Gleyber Torres has UNLOCKED the Yankees offense

Yankees win 6 nothing over the Guardians take the series win they also clinch the uh tiebreaker that we were talking about yesterday and in addition to that we got good news on Jazz Chism welcome in this is Yankees unload I'm Jake Ellen ban he is Gary Sheffield Jr and we are here to talk about a Yankees win and some cautiously optimistic stuff that came up we're going to be talking about glaber Torres today in a good light we're going to be talking about Verdugo and probably not a good light we're going to be talking about Aaron judge we're going to be talking about Jean caros Stanton whatever the hell he did today with that home run incredible Austin out to Wolf Rockin 74 for becoming our latest member so we have to give him a shout out there I appreciate you throwing that in there because yes I actually didn't have that in front of me I should have but we are very excited for this episode because it's not often that the the Yankees win in a shutout you don't have I mean how many shutout wins do you get in a season realistically not many I mean yeah not doing it against the Guardians that's a pretty good thing also gar Cole your Ace who has had his ups and downs this year obviously dealt with the injury he's starting to look like the ace now consistency is starting to come together here we're going to talk about him and uh come on Jazz Chism being back in this lineup I think everyone's really excited about that and if you didn't know about it now you're probably excited so Gary we're going to start from the top here and that is Gaber Torres um I'm going to throw this your way I did tell you off air so it's not like Gary's hearing it for the first time but no one's talking about how good Gaber Torres has been in that leadoff roll um no one is talking about how good gber Torres has been over the last 40 games his splits would have you pretty much and I didn't calculate today's game so I'm you know estimating here but looking at his splits he's around two 280 batting average over the last 40 games and 350 on base percentage which is actually higher than Austin Wells currently so I didn't love gabber Torres in the leadoff role at the beginning of the year um and he struggled obviously but I mean to be honest with you I think gabber Torres has played pretty well offensively the last two months and I think like I wasn't really shocked to see decent production in those 40 games I was more shocked at the on base percentage but you look today Gary I know you're going to talk about as well 30 around 30 pitches he saw today um he's doing his job because not only is he you know he's the table setter he's the first guy up your entire job is to get on base start the game to bring up ju SoDo Aaron judge yeah Jean Carlos Stanton Austin Wells create runs right but in in this other sense the the role kind of changes right because when you're at that that leadoff spot now you got to bring up toor uh you got to bring up stto and judge later on the game you know so your first atep bat is a different role than moving on after that so he knows hey I'm going to see the most at bats of anybody more often than not so I need to do a good job of getting on base he had two strikeouts today and people will complain about that but he also had two walks and he just generated tons of pitches and in this game the way it has become you can win games just by getting the starting pitcher out of the game yeah no I couldn't agree more and let's be clear a lot of people watch the box score they do maybe not our audience but there are a lot of Yankees fans and Baseball fans in general that will look at mlb.com they'll go on their app MLB's app and they'll look at the stat sheet they'll see one for three by gabber torres's name two walks struck out twice and a lot of people tend to overanalyze runs scored in RBI obviously this is a game designed to score runs and run prevention but let's be let's understand what we've been asking from the leadoff hitter we've said we don't care if you hit 30 homers Anthony vulpi everyone clamored when he was red hot let's move him up to the leadoff spot people weren't asking Anthony vulpi to hit 325 Drive in 100 and do and steal 50 bases that's not what what they were asking for everyone assumed if vulpi gets in that position his job is to get on base that's it right see a bunch of pitches get on base how many times can you walk how many hits can you get right even if you get hit by a pitch you're on base that's the job because when you have Juan stto and Aaron judge Aaron judge is a cartoon character at this point this not real the season he's having I've seen Juan sto do this before this incredible Aaron judge is not real so what are we really asking for from our leadoff hitter glaber Torres has done that now multiple times in a row and that is hustling on balls in the infield that you didn't hit well and it paid off in a huge way he essentially got us three runs Yesterday by not doing a damn thing other than lagging out an infield single that's how you change games by being a role player gaver Torres if he does this correctly he's a super role player but when he tries to play like a superstar if glaber Torres tries to play outside of himself tries to hit home runs tries to be 2017 glaber Torres well we've seen more times than not it's a disappointment he suddenly turns into a five or six hitter and that's not what this team needs we have that already we've got Austin Wells doing a job we've got John Carlos Stan doing that five or six hitter job we've got Anthony vulpi today doing that five or six hitter job we don't need it we need somebody who's able to go do what we're asking them to do which is see a ton of pitches and reach first base once you do that we can accept losing a game because Juan stto and Aaron judge didn't drive you in but what we can't have is have you going 0 for four 0 for five not H just refusing to take a walk Gaber Torres is a player who in years past has struggled to take walks he has and this is part partially why you said I actually really like Austin wells in the leadoff spot and I said I'd leave him at 4 we've got to test somebody test someone in our role department and say please go out there and do the job we're asking you to do gabber Torres after that benching hey this is why we said to bench him you bring him back on the field and for some reason glabber torz has turned into the version of the player we've been begging him to be which is stop trying to be a superstar be the role player you're paid to be and it's paying off for the Yankees in a big way he's changing games without putting a ball in the seats without roping balls in the G app it's it's fun to watch it is fun to watch um you know if if you're just a fan of the sport and you love everything about it glaber's doing the things that are sexy to you um The Casual viewer might not be obsessed with walks but man I Love Walks I love watching a a player Who's down 02 fight back battle back like glaber has done I mean you see it he'll foul off pitches and he's almost purposely fouling off pitches cuz he's like that's not a good pitch but they might call that a strike so he's a little bit late and some people be like oh he just missed it I think it's on purpose a lot of the time with those guys so you you're trying to foul off those pitches stay alive and then work that count and then you know I thought Williams today was pretty solid um I know the the stats won't show that but he kind of lost the strike zone towards the end of that that run and I think a a big reason for that is because of like the 30 pitches glaber saw today so I got to give Gaber just a lot of credit especially after last night when I was saying you know my Fu lineup which wasn't meant to be taken super seriously I had him out of the lineup um but I didn't think it was realistic there I don't think there's any chance in hell gabber Torres isn't in a postseason lineup if he's healthy so yeah we both agreed with that yeah so I think like moving forward if glaber and this is where I want to shift over to the lineup and then we're going to talk about Verdugo okay the lineup here okay because we care about the postseason there's 32 games left in the year okay or 34 excuse me 32 32 home runs left the uh the judge in Duo need but 34 I had those swapped last night 34 games are remaining and I look at Gaber right now and what he means to a postseason lineup and Gary I sent this to you and I I started to get a little excited about this because you think about it Gaber Torres if he continues this like up right now 350 on base percentage that's one of the best leadoff hitters in the game currently you know I mean seriously so that on base percentage is great um by the way batted balls in play uh his average his batting average is 313 in that span so he's doing a really good job it's not he's not getting a cheapes or anything like that so glaber's doing a nice job and when he can't you know put the ball in play he's getting on base in other ways number one if he's doing this now he's the lead off hitter why is that so important well I'll tell you first off he's got some power we know he's got the potential he's hit 29 home runs in the past he's I think he's hit more in that over 30 I think um but yeah this is a guy that has power so if it just you know say it clicks in October you still have that power at the top of the lineup the most important thing about glaber here is that he allows run producers to stay in run producing roles yes so now you have Torres at at leadoff and now you don't have to talk about Jason Dominguez leading off he can now stay in that fifth spot fourth spot sixth spot and now you have what I believe this would be I'll say this right now Gary I think this is the postseason lineup if I'm being honest currently I think that the Yankees are telling us this is the case glaber leading off at second Juan stto uh in the the second spot uh at uh right field Aaron judge playing Center third spot in the order clean up is Austin Wells uh hitting fifth is left fielder Jason Dominguez hitting sixth is DH John Carlos Stanton seventh is third baseman Jaz Chisum Jr eighth is first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Ninth is shortstop Anthony vulpi and look I understand vulpi you know he hasn't he's been a little disappointing this year but if he's hitting ninth we're not complaining and eighth I'll tell you right now if Anthony Rizzo is half of what he used to be I mean having an eighth hitter that that's dangerous that's the best lineup in Major League I mean I truly believe that I if if these guys end up being what we expect them to be like because Gary I'm not sitting here saying Anthony Rizzo is going to hit 320 when he comes back but I think he can hit like 24 and start adding some power back into that you know that lineup and I think that's really all the Yankees need just add some power maybe you know get that slugging percentage up there because you know end of the day if you're an eighth hitter I'm not expecting you to hit in the 300s 280s even so right because that whole Rizzo thing people have been looking at Rizzo and when we talked about him projecting into this lineup as the postseason nears closer well we never said Anthony Rizzo needs to be the version of himself from a year and a half ago we never asked for that what we were saying was that it's an upgrade probably right now over Ben rice and DJ lameu and as far as glabber Torres goes at the lead off position if he can continue to do this which is get on base that's the only thing we care about get on base and stay in that spot at leadoff as you said Jason Dominguez doesn't have to come up to the big leagues right away and be your leadoff guy because I've actually mentioned I would love to see Jason Dominguez in the leadoff position but that's more of a longterm thing and I can't necessarily say it's ideal for the Yankees to bring Jason Dominguez here and insist he has to play well right away when he's been dealing with injury the whole last year he hasn't been playing baseball something you've brought up he hasn't been playing baseball he's been rehabbing so what version of Jason Dominguez do you think we're getting well the best way to bring out the an elite Jason Dominguez is to hide him at six or seven in this lineup you got glaver Torres working counts getting on base Juan SoDo and judge are doing what they've done all year Austin Wells this past two and a half months he's been spectacular you leave him at four he's a run producer John Carlos ston I mean the pitch he hit today was ridiculous okay you leave him where he's at and Alex Verdugo that's the player we're circling here in our lineup that's a player right there you can take him exit stage left put Jason Dominguez in that position you can throw Jason Dominguez out in left field I'm perfectly okay with it very demanding defensive position in Yankee Stadium I think Jason Dominguez can handle it I I put him in left field I throw him in that five or six spot with John Carlo pair those two and then you've got what Cabrera vulpi and Anthony Rizzo in your nine spot the Yankees aren't going to have a problem scoring runs as I've said before this Yankees team has to figure out where they're getting outs from we got Cody poti coming back Clark Schmidt is nearing a return in his reab assignment Jaz Chisum is going to enter into this lineup obviously probably in place of Cabrera if we're being honest so there's a lot to be hopeful for with this organization we just have to make sure the best players are making their way to the field because it hasn't been a sure thing I mean we've made plenty of content talking about guys like Austin Wells Austin Wells sat sat three games in a row this past week right that can't happen if the Yankees want to go win a World Series you have to put the best players out there I want to make sure I bring this up on the show I actually talked about it before we went live Garrett Cole Garrett Cole pitched to Austin Wells today and he wasn't a sharp as self I I know that results why results wise he was really good because he didn't give up any runs and that's technically his job but he did have five walks and only struck out two so not exactly the Garrett C were used to but here's one thing that I was excited about his misses were outside the strike zone no longer were his misses middle middle being taken out to right field being taken deep to left field no his misses were off the plate that cutter I've been saying he needs to go away from that cutter is either on the corner or it's in off the plate that's what I want to see and as long as he can do that my expectation over this next month as we head to the postseason Garrick Cole is going to sharpen up to the version we need and now it's up to rhon and other guys like Clark Schmidt and heel to get healthy because if that happens at the very least we have a chance no I I 100% agree with that I think right now it's weird because you know we did just have that 15,000 view video where we were kind of going in and saying look like it's it's over like Boon needs to go like and and you know obviously covering a team where you have to essentially do 162 shows because we're committed to doing a show every single game we missed a few um you were on your honeymoon I believe so I think that's definitely fair you know um but you know we we missed some but I mean we've been very consistent Gary this is 116th episode so I think it's it's really this is our first year going about this and trying to be fair um also your industry plants oh that's yeah I I cannot wait for those comments man I'm the furthest thing from an industry plan they're coming but uh but yeah man I think we've tried to do the best job that we can of not being it's the sky is falling no it's amazing they're going to win the World Series oh but it's over but but and you know I think maybe sometimes we we tend to kind of go back and forth a little bit but this team goes back and forth a little bit what I will say right now okay as of August 22nd Thursday at 811 p.m Eastern Time right I'm gonna say that I feel cautiously optimistic about the Yankees winning the World Series I think right now they have a position here and I'm not saying it's going to happen 100% And I'm not saying that this Anthony Rizzo thing is the the sa he's not the savior of the team but having Anthony Rizzo come in add a little bit of power if he can hit around 240 I'm not asking too much of him and play a decent first base like where he's not the worst first baseman defensively that is going to be such a huge boost if glaber keeps this up if Wells continues to play every single day like he should um of course if they call up Jason Dominguez I think Jazz Chisum is ping at the bit to get out there he'll be out there tomorrow I just think what we've seen and actually this is what happens when you get an opportunity to come back and I think about this all the time because people look at it it's like oh it's coache Shawn McVey of the LA Rams is always like I'm really excited about the opportunity to go out and and you know we can prove ourselves or I'm really excited to to learn from this mistake they'll lose a game where Shawn mcy will say I was out coached and I'm really excited to get back out there and prove that like that's not going to happen again right well the reason I bring that up is because that Guardians game the first game of this series at the stadium you needed that game and they lost in 12 Innings they sacrificed their entire Bullpen to try to win that game and it they fell flat on their face we called Aaron Boon saying it was the worst managing performance of his career and I think it truly was it was I think the Yankees and this this the reason why it was so scary that game is because games like that can literally kill you they can suck the soul out of your organization and the Yankees came back the next day Nestor Cortez took the bump and was like I don't give a rip I'm going to go out there I'm going to give him seven Innings I'm going to give us a chance to win this ball game they're not even going to have to use their Bullpen and that was a big thing they stepped up with Juan stto and Aaron judge and so people today were saying well it was fun you know eight to1 game but it was all Aaron judge and Juan stto so Stanton steps up today and you have Gaber step up and you have wells and so this is what happens when a team starts to rally and they haven't been able to put together a ton of winning streaks their last legitimate winning streak was a five-game winning streak going back to the Boston series and Philadelphia series but they did have that three-game winning streak against the the white socks twice and the Tigers so now they've started a two game winning streak against one of the best team teams in baseball here they won the series they're feeling good they're getting Jazz Chism back who's going to be an Energizer Bunny for this team he already was and now we're getting all this news about yeah um you know Rizzo's back and you know he he's rehabbing and you got you know Ian Hamilton and you got Clark Schmidt and and Cody potit and I would say right now not to go like over the top get excited this is the best team ever but I feel like right now Yankee fans should have a little bit of different perspective than we had three days ago okay I think all that's fair I want to defend the Yankees here a little bit when it comes to win streaks and putting together just the total package and putting this division away because I think a lot of people can agree if the Yankees maybe were a little bit better at manager or they were a little bit more aggressive at the deadline plus a better manager you can make the argument that this this Yankees team should have run away with the AL East this year absolutely I'm gonna say this about this team we have to remember we we need to judge them based on what's happened not what they could be now the Yankees didn't have a good deadline they got Jazz Chisum we can agree was an amazing pickup he deals with injury concerns um he he just in general has dealt with injuries over the years and unfortunately we dealt with one fortunately he's coming back tomorrow but I'm GNA say this about the Yankees and win streaks the biggest win streak in major league baseball right now is the Los Angeles Dodgers who are already just maybe six days ago in a free fall and everyone was telling us the Dbacks and the Padre's we're going to run them down right so they're in a four-game win streak the next biggest win streak is the Arizona Diamondbacks at three they just lost three games in a row before that you look across baseball everyone's either won one game in a row or lost two games in a row Boston is the only other team in baseball that's won another two games in a row so it just kind of goes to show you that's baseball this year it just is what it is should it be our standards probably not but when it comes to winning a World Series someone has to win the World Series whether you think it's a great team or not somebody's got to do it and right now is Baltimore the team where you say okay this team just through and through their Elite everywhere is their starting pitching Elite nope is their relief pitching Elite can they close a game down when they really need to in e or ninth inning no they can't you know why because Felix Bautista's gone so Baltimore shouldn't be confident they can go dominate anybody else in a division either now Cleveland we just showed in this series Cleveland's not a team we need to necessarily be worried about they're missing Shane Bieber and they can't score runs since the break right yeah Kansas City Royals for obvious reasons they're not scaring anybody they're a good upand cominging team in this league but they're not terrifying the Houston Astros probably one of the scarier teams in baseball they were bad for the first half of the season so they're not this dominant start to finish organization either they have age starting pitching and they had question marks in the bullpen they made some key additions right they made a pickup actually just now on the waiver so you know good for them but is Houston this team that everyone's terrified of right now not necessarily they're just someone you need to worry about but not be terrified then you look across baseball Seattle Mariners they just fired their manager that was a team that we had actually contending in the postseason they're in a free fall you've got the Philadelphia affili who are literally literally the worst team in baseball since the break they're awful okay and this is a team that we described as the best team on paper in Major League Baseball okay you got the Braves ravished with injuries Mets fighting for their lives Milwaukee Brewers they just got they just lost Corbin Burns to the Baltimore so they're not a team you're terrified of in the postseason and then you've got Dodgers Dbacks and Padre's all teams that we feel we can beat so my whole point here we're going to bring this home the New York Yankees aren't this elite team they're not but no one else is either we just have to be the best of the good teams when it's all said and done and you can absolutely argue Aaron Boon hasn't done a good enough job when it matters to get us over the hump to get us over these you know to get us past these teams the biggest tests of the year he hasn't done it so he needs to do it for the first time a lot of these pitchers Garrett Cole they need to pitch really well when it matters Carlos rodon he needs to execute when it matters guys have to be healthy John Carlos Stanton needs to be on the field when it matters Jason Dominguez he's dealt with injuries these last couple years he needs to be on the field in October so there are a lot of question marks with the Yankees but damn it there's a lot of question marks across Major League Baseball no one's got a clue who's going to win the World Series so why not us right there are a lot of things to be frustrated about should he be fired should the GM be dismissed they're all valid but we don't need to be the 98 Yankees to win this year they're aren't very many great teams in baseball and I think we have an opportunity not going to call it likely but we have a chance to be the last team standing I thought that was very well said and and I definitely like I said I definitely agree and I I mean I know there have been times where I'm like yeah they're you know this doesn't look great but I've never once really felt like this team couldn't win um Boon makes me feel like they can't win but at the same time Boon also managed pretty well at the beginning of the Season we gave him a lot of Praise so I mean he's capable of doing it and to be fair because we want to be fair on this channel and I I want to make it very clear I don't hate Boon personally I like I don't so I'm also going to say I think Boone managed pretty well the last two games he let Cortez go seven Innings he went above a 100 pitches and didn't go crazy he's like you know what Cortez is really doing us as solid here and technically he said remember that what was that remember he said will Warren he said before the game I sorry I didn't mean to cut you off but I was just thinking about it you were giving him credit about Nester Cortez and before the game he said will Warren could come out of the bullpen that day and so it goes to show you Aaron Boone came into the game not with the idea that Nester Cortez is just gonna stay in for seven Innings no matter what because we needed it right he came in with a backup plan that will Warren might come in in the fourth or fifth inning and then pitch from the fourth or fifth all the way to the eighth or nth that might actually be on the table and he watched what Nester Cortez was doing out on the field plus the Run support and said this is his game him and Misa are GNA go out there and finish this game on their own and that was something that set up the rest of this week so to your point Aaron Boon has been a help in some Regard in this series so we want to give him credit when it's do yeah absolutely I'm not going to be like well you know this this is the best team ever and they they were supposed to win so screw Boon it's like well he still has to manage the game you can't have it both ways you can't be critical of every little thing he does wrong but then not give him his praise when he does something right and I mean that at least not on our show not on our show other shows might be complaining about him today I'll say this it's not necessarily I'm not happy that Boon continues to to throw out Verdugo um so I mean let's pivot to Verdugo we'll we'll talk about him quickly um I I have to say this I mean Verdugo is somebody at one point yes you know looked like he could be a contributor and everything but Gary you and I both have kind of changed our stance a little bit on this contact right we were so excited for this oh contact bat right well in the words of Joker you get what you effing deserve um the Yankees got their contact bat but it's soft contact every time and soft isn't even the word I feel like he's hitting 40 mil hour it's like when you go to the the the um you know any sort of batting cage and you have the 80 and the 60 and then the 40 where it's just like a lollipop that that's you know that's what's coming off his Bat so what I I want to make clear is he's got a Nega -6 batting run value which is second uh it's the second percentile that's awful that's one of the worst in baseball perid according to baseball Savon his base running run value is 35th percentile negative one and his Fielding run value is only one he's at 62 percentile so to me he's a better than average Fielder but he's going downhill every single week he's getting worse and worse and worse and he's got this great arm and you know we could talk about that 94th percentile arm but I mean this is a guy that does not hustle this is a guy that is just absolutely Ely doing nothing at the plate and you know to me I look at that Red Sox series we talk about all the time and you look at his split since then he's batting 188 I mean he he like the other day when they asked Boon why he was in the lineup and like yeah you know he he's had some moments and you know I don't care you are what you are more often than not and and Verdugo this year is showing you why the Red Sox got rid of him his second half has been absolutely terrible and that was last year his first half last year didn't he hit like 290 and his second half of the Season he hit 220 that's right well he's almost doing except he was never the 290 guy for the Yankees so it's really frustrating because you have a guy in Jason Dominguez who's in the miners right now who they're you know they're worried about the Rookie of the Year thing eligibility next year and whatever but I'm not even upset that Jason Dominguez isn't up over him I'm upset that we're acting like you know like today right um Cabrera's in the lineup but the other day when you know say perza was in the lineup and I know he's getting sent down to bring up Jazz not really too complaining about there but you know my point I'm making is Caba can play Left Field John birdie when he comes back can play Left Field if you make the argument well we can't bring up Jason Dominguez yet because you know we we don't want to take away his rookie of the year eligibility next year I think it's dumb and Gary and I disagree but fine we'll we'll let you have that that is not an excuse to keep Verdugo out there when there are better players and you could say well Verdugo is a better Fielder than Cabrera and birdie and I would just say how much better because he's not good enough in the field to Warrant playing when he has a 288 on base percentage when he has a 227 average when he's hitting just ground balls and the thing I will also say is this okay he does strike out right never Strikes Out people always say well he doesn't strike out yeah it's great I'd rather have the two strike out Torres that we saw today that got on base twice and put together some really good at bats then have 0 for four Verdugo who by the way is always capable in grounding into a double play a strikeout helps more than a double play does a strikeout that's one one batter down right you move on to the next guy a double play ends Innings okay you can end an ending on a strikeout but when there's one out you can't end the ending on a strike out unless it's a strike them out throw them out double play like double plays yeah Jake I like to look at baseball and maybe others don't look at the game this way but I played baseball and I remember a lot of coaches teaching me how baseball really works how does this whole thing work is it just a matter of getting the best players in the league or in the conference and then the more good players you have as opposed to another team that's going to be how successful you are they tried to describe baseball to me as a science fair project and what they meant by that is that a lot of times in a science fair project when you were in groups and they your teacher would throw you in a group there's always three there's a group of three you've got one kid that's the smart kid in the group you've got the middle kid that isn't one of the smarter kids but he's willing to apply himself or herself to the project and help get it to the finish line and there's always the third kid that's like the druggie that doesn't want to do any activity at all he hasn't lifted a finger all semester all quarter he hasn't done a damn thing right that's what I see out of Alex Verdugo I see a person who's completely unwilling to do the dirty work because he's not not a good enough player to go out and survive off of instincts and talent he doesn't have that ability when I used to watch Robinson Canó play baseball people all the time would talk to me about hustle and his inability to want to do the little things but when you look at Robinson Canó you would walk away from the field feeling I just watch a special player in terms of talent that's an all-time great I'm looking at we're talking batting average we're talking homers we're talking hitting lasers all over the yard going the other way one of the most beautiful swings in baseball history you don't watch Alex Verdugo at all and think you're watching one of the more supremely talented players in baseball you think you're watching a player who's hitting 227 with an on base of 228 he clearly doesn't have the physical ability to rely on that so having said that if this is going to be the player you are and I didn't know who fugo was at all I should be able to assume if these are your numbers you better be Johnny hustle out there if we're gonna make if I'm gonna look at baseball Savant for a 227 hitter who hasn't hit a home run in a month and a half if I'm gonna do that you better be Jim Edmonds out in left field but it hasn't been that way if you dive deeper into the numbers for an organization that says they care about analytics they're not relying on it but they say they're aware Michael K suggests that Aaron Boon is aware of all these analytics and Aaron Boon probably has access to more analytics than you and I do right more than baseball Savant and Michael K is absolutely right he does which analytic I would like Aaron Boon to show me which analytic it is that says Alex fugo is the Yankees best option in left field I actually would love to be educated on that I'm not saying this to be ignorant I'm saying this because I want to understand how this played out the way it played out how is it possible that Alex Verdugo is that much better of an option than John birdie and left field when I see birdie come back I want to see him in left field until Jason Dominguez is called up and now it's his job but to suggest that we're talking about Rookie of the Year contests and all this stuff about first round picks compens you know compensation that all is great if you want to do that like I like you said Jake Be Our Guest but that has nothing to do that has no bearing on what we should do decisionwise with Alex Verdugo Alex Verdugo full stop is one of the worst players in this sport he's really bad he doesn't do the Dirty Work he doesn't do the sexy work he doesn't do any work he would be fired in any other job that didn't have a guaranteed contract he's essentially like a union worker is what I'm looking at so I really want to see the Yankees get accountable and just put a hand up and say we were wrong about this player let's do the right thing for this organization because we're now sitting in it's now late August we want the best players on the field and it's become perfectly clear the time is up to wait on Alex Verdugo to get anything figured out he's shown long term he can't play in the second half of a year he didn't even play well in the first half of the year for us so I I just think this candle has burnt out I agree I mean and and birdie for those of you who don't know has played 577 innings in the The Outfield he can play The Outfield I'm not worried plus it's left field I mean we had uh we saw Stanton in left field you know at the end we're talking like at the end of his playing days in the field yeah and he was he was talking he's like yeah I had a blast he's like yeah that was fun but I mean it's it's not to say that left field doesn't matter but that is technically that's the one spot where it's like yeah they do technically throw a guy out there and I know they like verdugo's right fieldes arm in left field but aside from his arm like that's that's the only thing he really has going for him right now he's not a you see on the postseason roster I I mean I really do Gary I really do think they should DFA him like I'm not just saying that because the reason I say that is he is in a contract year the money is pretty much already paid for the most part so you're paying like the the rest of the season out I mean the the question is when you see a team like the Dodgers okay you see a team like the Dodgers who just had 500 something at bats out of Jason Hayward with them and he hit 260 with the Dodgers and they just DFA him I know he's not playing well this year but hayward's a good defensive outfielder right you know he's got a cannon I mean he's better than Verdugo I mean I understand his batting average is bad this year but he's a better player than Verdugo and and so it's this is not me saying yeah go out and get Jason Hayward although I will say if you were going to get Jason Hayward it'd probably be a fair tradeoff if you dfade Trent Grisham and got Hayward but that'd be the only way I would do it but you know what they should do are you saying they should do that no no no not at all Jason Hayward I'm a huge Jason haard fan I don't think there's any fit with the Yankees I don't either no we've got enough Trent Gams it's good okay yeah but let me say this this is what I think the Yan should do at least until Jason Dominguez or birdie preferably Jason Dominguez is on this team I mean I think I put Oswaldo Cabrera in left field that's what I do I me I put Oswaldo Cabrera in left field that way JZ Chisum returns tomorrow he should be on the field he should be starting at third base the way Gaber Torres is playing right now especially at leadoff you don't do anything to change that Gaber Torres your leadoff hitter he's starting at second base Anthony vulpi like usual is your short stop and it's up to you probably I'm going to guess DJ lameu starting at first base tomorrow so you're talking about having Cabrera and left field that's a huge upgrade over Alex fugo is it the greatest player in the world no Cabrera is not the greatest player in the world but he's probably closer to League average Alex Verdugo is much closer to the worst player in baseball than he is League average so I just think in general when it comes to you know just positionally Cabrera over Verdugo is just a massive shot in the arm for this offense and this team well it's it's kind of annoying because people have totally forgotten that like Cabrera was literally an outfielder I mean is a 995 Fielding percentage in 881 innings in the Outfield he can play The Outfield you can play right field you can play left field he can play center field now he's only played one game in center field but left field he's played 400 Innings and none of that I don't think has come this year Jake he's a 250 hitter his on base is about 300 now is that great no that's not great his Ops is 30 points below League average but Oswaldo Cabrera has kind of shown you he's a player you can't really look at his stats in the overall season and then make a judgment he's either amazing or just awful so if cabrer is swinging a hot bat you kind of know you're getting that version of him and then when that dries up take him off the field and call up Jason Dominguez so I just think right now Oswaldo Cabrera can be utilized he's still a young player he's just 25 utilize him as a just a little God he's just a little teaser he's a little taste and then you throw somebody who's a much better player in Dominguez in his spot you don't always have to have the players who play in October on the field in in August it doesn't have to work that way use these players to your advantage and I just don't see what the benefit is of having him off the field and putting Alex for Dugo who just chops ground ball as a second base I mean and he's not running so obviously all of our complaints and they see what we say they see what we say on Instagram and Twitter and on YouTube as much as these people think that we don't matter podcasts don't matter we're just talking into the ether and Talking to Ourselves no let's be honest Aaron Boon these players they're aware of the conversation he sees all those conversations and it doesn't do a thing hasn't changed a thing it won't make any impact to him he's going into a contract year knowing what the narrative is about him which that he won't play hard his old manager said in Alex cor yeah Verdugo he just doesn't play very hard right so if that's the case why would you wait on anything else to happen if there's one thing Cabrera does do it's play hard so I'm absolutely pushing him out to left field tomorrow does it happen probably not but I'd love to see it yeah I mean I think they got to get Caba in this lineup I mean you know when we're talking about the postseason that's a little different it's going to be hard to put him in there I will say this Cabrera at first base if Rizzo it doesn't pan out I think is the move I don't know if they go that direction but I think it is the move he's played nine games this year there like I mean yeah he's played nine games at first no one talks about that I actually didn't know that yeah he's played nine games at first by the way since June 22nd that's 32 games uh in 19 starts as Waldo Cabrera's P 286 and he's got a 337 on base percentage 309 batting average with balls in play okay wow so okay I I think he he's underrated and I think he's just going through kind of the same things like when you see him slumping he's going through what Ben rice is going through for the first time in his career because Ben rice you know today had a really nice sack fly gave him an extra you know Insurance run but Ben rice is not the same player that we saw before the All-Star break and I I I think a big reason is because you know he's somebody that needs to be played every day he's played every day in Triple A Double a single a high a low a where wherever he's somebody that needs to play and now you can adapt when you have realized okay my role in the MLB is I'm a platoon guy right but in your first year you know you it's hard to go mentally from hitting three home runs in a game looking like the most offensive player outside of Aaron judge and juano for a time being and then being told Leu is back so goodbye and I think it's really it's killed his confidence I have said it multiple times I really love the kid I think they need to send him down I think he needs a reset and the reason I'm bring that up right now is because Cabrera is still being affected by this but he's doing a better job in my in in a sense in my opinion he's done a better job seeing that this is is his third year in the major leagues right he's rolling with the punches he's understanding okay I am a streaky guy I am much better when I play every day probably most people are but he in his role I is helping out the Yankees now I'm still going to go to bat for him and say that he should be in the lineup tomorrow absolutely just because Jazz Chisum is at third to your point doesn't mean you can't put Cabrera at left field or even first base and so for me I think Oswaldo has done a nice job of kind of adjusting to hey I'm not an everyday player I know I should be but I'm not getting that every day and he's still going out there he's putting together good at bats and the most important thing that no one wants to talk about when it comes to Oswaldo Cabrera is the biggest issue with him in 20122 what was the biggest issue Gary do you remember the biggest issue with him as a player everyone talk that he doesn't hit righty no it was that he whiffs like crazy well yeah he was striking out yeah well now he's 86 percentile with percentage what's he hitting though right-handed this year do we have that number I mean I could find that number yeah I would love you to find that number but in the meantime I need to bring up some bad news oh no there's some bad news so if you look at tomorrow night's game it just we're super excited about that game Carlos Ron's on the bump right we need a bounceback performance out of him no question about it we're playing the Colorado Rockies that's the good news here's the bad news we are facing Kyle Freeland Kyle Freeland is one of the worst pitchers in Major League B baseball but he is still a left-handed pitcher and the Yankees don't play very well against lefties now do I expect them to play poorly tomorrow I don't but you scared me with that man I already knew they were facing Freeland and you're like I got some bad news yeah I know but here's the big butt big butt you don't expect to see Ben rice tomorrow so kind of to your point about shooting down your confidence I don't expect to see Ben rice tomorrow I expect to see DJ lameu at first base and that's my expectation he hasn't been playing very well he's been just been beating ground balls he's been striking out when you cannot afford a strike out but I guess it's hard to just get overly picky about these lineups because we're playing Colorado technically these small decisions in your lineup shouldn't have any bearing on the results of tomorrow's game let's be real here whether or not Austin Wells is on the bench because we're playing a lefty okay if you guys see tavinho I would say it's Justified to be upset okay I'm going to justify it but should Austin wells's presence be absolutely necessary for Carlos rodon to go out there against the Rockies at home and get a job done in my estimation he should be able to given the circumstances go out there and take care of business we don't pay you almost $30 million a year to go out there and tell me that the difference of the game was having a better catcher out on the field I just think in general you've got to go out and take care of business tomorrow's game is on Carlos rodon it just is go out there dominate do exactly what Nester Cortez did give us length and let Aaron Boone make decisions when he wants to make that decision in the bullpen Don't Force his hand because we've seen too many times when Aaron Boon's put in a position where he's got to make a decision it's got to be correct he goes the wrong direction put him in a position in the or seventh inning where he's comfortable going to guys who have frankly been pitching really well make him put Canley out there right don't force us in a one-run game against the freaking Rockies at home to bring in clay Holmes and hope to God a ground ball doesn't go to a glaber Torres or whoever else no put us in a position to dominate tomorrow and that's is what it is yeah I am not able to see his uh his splits right now for the U [Music] for I mean he doesn't really hit switch that much anyway but against left-handed pitching he's uh he's batting 197 so I mean that's pretty bad I'm not gonna lie it's not good so would you say that that's a type of well I mean let's be clear Alex Verdugo is probably not hitting much better and yeah Verdugo hasn't done enough where I would be comfortable playing him against any Lefty so I just roll with Cabrera and give him the opp opportunity to write that ship and rely on his talent because frankly he's a more talented player than Verdugo so I'm rolling with that no I I agree with you there um I can give you Verdugo splits right now um his uh platoon splits 209 I'm that's your prediction nope I'm gonna go 218 against lefties 216 what did I say 218 oh I was close you were very close you were very close um his last 14 games he's actually hitting 167 H he's uh seven for his last 42 is CC Sabathia a better hitter than Alex Verdugo no that's a real question so for those of you who are around remember we're gonna Carlos thank you Zach grinkie we can give we're going to give you guys a movie that we would love to see you put in the comment section but with that movie please please for the love of God let us know how many pitchers in baseball history give me the names they were a better hitter than Alex Verdugo because I think the list is quite long I I mean we're we're going in on Alex Verdugo I think it is just a wicked wicked bad year for him um I don't think he's a bad baseball player I think currently he is but I don't care about 2024 yeah I don't care what he's going to do in 2025 I do not care because won't be on the Yankees so as a podcaster both of us our job of Yankees unloaded is to give it to you straight and Alex fugo right now is not a good baseball player right now and that's why he shouldn't be in the lineup it's really that that it's it's that straight up and to wrap this thing up uh Jazz Chisum coming back tomorrow Gary what do you expect from Jazz because I think jazz is kind of a guy that I wouldn't be surprised he steps up there and just belts a home run into the the short porch but I also wouldn't be surprised if he needs a little bit of a a rev up period like he was really coming on and and you know in a rhythm and everything and you know now you know he's uh he's coming back from a 10day IL stint so I don't know what do what do you think about jazz Chism as early as tomorrow I know it's an easier team to go up against but Yankees seem to struggle against easy teams I'm going to be real with you I'm expecting lightning from Jazz chisel tomorrow and I'll tell you why this is a player who's hitting in his last 15 days as a baseball player he's hitting 333 his on base is 357 now of course he's coming back from injury and that's all valid but this is a player that clearly needed to be under some type of Spotlight which to your credit Jake you were very high on this pickup of jazz Chism very now some people were waiting on St talent and I said he needs to star in his role that's his job we need more role players that can do a job because we're putting too much pressure on Juan stto and Aaron judge to perform and we've seen in years past Aaron judge hasn't exactly been the most spectacular postseason performer I expect that to turn around but if that's going to turn around players around him need to do a job as well you can't just wait on Aaron judge to be a superhero when the pitching and the strategies are at their best so Jazz Chisum tomorrow my expectation is for him to be Jazz Chisum the player that we picked up at the deadline a player who's looking to put on a show and he's willing to do the dirty work he's willing to play any position and he's going to play it well at third base tomorrow so I'm looking forward to his return he's one of the more fun players to watch on this team you talked about it a couple days ago this Yankees team isn't that fun to watch especially when they lose well Jas Chisum is fun to watch he is a player that isn't going to do things the same way as a Verdugo or a DJ lameu do if he's struggling at the plate he might drop down a bun steal a bag and then score on a single to right field he's one of those type of athletes that can do that so it's what we were asking for of course we were asking for more players like him but now that it's just him through the door I mean how can you not be excited to see him on Friday I think he goes one for five with a home run okay I'm going to go one for three extra base hit he'll have a walk he's going to score two runs tomorrow so he's going to have an impact he'll play a really good third base and ultimately it shouldn't matter too much we're playing the Rockies I know they're a major league baseball team you got to come out and play they're not just going to lay down we're playing for a reason Jazz chism's gonna make an impact tomorrow I like that I mean I obviously I think so too because I think he's gonna hit home run but it was more so a thought-provoking question and I was very curious how you were going to answer it so um I like that so now I gotta give him a movie and I don't think we use this movie yet so you'll have to let me know if we have but you and I were talking about it yeah I don't think we have I think we just talked about it Catch Me If You Can great movie watch it right now like we we're wrapping this up like it's not going to go on another 10 minutes like some of our other shows do like I'm saying right now you should be setting that up to watch it wait a minute are you making a pun here what do you mean well the New York Yankees are a half game up in the division right we're now a full game up in the division Baltimore's currently losing to Houston I wasn't but catch me in the division if you can catch me yeah exactly um it's it's awesome I mean Leo and uh oh my God what the hell is it Tom Hanks yes Tom Hanks and Leonard DiCaprio and Christopher Watkins in it and it's it's based on a true story it watch it it's so good it it's also it's kind of wholesome so it it's not like a psychological Thriller like some of the stuff that we've thrown out there before and it's not a comedy it's kind of like blurs the lines of a Drama Action and like I guess sometimes you know there's a little comedic element to it but type it in the comments section if you got to this point Catch Me If You Can that's I think that's one of the best mov mov made I I think it's phenomenal I agree I totally agree with you so yeah Catch Me If You Can in the comment section again shout out to our new members because they're starting to come in that is super helpful for us and like I said I'm I'm promising gold microphone when this becomes a full-time thing I'm going gold mic even if it's not as good of a mic as that one even if it's not as good of a mic as this one that's right I'll I'll say this uh if you want to join the team if you want to support the channel further um you can also become a member the link is going to be in the description and the comment section pinned Below in addition to that if at any point because I've had people ask hey how do I support the channel uh like you know Don donating or whatever um we have super chats enabled so you or super thanks I think it's called so you just uh drop a super thanks in the comment section below and that'll also go to the channel and you know that'll go to production and making this they can come up with a better name than super thanks I know they love saying saying super so anyway that's going to do it that will do it be sure to drop in the comment section below if you gotten to this point of course Catch Me If You Can and uh feel free to join and become a member today uh if you're interested like I said link is in the description below be sure to like subscribe and comment if you haven't already and we'll see you guys in the next video take care folks video oh [Music] [Applause] [Music]