we can, we want to take advantage of that. And then we have a few guys that are really capable, obviously. That's good. I guess this is just for you. If you ever need something for the actual media, compare it to, like, quarterbacks throwing interceptions. Like, you can't just check the ball down all the time. Sometimes you've got to throw the ball downfield. A couple interceptions are okay. Now he can't say it because he's got to credit you. You don't have to credit me. That one's for free, Bobby. I'm good with it. I'll throw it out there, and you guys can behind the scenes go. That's me. I like that, actually. Can't always check it out. Have you noticed, you know, general state of baseball? Obviously, a couple years ago with the pickoff limits and the bases being bigger, they wanted running coming back. You said some teams can utilize it that don't have the firepower they want. Sometimes you break from spring training, every team's running a lot. But it truly does feel like it is. More part of the game than it was five years ago in a landslide. Oh, I agree. I agree. I remember having this conversation with Cash a few years ago in the offseason, and I knew that when the rules were coming down, I remember, you know, Theo Epstein was a big part of the rules committee, and they were talking about different things. And I remember it being clear as day, like, man, like athleticism is going to start to become more and more important. And it has. The other thing that's been... That's been different and I think better across the board where our teams have gotten really good at just being better at controlling the running game, you know, like more sophisticated with controlling the running game because it's forced you so, you know. I think there's always been an emphasis to some degree on guys being quicker to home plate, but I think more across the board it is. Like, some things are not really tolerated. Like, some of the stuff, you know, teams do with catchers and you guys see glove drops and things like that and defenses trying to use the clock and things like that. So I feel like... Teams have gotten and invested a lot more in controlling the running game because they've had to, because the rules have changed to favor base runners. So I think the way we control it now, or teams control it now, has gotten better. I feel like we've done a good job of that the last few years, and I give Luis Rojas and our pitchers and catchers a ton of credit there. I'm But I feel like most teams now are getting better going and better across the board. It's been fun. Okay. That's good. for the pinch hit for Caballero, you put a scar in there. to stop Tony Bender's on the mound for the Marlins, and he's got pretty significant splits that it seems like you're playing there. the lefty versus the righty there. I guess what's the conversation? Because I do think there's a baseball school of thought of leaving Caballero in just because he's had at-bats that day. And, like, he's... He's been out there. And then I was kind of surprised. And if you want to go at these people, knock yourself out. But like a lot of Yankees, Internet is going, hey, we got Paul Goldschmidt on the bench. We got Rosario. Rosario gets a hit every time. Someone said to me, was it just a righty lefty thing? No, because in most situations there with even most righties, I'm going to go Goldie. Bender's a little bit of a different, you know, he is a. become kind of a righty killer out there. I mean, you saw the at-bats, you know, he had with with, you know, where he gets judged or lead off the inning. And then he he he was pretty nasty against Giancarlo, but obviously had some troubles with our lefties. And I think it's telling, too, like they walk the winning run on base in Austin Wells, who's still scuffling a little bit early here in the season, knowing exactly what we have over there on the bench. So I think. This was just a little bit unique in that I wanted a lefty up there, coupled with the fact that J.C. can hit. Like, you know, so it was simply that. So all righties and lefties aren't created equal. I mean, simple as that. And then just if you're watching the game, I just felt like Bender's sweeper was pretty dialed in, especially with the righties. But I felt like our lefties had a little bit of an advantage against them. You've got the bottom of the order. scuffling, as you say, right now. I mean, it's so early, but it is ranked. They're like ranked 30th, 6, 7, 8, 9. And you don't, you know, I think Jazz has earned the ability to play himself back into who he is, what his card, baseball card says. But how do you handle that? This early in the season, choosing to let guys ride it out or deciding maybe this guy could just use a breather or, you know, use Rosario Goldie for favorable matchups. I know you have two righties against you in these first two games. Sevi really is a righty killer. So I was wondering if, like, today, Savali, if there's any thoughts to giving, you know, McMahon a day. He seems to be really... Struggling to find it. Or any thoughts on, I guess, let's just stay with McMahon. Like, what are you seeing out of him here? Yeah. What's the thought process? Rosie's in there today against the volley. I thought they might do that. That was my guess, lineup guess. Hey. Yeah, with Mack. Yeah, definitely been scuffed a little bit. I feel like up there. You know, a little bit trying to make sure he swings at the right pitch. And so being maybe, to me, a little bit careful instead of going up there, let's get busy with it, let it rip, if you will. You know, you've got to have some level of that when you walk up in the box, too. So that being said, the last two games, you know, he had a huge walk to start an inning that led us to win the game the other day. He had a hit and a walk yesterday. So, you know, but understand. You know, he's scuffled a little bit here out of the gates. Also understand, I say this too every day, I feel like with the media, it's like we're nine games in. I'd say that if we got off and we were three and six. Like, it's great that we're winning games. Wins are precious. You take them when you can get them. We're playing well overall. But it is, in the grand scheme of things in baseball, it's very, very small. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's right. So I'm more worried when the threshold is. I mean, it does seem like Rosario is there. Yeah, Rosie, I think this will be Rosie's third start in 10 days. So that's been there a little bit. You know, it's been harder to get Goldie in, although I've obviously given him a couple starts here. And then we have a ton of lefties coming, it looks like. Looks like we're going to get springs in this series the last day. I think we get two lefties in Tampa. I think we have lefties coming with the Angels when we get back. So where we've gone, where we only had one lefty in the first, what will be 11, I think we get like four or five maybe in like a seven-game stretch. You say Goldie's been tough to get him in. That's because Ben Rice is absolutely destroying the ball, having really good at-bats. And I want to make sure we start with... He looks awesome. He squares up the ball. All right. He's pulling the ball a little more than he was last year, which is I kind of wanted him to do at the stadium. Like, him and Wells, he kind of found that death valley too much for me. And I was like, find the pole, you know? When Rizzo came over, he found the pole for two. Like two months, it felt like, and they were all foul, and then he just went a little better, and then he hit three homers in the game. But we did find out, Ben Rice, a little bit of an emotional ABS challenger guy. Have you talked to him about that? Twice, he challenged a pitch that was wrong and at bat earlier in the game, and then he went into the at bat thinking, oh, he got me last time, I'm not going to let him, and then they were just right in the zone. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, talked to him. Again, I do think in Benny's case, this is a blip. Like, I think he'll be really good at it. Because he's got great command of the zone. Yeah. So, you know, he knows that no one feels worse when you challenge one that's, but at the same time with him, and I told him, like, I don't want him to be gun shy. Like, he understands situations and leverage and, you know, so he'll keep getting better at it. Is there anything coming out of this weekend because you guys initially start off crushing ABS like this is perfect. We got to use this. We got to use this more. And then last weekend, the Marlins can't miss and you guys run into some tough luck. I guess. How did that feel from your guys perspective? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's, you know, it's the ebb and flow of this thing. Look, I think when we look back over the long haul, I believe we're going to be one of the teams that's viewed as really good at this. But that being said, just like wins and losses sometimes in a major league season, you're going to have games or series where it doesn't really go your way or you lose a couple key ones or another team challenges. I have some thoughts on why they were good at it. But, um... Care to share? Yeah. Nah. No, they just, they had a good weekend against us where, and they did a good job of like, like even the last game where they had their challenges and, and Hicks got real aggressive there in the ninth inning, knowing you can't leave him. I thought he did a good job of, they lose their last two. And like, he knew kind of probably Hail Mary's not Hail Mary, but like, why not? This probably isn't, but I'm not taking it home with me. So I thought he did a good job with that. We saw Stanton get two pitches, called strikes, and you were out of challenge at the end of the game. And then I think about that missed call at home plate where Wells clearly tags him. He doesn't even touch home plate, called safe. And I'm like, imagine if you guys didn't have your challenge left. And it just, to me, seems like a weird facet of the game that I like the theater of it, but also I don't know if that's how it, like that's such a blatant miss. I wish these umpires would get together and do umpire challenges more. You know, CB Buckner wasn't even looking at the bag and he goes and asks the home plate umpire, did he touch the bag? Did he touch the bag? And I was like, well, you challenge it then yourselves. Like why'd they make Pat Murphy have to risk burning one when CB is questioning his own call? I kind of want them to. He umps to get together and be like, hey, if they're out of challenges, they're out of strikes, like, let's review it ourselves. Yeah, I don't hate that. Nice dream. Last couple innings, let's get things right. Maybe one day. That was a crazy missed call. Welles' face was funny. He was like, well, I have the ball. Yeah. I was nervous because I was, from my angle, I couldn't see if he tagged him or not. And then as soon as it went to challenge. Well, we challenged right away, so I felt good about it, knowing Webby probably had it. But then Wells looked over at me right away, like with some confidence, like, I know I bagged it. He showed him the ball, like, did you think I don't have this? Right, right. The next, you want to? I have a weird Ben Rice one that I forgot to talk about before this. If there's one Ben Rice stat you were looking for by the end of the year, what would it be? Is it home runs? Is it on-base percentage? I know it doesn't look like that, but in a way it works like that. I don't know. I like OPS because I feel like if that's high, he's getting on base and he's slugging. So he's, you know, things are going well. A little safe. And I think he's doing such a good job right now of being really patient, too. Like, he is... You know, he's walking every game, while also he goes up there super aggressive, like not afraid to let it rip at the first pitch. He's just really, really having the quality at bat over and over and over again. It's been really good. Today's episode is sponsored by MLB 9 Innings. If you're a baseball fan, check. This is one of those games that you can completely get locked into. MLB 9 Innings has a ton of different modes, depending on how you like to play, with real MLB trademarks used with permission. Whether you want to run through a full season in league mode or jump live into PvP and compete. 2,000 player cards you can collect and build out your dream roster. Everything is fully up to date. Rosters, logos, ballparks, unis, and all of it. How about some awesome historic players? Maurer, Hoyt Wilhelm, Kershaw just made the switch, it looks like. Tomei, Barry Larkin. And if you haven't seen it yet, the new trailer, Trout, Kurtz, and Kersh. He's everywhere. Definitely worth checking out on their YouTube channel. Download and play MLB 9 Innings 26 today using the link in the description. I have, uh, let's switch it to the bullpen because that's the other area of, of early concern. But I, I will say it's nine games in, but when you broke camp, it was kind of, uh, the only facet of the roster where it was like a little like, Hmm, how's this going to shake out? You know, even you and Blake's quotes are saying this, someone's going to have to announce themselves. How's this going to shake out? It wasn't cemented. Um, You've been using a lot of guys, a lot of games, especially Weathers can't get out of the innings, and some guys were on earlier pitch counts, so you pulled them, which that erases itself as we go. But, um... My question is, you have Cruz and Hill and you use them in these roles and they're very effective in them, but they come out games early, like their pitch counts aren't high and we're just saving eighth and ninth for Doval and Bednar. But they've been shaky. You know, like, Doval has needed to be safe. Bednar's needed to come into the eighth to help out Doval. So my one thought would be, is there any thought to using Cruz Hill, like, more? But then it's early in the season. You don't want to burn him out. Is that the conundrum you're going through? Yeah, I just, look, obviously every day is a little bit different. So you don't have guys every single day, especially at this point of the season. So it's hard to go back and look at, oh, this game. By somebody's calculation, may have said, well, he's available because of what the last few days. There's been a couple days in there where somebody was like, Tim Hill wasn't available, so-and-so wasn't available. So it shakes things up a little bit. The one thing I've loved with Fernando is... Kind of being that fireman at any point in the game where maybe there's some runners on. He's got some margin for error because if they don't chase and they walk, but I know he's going to get that swing and miss, and it's just a key point in the game, and you trust him against righty or lefty there. With Timmy, I want to line it up where I can net him as many lefties as I can, And he's just, he's so efficient and I mean, Timmy's pitched pretty regularly, so I don't know if I envision him going longer. There's going to be days where, so like the other day, he went back out there for a second up, knowing that it was on a back-to-back where he just threw one pitch the day before, and he'll be down the next day. Let's go out and get that first out or whatever, where we have the matchup. So it just depends on the lineup we're facing, who they have on the bench. Do I have them in a four-out situation maybe today? Or is it more of a come in and get out of the inning or just one clean inning? It's a little bit different every day. So ultimately, you're trying to put these guys in the best position to be successful. Yeah, it just seems like there's some conundrums going on with the makeup. You have all the long men with Blackburn and Yarby, but they haven't really gotten into games. It's been you kind of need more help at the like the one inning. Higher leverage arms, and we've seen Yarby come into those. He also had the extra bullpen arm in WinQuest going with the four-man rotation, but he's been in hiding, so to speak. So I. Yeah, I mean, look, for the most part, we've been in winning low-scoring games pretty much every one. So that's just the way it's kind of shook out here early. And those things have a way of changing the next week's a lot different. And all of a sudden, you're needing to get another guy a different kind of rest period. Let's see, Cade. I'm ready. Yeah. I'd love to get him in there. We got Hill still joining on the 10th in Tampa. Yes. Yes. Are you excited to go back to the Trop? You missed it last year? I watched a little bit of the game yesterday. Miss? Might be a little aggressive. Thank You know, I thought it looked good on TV, like it looked freshened up, you know, but you I don't know if I can go all the way there, I miss it. Did that, I guess, Max Fried getting, very I'd push to 103 pitches in that start, I guess the heel decision was made before that, much. is that part of the decision in your head? To allow Max to stay out there at all? Or does it not matter? What do you mean? Like, because he's getting an extra day now. Because I think originally you guys... Oh, no. Okay. No. I mean, it's nice that he is getting that extra day. Okay. No, he was ready for 100. So, you know, felt like he was in position, built up and ready to do that. Sure. All right. What else do we have on here? Giancarlo stole a base. That's awesome. Do you think... You'd beat him in a foot race? I don't think I would either. I don't think so either. He's younger than me. I have a question that's ridiculous. Do you ever find someone using the direct machine that isn't a player? Is there like a coach? Like there's like, you know, Rojas just like late at night, just like start loading up pitchers. Do you ever want to get in there and face like there was a splitter? I was talking to him yesterday. Oh, nice. Who'd you face? No, I'm just kidding. Oh, that'd be so funny if that was true. Uh, like the, like the video guys just sitting there. Like if I was, you know, just on your video staff and I'm like late or late night, I think I'm going to plug it in and face. I think God, people have jumped in there at times to get a, try and get a feel. Yeah. I mean, I haven't seen it. I don't remember the last time I've seen that, but there's been, we've had people jump in there and Hey, you want to see what it's like to, you know, Jake and I did it against Cole back in 20 winter meetings, 2020 just stood in. We didn't have a bat. It was fun. How was it? I got a huge kick out of it. I hit off a Garrett Notavino during COVID when we went away. And so they were throwing bullpens a lot at Otto's house, and I would go over there and stand in on them. And then we got cleared to go to Yankee Stadium at one point right before it was going to happen again and did a live BP there. And I was hitting off Otto and Cole. That's fun. I think I'd lean Cole just because of one of those Otto sliders. I'm good on that. I wonder if pitchers love it because now they can stand in on themselves. You know, you can't do that. See what it actually feels like. Yeah. Have they made a video of Otani facing himself yet? That's a great idea. Million likes, yeah. Yeah. Let's go, John. Boy, get on it. All right. That's such a good idea. We'll reach out. All right. 13 in a row. With a pitcher struggling, get them in there and say, see how nasty you are? Yeah. Nice. That's good. That's being a manager. Do you have a 13 in a row question? No, I was just saying 13 in a row. Let's get after it. I'm excited about that. Yeah. Let's go. We're 13 in a row into the welcome home dinner. Nice. This is our first trip to Boston, so hopefully. Keep it rolling here. Hopefully they don't. Yeah. They're struggling. Early. It's early. It's early. It is. It's great. I mean, it really is true. Yeah. I, uh... Everyone caveats it, but it's still, it never ceases to amaze, like, the amount of smart people this time. I call it overreaction weeks and months of the season. What's your litmus test if it's not early? People will be like... I underestimated this team. They're going to be really good. And it's like, yeah, you who've been in this game now 50 years are being, like, completely emotionally led by this first week, 10 days. When would you say it stops being able to say it's early? You know, and obviously there's, like, team stats, individual stats, and then who the player is. But, you know, in a general sense. Memorial Day is always kind of the go-to. First check-in. I guess, but I don't know. At the same time, like everyone else, validate everything with it's early. You don't even look at it like that. It's like you're looking at the game and the series, and you're just trying to get guys rolling. Don't have a true trivia for you, but I can take you on a little jakey. You mentioned you like StatPad the other day. I'll make up my own StatPad on the phone. Are you guys doing StatPad? I am. I did my first one today. I like it much better than Immaculate Grid. You know what? So Auspice and I do it every day. Immaculate Grid's the appetizer. It's like, okay. And then it's like, all right, here we go. Let's go StatPad. Well, I like remembering guys who did well. Like Immaculate Grid has come into, can you name this journeyman who had three games on this team? Which I don't care. I don't store that stuff in my brain. Did you see the guy who made it? I like with Immaculate Grid, there's a time. Let's not spend 15 minutes grinding over it. It's like, there's got to be some. So did you get yourself? What's that? The kid who made stat pad. He's friendly with us. He must've heard that you like it because the next day you were the top answer. Yes. And I got that. It made my day. Okay, good. He's going to be happy to hear it. I wasn't even sure. And I said, I was like, I was. On cloud nine the rest of the day, it's like I made it. I don't know if we have confirmation, but I think that's because you talked about it and he did you nice. That's good. Yeah, no trivia. I guess someone told me this, and it might be a fun fact. It might be completely wrong. You mentioned Adam Ottaviano, proud Northeastern Husky. Cam Schlittler, proud Northeastern Husky. Aaron Savalle. Northeastern Husky. Someone messaged me that this is the first starting pitcher matchup of two Northeastern Huskies. So, I don't know. Use that. Wow. Yeah. Did you do today's stat pad? No. All right. Well, what year do you think Kerry Wood had all his strikeouts? 98. 98? I can't. I feel like I'm cheating. You're spoiling. Just one. We're just doing one together. It's a team effort. You feel like you're cheating on Brad? What was the percentile there? 98. Oh, we did well. Brad's going to be so mad. You can do the rest with Brad. Get it off the screen. We're ruining his breakfast, his meal. Great start by me. Thank you for the help. All right, see you, Booney. Thank you, appreciate you. Baseball's back, people. We're a few games in, and there's already plenty to get into. But first, there's a new way to parlay with Fanatic Sportsbook. It's called Squad Bets, and we're pumped for it. Pick a market, hits, total bases, strikeouts, homers, whatever you're looking for. Set your target and build your custom squad. Now sit back like you're the GM of that squad. With live tracking every step of the way. And here's the difference. If one of the guys has a quiet game, maybe doesn't pull their weight, but the rest of the squad does, you got it. Track it live. Cash out whenever you want. Squad bets. A new way to parlay at the Fanatics Sportsbook. Parlays hit different here. That was Boone. Not happy that I made him. She at StatPad, but that's fine. That's fine. Also, I think one thing that I want to say before I forget, because sometimes I'm trying to think, what should we chew on here? The Askar decision, you know, because I came out, I said, it's just righty lefty. And he's basically said, that's not true to me. And the media guy is saying that. And if that's not true, then the scar situation is smelling awful similar to the Willie Can Bang Willie Calhoun situation where he may truly believe a scar can bang and a scar may truly be able to hit. But it hasn't shown itself yet in that scenario. So I still disagree with. Yeah, I told you on the Easter at the current treatment of a scar is my least favorite thing of the season. It's very fake empowerment. It's very not like, I don't know, earn it. And he hasn't had a ton of opportunity, so it's a little unfair. And I guess I have a question. I know Booney said it wasn't as simple as left and right. But wasn't his next two minutes of talking saying that it was about left and right? He was saying that his point was, it's not just left and right, I also believe in a scar. So if I had a lefty on the bench that I didn't believe in, I wouldn't do it. I believe in him. Because he's countering the fact that we're saying he doesn't believe in a scar. I thought he might have also meant that sentence as like a, in general, like every pinch hit decision isn't as simple as... Left and right, but maybe this one. Right, I thought he... I was trying to put the pieces together. I thought that's what he was basically saying. Like, he was saying... But this one is. This one is a matter of left and right, because Bender's sweeper is so good, and his splits are so good. Well, yeah, but... He was going to the lefty. I think it's true, but he said a scar can hit. Right, because he has to say that. Kind of, yeah. Unless it's a Hicks walk situation, but... Yeah. I thought he was basically saying... Yeah, I thought he was basically defending future pinch hit situations by saying he doesn't always go right-left, but basically saying this one was right-left. And also defending the fact that if he says, yes, it was just right-left, that's a shot at a scar. So publicly, I'm going to say he can hit, which he might, but we haven't seen him do that at the major league level. It shouldn't be relied upon yet. I don't think so. We as fans have no reason to agree yet. And we never even got to this point. If the Yankees did tie it up, that would have been McMahon goes to shortstop, right? Probably. Yeah, I guess so. Because there's not even Tim or Rosario. Or Jazz, and then Rosario goes to second. But I don't think they're going to do that. The other thing that we talked about, Rosario getting the start today. I do think we kind of looked at the rotation coming up and it was like, if he does it, it's going to be today. Yeah, I guess for me it's tough because he meant, you know. It's McMahon's last game, finishing with a single and a walk. If I'm Ryan McMahon, I'm like, okay, it's nine games in. I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but the Marlins walked everyone. And he said McMahon's gun-shy at the plate right now. So I don't know if that's skill or just the formula. Right, but I've got to hit two in there. As I'm swinging, Marlins doesn't like pitching. I've got to hit two in there. And it's very early in the season, as we've said multiple times in that. If I'm looking to spark Ryan McMahon, Aaron Savale would also seem to be a half point in that direction. Thank And with so many lefties coming up, I know Boone touched on it. It's currently listed as Springs, Matts, back-to-back, and then Kikuchi, Detmers, back-to-back on Monday, Tuesday. Yeah, I get it, and I don't necessarily have a qualm with it, and I think the other thing that factors into the decision here you. is that Schlittler's going to strike out 13. So they're like, well, yeah, let's run Rosario out there instead of McMahon at third. But yeah, if you are trying to spark McMahon, it feels like the next two days would have been the days to do it. Yeah, I think they're... Game 10 and 11. Giving them a bit of a breather. Or Paddock's numbers. He got a hit off a Paddock changeup. In history, they have had a tip on that pitch. Confirmed. And Stan, that's why I said Stan's going to crush the next one. Paddock went off fastballs first. Thank you, Chris. Yeah, but I think even more so than the results, you can tell McMahon needs a little bit of a thinker. Or you just put Rosario in there. It's the baseball conundrum. It is, because it is early. He just got a hit, you know? He did. And a walk. They walked everyone. I mean, if the A's come into this series just pounding the strike zone, I am very interested, because what they just went through. Like, Grisham's not hitting the ball right now, but he's getting walks. And then the whole bottom of the order. It was the most walks ever. It was the most walks in a three-game set. If you're the A's, like, let's pound the zone. They're not used to this. It is the Marlins just were relentless with nibbling. Did you see walks were up all weekend? It was like the most walks in an MLB weekend. Because ABS. I mean, part of the reason strikeouts kept going up because when umpires miss, they expand the zone. They don't contract it. So, yeah, their walks will be up, which is a boring product, although more runners on base is better. And, and, and action, like even this Yankees game had so much action, but eventually, you know, after a couple of years of this, just like steals, it kind of like takes a little bit for the running to counter the rules to really come into effect. Hopefully we just get more pitchers hitting the zone and balls in play. But I do think first half of this year, we're going to have a ton of walks. Yes. Yeah. I don't know. Cause we're also getting more strikeouts, right? I don't know. Wells, you know, we saw it in previous series. Wells tapping on his head, two strikes, you get the strikeout. Yeah, it's just even calls that aren't being overturned, the umpires that are good and adjusting to the zone, you're missing the whole bottom of the zone on the front half of the plate. That's gone from pitchers. Because it has to cross through the whole play. New strike zone. The strike zone is inherently smaller for guys that would throw breaking balls at the bottom. I'm in on new strike zone. Me too. I want more balls in play. I think ABS still works both ways, but the new strike zone being a factor. Yeah. Because some umps are adjusting and doing well. Yeah. And then the older guys, there's a breakdown by age. Okay. Did you learn anything else? Did we learn anything else? No, but I did realize either Bird or Winquest will get sent home or Bird will get sent to AAA when Heel comes up. Without an injury between now and then. Without an injury. Hey, baseball. Because if it's Winquest back, you've done a lot for nothing, but okay. If it's Bird, he has an option, so you can do that. And the bullpen gets shorter, but you're kind of relying on him. But it makes me realize, like, maybe they're relying on him because, like, they're really putting him to the test of fire. Yeah, he's been a feature. He's a featured player in the bullpen. Hedrick's been better and looked better. Hedrick's been better. He has an option, but he shouldn't go down. You'd like to think the lefty thing would help, but we're kind of short all around. Yeah, I don't know. It's WinQuest or Bird, in my opinion. And they could return WinQuest. I mean, I think it's... They haven't gotten him into a game. It's a toss-up. Yeah, I mean, the Yarborough-WinQuest-Blackburn thing, I've done in circles now that I think they'd have to waive it, but... I don't think they're going to DFA Yarborough or Blackburn. I don't think so either. I'd say, like, a get-ahead-of-it, they waive their trade rights trade. Mmm. But that's all of the options, and they're not enticed to do that, so... I know on the WinQuest front, they can try to find some small trade with the Cardinals to get his full rights and be able to option him, but Cardinals have the leverage in that to make it a prospect. Well, that's funny. They can do that if they want to keep him. Got to get the Cardinals something. I need a couple more bullpen arms. Yeah. Jake Bird currently a bullpen arm. He's not made for the moment yet, I don't think. That's fine. But as far as someone coming in for an eighth inning strikeout, he's above three other guys in our bullpen. Yeah. What was that? I don't know. Just saying. Got a guy that throws easy hunts. Talking about starting pitchers? Like easy hunts. You know who doesn't throw an easy hunch? Bednar and Weathers. Similar body build. I'm not saying I'm knocking their velo, but you can tell it's a full body effort. To really generate that. You can see the engine of the torso and the legs where some people are just like long levers. Cartoon. 6'7". All right. That's the show. That's the new ending of the show. Whenever someone says 6'7", we have to shut it down. Two starts for LeBron. Hey, your thoughts? Uh, he was not great in his first one. Well, he was okay, but his velo was down in his first start. I actually don't know the second start, what happened in it. What was the, what was the line? I'm not sure, but so far 7.1 innings, five walks, five strikeouts. Yeah. The, in his first one, he, he only averaged 98 miles per hour in his fastball. So it was down, that's down two miles per hour. The next one. Five walks last outing. Yeah, wow. Must have been slippery. Must have been slippery out, people. Don't worry about it. They were in Rochester. That's my dad. He's there a lot. What was the weather like? I've gone to Rochester, your dad. Oh, my God. Let's check in on the Rail Riders real quick. Okay. The names are funny. Oswaldo Cabrera started at shortstop, got a hit, and RBI. Uh, his numbers are atrocious on the year, but I mean, how many games did he play? Uh, Max Schumann's down there. You remember? Started in center field. Batted second. He got a hit. Uh, Paul DeYoung, starting second baseman for the Rail Riders. He got a hit. And then, uh, who's this? Fernando, I'm blanking on his name. Uh, yeah, Yanquiel Fernandez. You're right fielder. Big Q. Seth Brown. You know, this is a triple-A team. This is a triple-A team. Ali Sanchez, he got three hits in this game. He's going off. 467 average, 967 OPS. Who's this first baseman? Ernesto Martinez Jr. Hot start. Jonathan Ornelius has got the start at third base. And Duke Ellis. Dominguez is hitting. Nice. Gary De La Santos, just three outings, 5.2 innings at triple-A. Like him. Harry Ford, the Brit, he's on the other team. Got some walks. And Zach Short on the Red Wings. Damn. E-4 shutout so far. Mm-hmm. All right. Schumann got hit by a pitch. Bummer. That was a good check-in on AAA. That's all. See you guys later. Go Yanks. Tell them grams. Go Yankees. At Yankees opening day, someone came up to me and was like, dude, is that someone's grandma or something at the end of every episode? Haven't explained it in a while, you know. I guess so. Guess my grandma.