Wild Card Series Preview | Yankees vs. Red Sox | 1418

Today is September 28th, and tomorrow is the start of the postseason. We are previewing the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox. Let's talk Yanks. Previews and previews and previews. Hey! No Joes. No Joes until the live streams. Hello and welcome to Talking Yanks. Thank you very much for joining us today. My name is Jimmy. His name is Jake, BBD Producing, Fanatic Sports and Casino presenting. It's the Wild Card Preview. Yankees versus Red Sox. We're running it back. The same Wild Card matchup as last year. It went to a game three. Hopefully it doesn't this year in a good way. All the games were close last year. Hopefully we get some relief early, but I don't know if we will. Jake, how are you doing? James Davis, everyone tuning in. I'm doing well because it's not tomorrow yet. And then we'll start feeling it just a little bit more. And how fitting, Jim. The running back Yanks. We're running it back. Man, I don't know. I'm excited for now. Again, it's in the boogie down Bronx. I'd feel a lot worse if it wasn't there. And we can do this thing. It is there. There is a path. Which, again, this season has inklings of 2024. There is a way to get there. This season has inklings of 2022. We're about to run into a buzz saw and be miserable. So feeling both sides. Yeah, the more I look at all the preview stuff, the more I'm like, oh, OK. Because in my head, I was like, we're going to win. We won last year. And then I looked at last year. They lost game one. A very close game. Their bullpen blew it, the Yankees. And then game two was tied going into the eighth inning. So they were, you know, allowing a run from losing the first two games. They have a huge comeback in the bottom of the eighth. And then and then Schiller does this thing in game three. You know, I reflect on it like we we had it the whole time. It was never in doubt. I'm like, oh, it's a little closer than my memory likes to serve. And now we're running it back. Winner gets to travel south to the turf and play Tampa. Loser goes home. All the games will be the eight o'clock primetime slot on NBC. So that'll be fun. Joe Girardi and Rizzo on the ball. So some that'll make Red Sox fans very excited to tune in and listen. We'll be live streaming. We'll be doing a pregame show tomorrow as soon as the lineup is announced. Then we'll be live streaming a companion watch. Join in. It's a lot of fun. And then right after the game, we'll be doing our recap and preview of game two. What this is is more of an overarching look at the series and the teams and we where we are at. And Jake, looking at a lot of this, they are way closer than I thought the teams in a lot of stats and categories. Well, that was the Red Sox thing coming into this years. It was this is a Red Sox team that should be able to pitch, which is kind of funny. And the Yankees were almost the same, which both teams are historically known for being hitting teams. The short porch, the green monster. And yes, I think it is super narrow. I do think when you look at the names and generally if you went around the league and you're like, which roster right now is all around better? It would be the Yankees. Missing judge makes it pretty tight. And then it's also I believe in team identities that this Boston team is the definition of Boston. It's there's some guys that you're going to see playing out there that you're like, who is this? And yet they're dirty dogs. They love the dirty water. This team literally got rid of their manager. They hated their new manager. They hated their front office. And then they went on to have one of the best streaks in baseball this season that I guess that also lines up for what I'm saying is that the Yankees on a whole. And as the season has gone, have been the better team. Boston had one stretch of insanity that now has them lined up to play each other. They're the fourth team to get into the postseason after falling 14 plus games under 500 over the course of the season. And they what happened was they do have a really strong identity. I'm a little nervous about their identity in a short series. We can detail that more as we go, but it's they kind of know who they are, where the Yankees know who they are. It's it's a more the Yankees plan is more boom or bust. They offensively offensively. Yes, the Yankees did take the season series. They won the first three. They swept Boston at Fenway. Then they split a two game set in the Bronx. Then they got swept at Fenway. So they go three and four against the Red Sox at Fenway. And they go four and three. They take three out of four at the stadium and the season series. So the Yankees have the season series. They traded sweeps and traded one like, you know, lost one. Yeah, and it's it's one of those funny things with baseball and the scheduling nowadays that, you know, that April series. What do you do with that? The June series, what do you do with that? Even the August series is we're going to talk about some of these names. But I'd say my biggest takeaway there is in a world of modern sports where we're not sure what to do with home field advantage anymore. These are two of the biggest differentiating home fields in sports when comparing two teams between left field and right field and just what the rowdiness of the crowd should be at 8 p.m. in a do or die three game series that looking back at 2021 when Garrett Cole went out there on a bad hamstring and pitched one game at Fenway and Giancarlo tried to hit the ball through the monster a couple of times. If you want to look at that or if you do want to look at last year, although the asterisk I was going to mention when you're talking, a ball goes off Jaron Duran's glove that that series could have went very differently. All of that ties in the fact we're in the boogie down Bronx and we have the Cy Young winner going. That feels pretty good. That feels nice. The teams are so close. Like I said, like some of these numbers, I was like, whoa, OK, obviously the record the Yankees have a decent edge on record and they also have a decent edge on run differential. But I think if you took the Yankees without judge, right, it'd be closer. Now they might not have Contreras and that would be a whole different ballgame for them. It seems like he's going to play runs per game. 4.59 for the Yankees, 4.25 for the Red Sox. Runs allowed per game. 3.73 for the Yankees. 3.77 for the Red Sox. Crazy. And then the Yankees have the best rotation era starting pitcher era at 330 era in baseball. The Red Sox have the best bullpen era at three flat. The Yankees bullpen is also good. But this Red Sox bullpen is kind of their strength, like their pitchers get it to the bullpen and a close game, not necessarily a lead because the the Red Sox identity is a comeback team. They have 38 comeback wins. 18 of their final 24 games were within three runs. And I think comeback wins around there. And that's as playoff baseball and a three game series limits who's going to touch the bump, you know, for the Red Sox, it's looking like a version of Tole, Gray and Suarez. Well, we'll figure that out along the way or we won't. As Boston is deciding if they're going to do the dance or not. Like the Red Sox starting pitching era as a team. If it's just those three guys, it's as good as anyone. Yep. Like Patrick Sandoval, I shouldn't throw him under the bus right now, came to the office. Nice guy. He had 13 starts to a 5-1-2. So when you're doing these playoff numbers, like all the guys touching the mound for Boston are guys that had crazy seasons. All the guys touching the mound for the Yanks are going to be guys who had crazy seasons, we think. And we'll navigate that a little bit. But yeah, there is some of the layman, ridiculous baseballness of like getting an early lead and doing all that. Like you're saying, I think Boston, Boston will have a little more hope in their back end in rallying, which again, is also just a Boston Red Sox team identity going back for years. I will say while we're still being a little broad and before we get into some of the Yankees roster and other matchups, this Wilson can trip. OK, I'll do I'll do some Yankee positivity. We're still just getting started like the Yankees in the Bronx. They score runs like they finished ninth on the season in run scored. The Red Sox finished 23rd and run scored in 26 and home runs. And Wilson Contreras was such a big part of that. Like if you take Wilson Contreras's numbers out of the Boston Red Sox, it's a bottom offense. So him playing very hurt, like he had tears in his eyes in a press conference saying he wasn't going to play again. He came, he took two at bats in the last regular season game. 0-2, one was a strikeout. Like if he is not Wilson Contreras, there is a version of this that we do decompress. And like you said before, you're like, wait, the Yankees, we're going to win this, right? Like Schlittler freed. Like there is a world where we walk away and we're like, exhale. We did it. We were the better team. But it's three games in baseball that that's just not how it works. It's not how it works. Hopefully it is. And over the season, the Yankees are a great offensive team. The Red Sox, they have kind of a better knack to grind out one game right now. If they're in it, like their numbers with men on base and runners in scoring position all tick up. They're doing a little more of that Brewers team ball, that contact approach when they have the situations. If you get ahead of them in the count, the pitchers ahead. If the score is pretty lopsided, it's easy. It's easier. It's most teams edge that way. But they really if you let them sniff around a close game, they start hitting like a pass the baton team and can really make things happen, especially some of the guys that you wouldn't expect might be become very big pests in this series. I liked what you thought about the top three pitchers era. Yeah. And totally gray and Suarez. Those three have a combined 297 era on the season. Cam, Max and Cole to six six. Eat it. So but that's really good pitching, right? It's like really good pitching. This also cracks me up like Yankees have home field advantage. I feel great about that. I'd rather be playing this game in the Bronx than in Fenway. But the numbers are so funny. The Red Sox have been a much better road team this year. A much better at on the road. They're forty six and thirty five. And they had that there was a famous quote this year that they were like, there's too many distractions. Yeah, it's IKF, our guy that they were like when the Red Sox season was still messy, they were like, we hate our team. We hate being at home. The Yankees have been were better on the road majority of the year until the final home stretch in September. The Yankees record at home is forty six and thirty four. And again, the Red Sox on the road was forty six and thirty five. The Yankees got one home game canceled. Had they lost that bullshit game against Baltimore, what they didn't care about anyway, we could be looking at the same record home and road. So that was also like, oh, my God, this is a very even matchup. Yes, yes. And the the paths to victory, in my opinion, are much different. OK, today's episode is sponsored by booking dot com booking dot. Yeah, an official travel partner of MLB booking dot com makes it easy for every baseball fan to travel and catch a game wherever the team schedule takes you. For us, following the team on the road means exploring a new ballpark and a new city, the steakhouse worth stopping before the game, the hotel that's a short walk to the park that the whole night stays easy. That's the kind of road trip that ends up about being more than just the final score. Booking dot com makes it simple to find the right hotel or vacation home near wherever the schedule is taking you. So the trip comes together just as fast as the decision to go. Once somewhere gets in your head, go on, book that trip. It's easy, the easiest way from where you are to where you want to be. Booking dot com booking dot. Yeah, an official travel partner of MLB. Major League Baseball trademarks use with permission. Yankees need an early lead for multiple reasons, Jake. They're going to start and we can talk about the lineup, but they're going to start some bats that I want in there. I want them to get some hits and then I want them out of there. Right. The the defense is is and hopefully won't be, because if it is a factor, it goes to Boston. They have the best outfield defense in baseball. They have some really good defense in the infield. The Yankees have question marks at third base, bad defense in right field, shaky defense in centerfield. Depending on who's playing first, it's either medium, good or bad. Right. And shortstop has been shaky, but has the tools to be good. But if it comes down to like if an error loses this team a game, you said Duran didn't make the play last year and it costs the Red Sox. Yankees are going to be on the wrong side of that this year. Hmm. If it comes down to a botched play and if Ramos and Rosario are starting because they're facing a lefty, let's bop and bounce. Hmm. And get Kabir. I copy is not even that much better, but get some better fielders out there. I was thinking the outfield, a third cubby was much better. But, you know, that's that's my game plan is Rosario and Ramos bop, get some runs, bounce, get the defense short up and let Cam cruise the rest of the way. Because if we got Ramos in there in a close game, I don't know, man. It's that's where it gets scary for me is the Yankees have to take an early lead and put the pressure on Boston because of they need to get their defensive players out there. Yes. The platoon Yankees, the the offense, defense Yankees. I mean, I don't I don't even know because it's like where how Caballero gets used has so many different ways. And even in right field, like we had Boone episodes this year where we're like, hey, actually keep Caballero out of the corner. So I don't know. I think I think that is going to be looming for the Yanks, at least Ramos and right. I think the infield, as we've talked about a lot, a lot of that is up in the air between bodies and how they want to strategize it. Yes, I think for me, the bigger thing is because every playoff team is saying, let's have a lead going late. That's that's ideal. I just I do think when you look at the back end of the bullpens between Chapman and Whitlock, who are all this Chapman is a historic all time closer and one of the many Yanks coming into this series, former Yanks. Whitlock was like Team USA set up, man. He has a track record. He's been nails this season that I don't want to do it. His shots fires at our guys. But, you know, Hedrick and Blackburn, who have been done nothing but be incredible this year, are still are still new to this. You know what I'm saying? Like these guys, yes, they've had breakout awesome seasons. But as far as playoff eighth inning, seventh inning pitching, Boston, Boston has the edge there. Like it's just yeah, if they have a lead, they have a scarier lockdown bullpen. Yes. Yankees. It's their first time bringing these guys into the postseason. And they, you know, they've been good of late. But some of the miles per hour on Hedrick and something like the other head, the other numbers say it's they've been good. They've been good. They it's not as good as Boston's number one. They've earned the right. Yes, it's it's comparing the two teams in this series. The other biggest thing that for the Yankees is how does Boone use his bench? Because this Boston bullpen has righties, they have lefties. And he is going to want to get some of his boppers into advantageous matchups. He's going to want to try to bring Weissert into the game by pinch hitting a righty. And then then that sets up the lefty lane. Now Weissert has to pitch to Luis Garcia, Jr. or Ben Rice, you know, that's or he wants the opposite and he wants to get a better matchup for the lefties at the end. So how he uses his bench and how he deploys it is going to be a lot of the gamesmanship. And that's that is one of the few things managers really, really do in the middle of the game now. So Boone's got a lot because they have a bullpen full of lefty and righties all kind of doing their thing for Boston. And the Yankees have a platoon lineup. You know, if someone's hot, swinging a good stick. But it's not the handedness they like. Does he stay with the hot hand in the game? Does he make the move? Does he make moves to try and make Tracy, Boston's manager, counter moves? It's going to be a big element of the series. Of the wildcard series on talking baseball, we just did the series previews. This one has the most, quote unquote, funny business, which if you're a Yankees fan, that's a little scary. And we're going to do some more fears later. But sometimes the Yankees, Game of Thrones reference, some of you like, but, you know, Battle of the Bastards, baiting Jon Snow right into the middle. There's going to be a lot of bait put out in this series, whether it's the Yanks trying to sneak Rosario in early and get him out, whether it's not, whether it is trying to like trap Greg Weiser to try to win a playoff game. And it also goes into who is on the Yankees bench, which is it? Like there's recent rumors that Trent's going to be involved, which body wise, I don't I don't know how I can use that. That, yes, looking at the Yankees chess pieces and how it starts the game and finishes the game versus both these teams trying to shoot their shot. The Red Sox have a lot of platoon guys between our guy, Jermaine Jones, Nate Eaton that like, yeah, the game of chicken in this series is going to be fun. And it's decisions. I guess we always say chess when it comes to baseball, that I think some of it will be. I think a lot of it's checkers like a simple like if you if you've watched baseball before, like I don't think you have to be sitting on the couch being like, wait, what? Oh, my God, this is next level. I think it's like, well, no, we're we're deploying. And I think the Red Sox did this in one of the games this year where they emptied like three straight guys off the bench. And it's like we're playing to win right now. If this doesn't work, we're in a bad spot. And I think you're going to see the Yankees also doing that. Let's talk lineup. Let's talk lineup. This episode is sponsored by T-Mobile. Baseball has always been a game of inches. Now it's also a game of seconds. T-Mobile and MLB have teamed up to bring ABS Challenge to all 29 ballparks across the US. This isn't a minor upgrade. This is the most significant new technology in the history of the sport. And it's powered by T-Mobile. With every pitch thrown, ABS Challenge uses real time precision to verify the call, giving the support they need. No delays, no guesswork, just accuracy at the speed the game demands. Thanks to ABS Challenge, T-Mobile is helping power the moments that define the game. When performance and reliability are non-negotiable, MLB turns to T-Mobile. That's not a coincidence. That's what happens when the most innovative network in the country powers the most data driven sport in the world. T-Mobile powers MLB's most ambitious technology and America's best network powers your connection to baseball. Homer away, every pitch, every game, every day. T-Mobile. It's better over here because there's a lot of questions, which isn't a great place to be. But that's where we're at. And we're still unsure about Boston's starter. Say totally starting. What would you do if you were Boston? I guess that's a Yankees have said they're starting Kam Schiller. Yes. I don't know if they have any defensive righty lefty matchups. Like so Kam Schiller means they're going to bat more lefties. Does that mean their defense is better out the gate or worse? Do you know the answer to that question? For Boston, I think it gets. I think it gets interesting. Wheelier is going to be out there the whole time. Roman Anthony is going to be out there. Rafael is going to be out there. Adley's going to be out there. Wilson's going to be out there. I think story's going to be out there. I think it becomes a Duran question in second base that I. I don't think it's impactful. Like, I think the Yankees decision hasn't. Oh. Peyton Tully is officially game one. OK, fire it up. Perfect timing. Here we go. Look at that. God is a woman to you listening. You learned probably two hours. You already found out. So you have known that. So now, you know, when we recorded this. I think for the Red Sox, it's negligible. I think for the Yankees, it's obviously massive. All right. So who are you starting? Let's see. Let's go down. Go. OK. Goldie is your lead outfitter and playing first base. I have a very interesting follow up. Remind me to get there because I don't want to derail this right away. So Goldie leading off playing first base. We have to believe so. It's what they've done all year. Goldie's been amazing against lefties and he's one of our defensive improvements. So, yes. Yeah, that's where I have a caveat for later. OK, so then Bellinger batting second playing left field. Yes. Ramos is your righty right fielder batting third. I believe so. You're attacking totally. This is why you brought Ramos in. Yeah, the only thing I could think of is I wouldn't be shocked if they went Rosario there, getting him into the game early in hopes he can get him out of the game early. They have done that in the past. And I feel like they can't help themselves, but do something sneaky. That's like what? Yeah, and I didn't prepare for Rosario in the first three, but they have done that a decent amount. I don't know if they're going to do it. I guess I guess because I've thought about that, too, because Rosario is a wild card for how the Yankees are going to use him. I guess my concern would be is that you're messing with your top of the lineup potentially for later in the game, that whether that's cabbie, whether that's McMahon, I think they like that. So I think Boone likes having a spot that he knows he's going to pinch hit for. And now you can set up rice after him or set up that next lane of hitters, set up rice and Jones are going to be the next three. I think that's a plus for Boone, the way he's talked to us before about, you know, he chooses his lineup by who's going to get pinch hit for. If he if Ramos isn't coming out of the game to wait later, then that's stuck there. I don't have Ramos coming out of the game because I think they're going to save him for Chapman as well. So I think Rosario in that five six range, because also if totally is starting this game. So Rice would be cleanup, right? Rice would be cleanup. So it's Ramos, Rice, Rosario, Rosario, Rice, Ramos. Ramos is the easier guess. That's what they've been. Yes. And again, like Ramos had that horrific start to his Yankees career, and it was a lot of righties. Ramos has been much better at the plate, and he's here to hit lefties that totally to to Chapman with maybe Miller in between. Maybe, you know, maybe Weiser or Whitlock, depending how it lines up, that I would think Rosario further down in the lineup. If the the Red Sox are pitching totally, it's his game. Like totally is going through the lineup a minimum of two times that I think having Rosario in that potential five, five slot, you're still getting the same result without having McMahon or cabbie in your three hole against potentially Chapman or whoever later. I think he does. The numbers do get. So we have Rosario start. So, I mean, you can post the videos, but Rosario. No, I don't know. Maybe I know. But Rosario laughing at ourselves. They're paying him to be there. Yeah. And he had the best at bats against totally this year. Yeah. Even his outs. This is a homerun in Yankee Stadium. It's a unicorn one of 30, but it is a homerun in Yankee Stadium off of totally. It got tracked down at Fenway. This is a hard hit single. He had some other hard hit balls, but their fly outs like totally induces just straight high, hard pop outs. Yeah. It's why he's there. I don't think he's long for the game at all. Yeah, I think the other. But with Cam pitching, they don't need the defense is how they view it. Now, Rosario cost them against the Red Sox. Contreras hit a hot shot. He was a double play ball, and he straight up botched it and went into left field. So they've done this before where they play the lesser third baseman because he's a strikeout pitcher, not a ground ball pitcher. And then the ground ball comes in. They cost, right? I asked him again, not actually surprising to the audience. You heard this already, but it is totally gray. Suarez one, two, three. Confirmed. OK, lock it in. The team is going to order. Yeah, I guess. And maybe that's how we can preferences. This is like the Rosario plan, because there is a world they kind of punt on him. Sure. Yeah. But this this would be the Rosario plan, because if if you're not basically, if you're not going to use them for Schlittler, then that's it. If you're not going to use them in the Schlittler totally game, I guess Cole Ranger is the same argument, but you're either saving that piece or you're not doing it. It just seemingly does make sense of like, hey, you can get him to at bats. He's going to give you a much better shot against totally. And you can get him out in the fifth inning. What about the so Lombard is what I would do next. Could you get a writing? He's guaranteed to play. Jazz is the next question is jazz or is it Volpe? The last time jazz played against a lefty, it was September 2nd in Anaheim. He did play against totally earlier in the year. He did hit a home run off of him earlier. Yeah. Down the line looks like a pesky hole, but it says it actually would have been gone in like 11 of 30 stadiums. It's hit some balls decently hard against him. I think you have to play jazz. Volpe can be used as a pinch hitter later against some of their bullpen. He oddly has like a couple hits against Chapman also as the word literally the worst at bat of the season against Chapman. Right. I searched that I searched three pitch strikeouts where all the pitches were in the zone and the batter never swung. There's two of them. One of them. I'm starting jazz Chisholm in this game. Me too. He's just Chisholm. He was really hot before he got hurt. Gives you the speed element. He he has the homer off totally. And again, like you can play a defense card here that I don't. Again, Volpe's shown some stuff at second base. You're not getting an upgrade defensively as Volpe just doesn't know the position that well yet. And I don't know if you're getting an upgrade offensively. So with that being laid out and like Volpe does have value as a pinch runner, like his base running is look more confident. I know jazz obviously would, too. But like I, I think you have to start jazz Chisholm Jr. So then it would be jazz eight and Wells nine. They could go. They could go Jones jazz Lombard. I don't know if you want to give a lefty lane to totally. It's a pretty big lefty lane, huh? Are you surprised if they shoot all the righties? If it's Goldie, Rosario, Volpe, that's like what they like. Volpe really has not been good. Right. And it's I think if you're going Rosario, you need. Someone like you need a jazz. Remember when Schumann and Rosario were playing and they just double play ball through it to no one? Yeah. Like you need the double play ball. Yeah. Like you need Lombard and jazz up the middle for the double play. That's your best double play combo. So I would go jazz. I am I surprised? No, because that's like what they're built and they're doing. But what I would hope they're doing is they go jazz and they just go defense there. I mean, maybe if it's Caballero, I'd still go jazz. Yeah. Well, what interests me, Jake, is I don't think Luis Garcia Jr. pinch hits for Goldie. Goldie has the best numbers on the team against her all this Chapman. And he's your best offensive first baseman. Yeah, he's the only one that has good numbers against Ramos Chapman since since twenty twenty one. He's I think six for ten or whatever. All singles, but like he he gets hits. So in my head, if you're starting Rosario, Luis Garcia Jr. is pinch hitting. You're choosing a lane, a spot. And then Caballero is coming in to play defense. And then you have McMahon for the rest of the game. And they're just using third base as a revolving door of players. Yeah, I guess a couple of things that just shot through my mind there is one. If you're playing for Chapman, you're in a bad spot. Like a role, this Chapman comes in the game against anyone in the world. Bad spot that I don't know if they decide that Whitlock or Whitlock or Weissert is in in the games being decided. You have to shoot Garcia like. Yeah, you're just with all the other players. If Volpe, Caballero stay on the bench, you don't have to shoot him for Goldie. And he's your best defensive player. Right. And a good defensive first baseman makes everyone else in the infield better. So it's not a position where you just lift yourself up. You lift up everyone else. It's true. It's true. Very interesting, because now I'm trying to view this from the Boston side of things. You're going to have a lefty lanes either way. Like even if the Yankees shoot all the righties, they want to shoot. There's still lefty lanes in there. And then it almost feels like if you're the Red Sox and you're looking at the Yankees lineup and it is Goldie, Bellinger, Ramos, like there's your Whitlock. Like that's I don't know if that's the seventh inning. I don't know where that is. But otherwise, what other righties are you saving them for? I don't know. The other thing is Caballero is your fourth outfielder. And I think their victory formation is Caballero in center field and Jones in right field. They've just been playing Caballero in center field. Jones's look shaky. Ramos is very shaky. So that's also an interesting thing is you can't pinch it for Jones and Ramos. You don't have enough outfielders. They can't put Dominguez out there. Unless Trent's on the roster, which is rumored. That's insane. If he's on the roster for defense, that's crazy to me. We would have had to see Caballero as our winning center field. Isn't that far off from? Well, that's why that's why the more I look at this, I'm like, oh, my God. I think they have to win big. And I think they would they would say Trent and Jones center right is better than Jones Ramos center, right? Still, even if you're very down on Trent, which. And this this is even more hurt is this is just an opinion lower. I think this is my opinion of their opinion. I think Ramos is in these games. You don't think he's going to get pinch hit for if it's late, like we've talked about the situation, if it's late, there's seven seven in the game, seventh inning Weissart, Weissart or Miller righty pitching Miller's lefty. If it's Whitlock, if it's Whitlock game on the line, I think they would. But I don't think they're like defensive subbing him out for everything you just laid out, like to bank on cabbie. No, you have to pinch hit and then you get to the defense. Yeah, that I. To win the game, yes. Otherwise, I think he's out there. I think they do the way they've talked about him. Trust him in Yankee Stadium, right? Here's what I think. Go, Cam, Schlittler, go. Yes. All of this chatter is bad. Yes. All of this is not a winning formula. Yes. Just so many questions. You don't we don't have a victory formation in the defense. Like I say, what's our best defense at the end of the game? Well, it'd be jazz and center. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Cam Schlittler. I mean, he did it last year. Game three on the line, 12 strikeouts. Got him through it. He his numbers versus Boston and five starts is a zero five 60 era. I will say this when you're watching camp pitch, the cutter, unless it's absolutely nasty, shelve it as much as you can. This team, this Red Sox lineup, doesn't they have one hit against his four seam fastball in the last two years? Yeah. And it's Adley. And it was when Adley was on the Reds, the Orioles. They have one hit against forcing fastball and they've hit it hard. Sure. They have seven hits against his cutter in those two games. And if you're being honest and Girardi, who's going to be on the call, you know, he talks about it a lot like the cutter. A bad cutter is the worst pitch in baseball. And if you're gearing up for Cam Schlittler and it's a sinker with a ton of run or it's that four seam at the top of the zone, that cutter, you get that extra any click or whatever it is. But yeah, I again, Cam deserves all the credit in the world, what he did last postseason, what he did this season that, you know, I'm not going to question when he throws the cutter, because we've also talked to people that are like have told us it's an unfair pitch. Like when you actually stand in the batter's box and see that cutter, that the math of baseball almost doesn't matter. So Cam deserves all the credit in the world. But yeah, I I almost when you talk about. Defense like, you know, there is a world where Goldschmidt, Jazz, Lombard, McMahon is a good defensive infield. Yes. The bottom of that lineup gets really good. Then your offense is really rough. And the outfield, there's nothing good. No, our belly's great. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Jones can be solid. He has made plays and look shaky. And then also he hasn't made some plays lately. And sometimes he makes the play. It's still like, oh, yeah. I don't know if you had your legs under you there. It's October and yeah. But so that's I guess that's the other thing that I'm just spinning out about right now, because Caballero could start at second or third. And I guess I want to be that shocked. Yeah. What about that? Caballero at second. For me, it does present options. Then for me, it just is the Oswaldo. He provides a lot of help off the bench, which, again, we've also defended as well, though, in those moments when he was on the team of like, well, if he's on the field, you can still move him around and we have other guys. But I think Caballero is a potential pinch runner. Like you literally have the best stolen base guy in the league. And like this has been the comma comma with Caballero. His numbers down the stretch have been horrific. So it's it's not like you're getting an offensive upgrade. Really? No, you're getting a better profile. Of offense than some, and he can bunt and he can put pressure on and he can get in a pitcher's head, like all the stuff that we have liked. But I I think it's we've got all the questions we just listed defensively. Think about we haven't even gotten to like Stanton or if Judge shows up or if Trent shows up, which the rumors are he is like we need we need bodies to literally run that like Volpe and Caballero might just be in track shoes. Stan, I think will show up. This episode is sponsored by TBS. It's almost here. The ALDS kicks off this Saturday, October 3rd on TBS and HBO Max. And if the regular season was any indication, the ALDS is going to be necessary to watch this year. We obviously have a little bias who we hope to see in there. Hopefully the boys from the Bronx. Either way, the playoffs the past couple of years have been nails that you got to check it out. And TBS has you covered all October long. Game one of the ALDS through the ALCS, the biggest and brightest stars in the American League battle it out to capture the pennant. It all starts Saturday. Watch it live on TBS or stream on HBO Max. There's no time like October. Don't miss a pitch. And I think they're going to try and get him. And it could be against totally third time through. It could be against totally second time through. That's where I think Rosario. I'm not shocked if they move Rosario to the three hole. And even in the second time through, they shoot Stan right away. And because Rosario is not long for the game. And then you can go Caballero at third. And so you're pinch hitting him for Rosario. I think you're just hoping Rosario gets one or two at bats and then he's done. Yeah. One or two at bats, he's done. I can't be in the game that long. I think you're taking him out for defense. Why not get standing at bat on the way? Yeah, I just think you you have to save Stanton for a lefty. But who would left you pinch hitting for Jones? Jazz Wells. Yeah, I don't think you're doing Wells unless it's eighth or ninth inning. Right. I'm saying I think they're going to try and shoehorn a game on the line. I think they would. Yeah. Eighth or ninth inning. But I'm saying, oh, I'm sorry. I was saying even like early on, like we've got some silver bullets. Well, I don't know. Ali Sanchez cannot hold runners or call pitchers. The pitch, the pitchers do not let Ali Sanchez call the game. What about Rodon's last start? That's true. And maybe he did. But over the course of the season, he also hasn't been given a ton of a shot. But like I'm just saying, if we talk about first base coming in and that helps up other people, I agree, you do a catcher. And now you're hurting some of your pitchers. Right. But that's and that's it's the beauty and the nightmare of these three game sets that again, what how good has Stanton looked? He hasn't played Major League Baseball. That's why I'm saying if he's on the line, you're probably right. If he's in the lineup out there, he's in the lineup. I think they're going to shoehorn a pinch hitting. It's so funny that like you can't even throw him in the outfield for an inning. Oh, I know. No, I'm just not asking for it. No, but it's and again, Jones and Rosario, you can't pinch hit both of them. So like if you pinch hit Stanford Jones, you're done stands your last bullet. And I guess I guess I'll I'll walk that back as I'm talking about the pressure of this series. And, you know, you got to go for the win in the fourth inning if you got the bases loaded, one out or whatever it is. If Stanton is on this team who has not played Major League Baseball and it seems like he's going to be on this team, it feels like it's Miller and Chapman in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning. And you've got you got once you got one at bat because he can't I don't think he can run the bases after. No. So then you have to have Volpe or cabbie ready. So Stanton is end of the game. Or Dominguez if he's in the lineup. Stanton is end, end of the game. That I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse. Yeah, I don't I don't I still see a point where he's not. And he's in the middle of the game. And you're just getting in at bat to do something. And then you have the third base. You have so many people at third base. Third base is going to be five. And if they like their shot, they're going to take it, see what they got. Well, yeah, I don't know either. I think I think we could be shocked by how they they use him. Lead him off. Why not? Jump totally right away. Put him in, put him in right field for that first inning. Cam, strike everyone out. That's what judge said. Judge said, why are you taking me out of the game? Cam's pitching. I'm not going to get any action out there. And there were a couple of balls. Tomorrow, we'll do the preview, which will be a little more about totally about Cam, what to watch for and all that stuff. I just kind of if I want to point out a pesk. Oh, like two pesks. I don't know is Connor Wong going to be. He's going to be on the roster. He is like a pinch hit relief pitcher specialist. I don't know if that's how Red Sox fans feel about him, but that's what the numbers say. He crushes relief pitchers. And that to me was like, I don't want that. That's not fun at all. But Caleb Durbin is going to be my side. He's got a really good approach for helping a team in the right now. He homered off cam earlier on a cutter that he absolutely pulled. It was a I don't know if it was a Fenway job. It was down the line. It was high. He puts the ball in play, plays good defense. The Yankees traded him away. I just feel like he might give you some at bats where you're just just like, oh, damn it. Bottom of the lineup passing the baton, keeping it moving. Yeah, it's it's the whole profile. I think in a listed five six, the Yankees traded him away and now he's ended up in Boston. He had a horrible start to the season. I believe he did some teacher man stuff and then he had a very nice season after that. But yeah, he'll he'll he'll be fueled by it. I don't know my my kind of corny one that I used on talking baseball was strength up the middle. The Red Sox traded for Adley Rushman, a guy that we looked at. And, you know, there's rumors around the Yankees that they didn't believe in his medicals, that they looked away from Adley. He's literally catching for the other team like that one can feel. Impactful with one swing or if he throws out a runner or whatever that is, Trevor Story missed a chunk of the season for Boston. But, you know, he's obviously an experienced vet. He was like part of the heart of the team last year that we're comparing him to George Lombard, who like, let's see what this looks like. I I have moments with George where I'm like all in. There's obviously been moments with George where it's felt very young and not ready for October. And then in center, we're talking about Spencer Jones and sometimes the defense seems iffy. He's been better versus lefties and righties. What's he going to look like this October? And my best version of October, him and Lombard break out. They have Rafaela, who's coming off injury. But like the way that dude can impact a game defensively, like get ready for one jaw dropping one that we have forgotten. Center fielders can play defense like this. And also you talk about the PESC meter. That guy loves the moment. His bat is like built for a pressure situation that it's a little old school baseball, but that's kind of like my I'm interested to track that. I'm interested also in the defense in twenty twenty one wild card game. The Yankees had a tell on Nathan Evaldi. They they had his pitches. And if you go back and you watch that game and you see that bats in the contact, you'll see it. They just Rizzo hit a couple of balls. Foul stand rope two off the monster would have been homers and other stadiums are absolute bombs. Gallo, I think he was part of it, hit one hard and a lot found gloves. And the Yankees, if they can get hard contact on totally, which they have a couple of times, Belly's gotten hard contact on him, but right at second base, right at right field. So their defense might come up very big in the outfield. They have all year for the Red Sox. And I wouldn't be shocked. We'll talk more about tomorrow if we see the Yankees trying to jump totally. And that is a very dangerous recipe, as you know, because if it doesn't work, you're just letting him settle in to pitch count. In a short series, you want to make them throw their relievers. You want to win the game. And in the course of doing so, you want them to throw their relievers and you don't throw as many as yours come game three. You're seeing them three times or so. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No. And we've seen that. And but this isn't a Yankees thing, because a lot of the thoughts around postseason where guys have extended pitch limits and such is like you got to go for it. You got to swing if you see the fastball early that. Yeah, a lot of teams use the approach of like, hey, we just we have to attack because if you get two strikes, you're done for with both these pitchers. Yeah, Cam, throw the fastball in the zone to everyone besides Durbin story. All right. The wild card game is upon us. Time to make our same game parlay picks for the game presented by Fanatic Sports and Casino. You can make your own same game parlay by picking multiple legs for tomorrow's game and combine them into one bet or tail our picks right in the fanatic sports book out. Guess what? We're going chalk in the best way. We are going with the Paul Goldschmidt hit one hit. Polly G in a big game versus a lefty. Come on now. Yeah. Cam Schlittler eight plus strikeouts. I once saw him pitch against Boston in the playoffs. He had twelve eight plus strikeouts and then Yankees money line. Come on now. We need it. Got to have it. And if you're looking to bet on baseball all season long, do it with Fanatic Sports and Casino, the only sports book to reward every bet. Anything else? Any final parting thoughts? Jitters will line up tomorrow and then it will be real. What's the wildest thing they can do in the lineup? Like Rosario leadoff isn't out of the realm, right? I don't think it's that. I think it's 2% chance, maybe 5% chance. But yeah, it's not crazy. I mean, Trent starting is the craziest thing you'd see, right? Because yes, first lefty hasn't played hamstring. And we think it's zero. I mean, I got crazier. 0% chance of that. I'm trying to find a baseline. Even the reporters like educated, guessing they think Grisham will be on or saying like, well, he probably wouldn't start game one against the lefty. But Ali Sanchez start Fulpia third. That's crazy. That can't happen. That's crazy and can't happen, right? Yeah. OK, that's crazy and cannot happen. No, that's crazy and can't happen. This is a fun game. I mean, lefties have hit totally better this year. I was going to say, is there is there any way Luis Garcia Jr. starts and then you keep Goldie for end of the game and their relievers who he's fared well against? Dude, the thing is, they've ended up so shockingly lefty again that I was even doing like, OK, let's say it was the keep it simple, stupid Yankees kiss. You guys can use that. If they were like, hey, Cam Schlittler's awesome. Let's put our best defensive lineup out there. Like, let's not. Let's just Cam's going to pitch great. Let's put our defense out there. What is it? Wells, Goldie, Jazz, Lombard, McMahon, Belli, Jones, Ramos. I think Ramos would still get like the he's played a lot of Major League Outfield. Yeah. How lefty the bottom of that lineup turns into it feels like 2024 when you were looking at the playoff lineup and you're like, what? Like, we're just going to give away two innings. You can't say you can't do that. But then again, I mean, who are the guys? Who am I leaving out there? I'm leaving. McMahon's not going to start against total. You can't start against the lefty like two months. Right. But then then the question is, so Rosario is a big enough difference. Just to let you know, a fly just got inside your coffee. Holy ****. I've been trying to get that fly all day. I'm sacrificing. It's been going nuts. Do it. Sucks. Wow. There's no killing a fly. You know how much I love that part of the coffee, too. I save that part of the coffee. Also, like 2 p.m. But do you get joy out of murdering flies? As a kid, like a little bit, it felt like I was helping. I think you got to like put a piece of paper on top. I felt like I was helping my mom. Here, put my wall. I think I have to drown it. I think I just put it. No, just put this on top of it. This this thing's been a menace. And just let it go. Yeah, it seems less hostile. I think that's more torturesome. I think I got to shake it. All right. All right. I mean, this might be a tradition or it might ruin the whole series for us. Get rid of all the takes about to shake a fly to death in his coffee cup. That's did that do it. That sucks, man. I really just want to drink my coffee and not kill a fly. Yeah, well, dude, that's we've been trying to kill this fly all day. It's been a menace. Does your coffee cup say nice? Oh, they put little. Yeah, they put little messages on there. You'd imagine if he just emerged from this twice the size. It feels like that's the pace he's been. I also I'm going to put this into the ether one last time because I don't know my soul just believes in it. And they mentioned it. I feel like Rodan can come out of the bullpen in game one. And they can almost like use it as a throw day. You would still watch this for a situation. Yanks up four to one. And they're basically their thought process and thinning Rodan. Their thought process is we'd rather save Hedrick in Blackburn because you can. Rodan's only eligible for game one. In my head, it's game one or game three. And then you're actually messing with the next series if you do it. Then I don't know. They've mentioned that Rodan has looked so good. And again, this partially goes into Hedrick and Blackburn's experience that I don't know. I'm just I my spidey sense is tingling a little too cute for me. It's a little cute. I admit that to Davey Happ for me. It's a little cute. Happ was pretty pissed about being asked to come out of the bullpen. That was a little. That's a little more extreme. There is something to like Hedrick has just looked not as sharp, like the end of a long season where he pitched 81 of the games. That adrenaline will get him right back up. They got to get him a lot of days off. Cam free shove. We go home. Complete game. So, you know, air free ball. Cam shoves in this game and like the New York City. Legend level in the Boston hate level for him. I will say and we can end it here because I don't know the whole thing with Cam in Boston. To me, I feel like an icky third party. Like, I don't care. You guys are being weird. Kind of none of you guys. It's almost like I'm sitting back like, so you guys love each other still being weird, like Kravis and camera and like just like kind of like I don't know what it's all about. It feels like, OK, that's your guys. I was kind of Yankees fans are kind of out. We're not even part of it. Well, Cam has done a little bit of keyboard work for. I'm saying both sides are doing it to each other to the point where I'm like, you guys like this. I don't feel part of it because I'm not part of this. You guys very much enjoy it. I think Boston is this is their last shot of being like, no, you're just some guy that if Cam does it to them again, it's over, over. Oh, I think they all like it too much. I think if Cam pitches well, he's going to ---- on them. Yes. And then they're going to say, see, dude, you start all the ---- talking. And if he does really bad and then the Red Sox come in, the Red Sox will ---- talk Cam and be like, see, you are rude. And they're just in basically a love fest. I think this is the it's closer to love than hate. I will say that. And I stand by that. I don't think so. I think this is Cam's sicko athlete side that we talk about sometimes that he uses it to like for the extra fuel and all that. Yeah, but then he does. I remember he was like, that's a little like, oh, yeah, everyone does. But yeah, remember, like I think we talked to Jared at All-Star and he's like Schlittler's like mad at me. Yeah. Yeah. He's using it. He uses it as fuel. They love and that's what Schlittler does. That's why it's love. They need to show it to. Well, that's it. We'll see you tomorrow for the pregame show. Win. Go Yanks. Tell them, Grahams. Go Yankees. Goldie leadoff homer. Awesome. Come on.