The New York Yankees’ Pre-Break SWOON is a pattern under Aaron Boone | Yankees Podcast

The New York Yankees’ Pre-Break SWOON is a pattern under Aaron Boone | Yankees Podcast

I don’t think losing two of three to the Cubs is something to to to hang your head low about. The Cubs are a really really good team and if you’re not following the rest of the league, they’re 18 games over 500. This is a really good baseball team. You are Locked on Yankees, your daily New York Yankees podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome to Locked on Yankees, which is part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thank you for making us your first listen every day. I’m Stacy Gotilius. I’ve been hosting Locked On Yankees for 7 years, aka nearly the entirety of Aaron Boon’s tenure. So, it’s been a fun seven years here at Locked On Yankees. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. with me as usual, my co-host, Brian McKe. And Brian, tell everyone about yourself. Yeah, I really hope uh dearly and know dearly that you’re going to be here far beyond Aaron Boon’s tenure as a Yankee manager. It it would just make me feel so good. Yeah. Um I hosted at WFAN for a while, uh the uh radio home of the New York Yankees. I’ve been a fan of them for as long as I’ve been alive, which is not that long. and I’ve only seen one championship with my eyes, which is weird coming from a Yankee fan. O, before we get started, don’t forget, subscribe to Locked on Yankees on whichever podcasting platform you prefer. Subscribe to our channel on YouTube, like our videos, and hit the bell so you’re notified whenever our videos go live. And we have a Tik Tok page. We surpassed 300 followers, which is pretty cool. So, you can follow us at lockdown Yankees. On today’s show, we’re looking around the league. We’re going to talk about some Yankee stuff that’s happening in the Miners. Mainly Luis Heel making a making his rehab start or his first one of a few. He’s going to be there for a while. We’re going to talk about the Yankees and their tendency to end the first half. And if you’re not watching on screen, I did air quotes because this is not really the first half, but they have a tendency to not do well in the series before the All-Star break. And this is dating back to 2021. So, we’re going to talk about that. But first, talking about the series leading into the All-Star break in which the Yankees started off great, but kind of ended it on a dud. If I can give a positive note, one glimmer of hope is the fact that John Carlos Stanton is starting to heat up. Um, I think it’s taking a little bit longer than usual because of the play time. Uh, he’s not getting consistent reps. He’s not getting consistent play time. Now, we’ve seen this before, Stacy, when he goes on Iel stance, which as Yankee fans, we’re all too used to at this point. He tends to take a little bit of time to get going. It he he’s not an automatic back in and and go for it guy. He takes a little bit. Um but not having consistent reps, I think, is potentially hurting him at the moment. He does need he’s one of those guys that needs to play consistently, but other than that, he is starting to heat up. That’s really one of the positives. I don’t think losing two of three to the Cubs is something to to to hang your head low about. The Cubs are a really really good team and if you’re not following the rest of the league, they’re 18 games over 500. This is a really good baseball team. On the other hand, the Cubs should come into the Bronx saying it’s a good series win against the Yankees. They’re a really good team. And I don’t know if they feel that way coming in right now. That’s the issue is the Yankees should be feared by the Cubs as much as the Yankees fear the Cubs. Um, yeah. So, this is this is a very perplexing series is the word that I would give it. Yeah. The thing about Stanton is it wasn’t just an IIL stint. He didn’t start the season with them. Well, yeah, it’s true. You know what I mean? Like, so he had to go through spring training, I guess, right? And the fact that they keep he’s playing basically every other day, occasionally back to back, but not every day, not productive for him. Yeah. The only thing that’s a sure thing is he’s usually in the cleanup spot, but other than that, you don’t know when he’s going to play. Um, just like the lineups change basically every day and you don’t know who’s going to lead off, who’s so I I think the fact that he is starting to heat up is a good sign because he’s not playing regularly and we never know when he’s going to play. So, that’s a good thing. Uh, seeing that happen. And he’s looking like himself too, like with his swings because that was a fear because of the injuries plural because both elbows were bothering him and he’s just and it’s all strength too. The two home runs that he had this week were the the classic stand upper outside part of the plate pitch that he just pushes the other way. That’s the best word I could use, right? Is he just smacks the ball at the other side of the field. He’s not pulling it. It’s not a typical monster shot down the line. He’s just I I mean I I guess that’s the best word I could use is he he smacks the ball to the other side of the field and because of the short board he’s able he’s able to throw it over the wall but it’s pure the swing that he has when he’s not pulling the ball Stacy he’s not getting his lower half into it. He’s not he’s not down on the Yeah. He’s basically just swinging up body and it almost doesn’t even look like he’s making a full swing. It’s so odd when you see it from the front. It looks like he’s just I I can’t even describe what it looks like he’s doing because he’s not It looks like he’s not completely following through. Like maybe he’s chopping into a tree or something. It’s just it’s it’s Aaron Judge’s swing or even the one that I could use actually that’s better than Aaron Judge for a swing perspective when it comes to fundamentals is Cody Bellinger because Cody Bellinger gets his whole body into it. He’s he’s down low at his knees and he’s he’s into every swing creating a ton of power and torque on the ball. Stanton is not that. And I I really think that anyone that’s that’s actually studies the fundamentals of swinging a baseball bat would never ever ever use a John Carlos Stanton highlight to show you. The reason why John Carlos Stanton gets away with it is because he is so damn strong that that bit of contact with his wrists is able to have him push the ball over the wall. I I actually barring injury, I’ll say this. If Stan takes care of his body the way that he does, I think he can wind up playing and being an effective DH longer than people think, just because his it’s he’s not depending on all the parts of his body to play. He’s really depending on his upper body strength. And that’s his job. Go out there and hit home runs. It it’s it’s fascinating to watch because again, it’s it’s just pure power the way he’s putting the ball out. And it’s it’s not fundamental. It’s not getting your whole body into it. It’s not getting your knees and your lower half, but damn Stacy, he’s got crazy crazy strength. He really does. Now, you mentioned Bellinger. We have to talk about Friday night because I mean, it was the best game of the series as Yankee fans to witness what Cody Bellinger did. So, he hits three home runs in a game, but he nearly hit four. If it wasn’t for a great play infield, he was robbed of his fourth home run, which you could see on his face when the third one went over. He like had a smile on his face because he realized that he could have had four in a game. It was just it was amazing. And the the thing that got overshadowed by that was Rodon pitching eight innings going the longest he’s gone as a Yankee was the longest he’s gone since he was with the Giants because he’s never pitched this long with the Yankees. Eight strikeouts. He looked great. Boone goes out doesn’t take him out of the game. He basically is like you want to do this? He’s like yeah I think I got one more in me. Then you have Aaron Judge who on the day Superman’s released acting like Superman in the field just diving all over the place. Yeah, it was. That’s why I thought Friday night I I thought to myself, “Oh, maybe this isn’t going to be the typical See, even my cat’s getting into this.” Exactly. the typical pre-allar break series where they just kind of I don’t know not fall into the all-star break but and I understand you said the Cubs are good but it feel it felt like Saturday and Sunday they just were like all right well these pitchers are better than what we can do on the offensive side and they it was like they gave up. It was just it was so hard to watch. It it felt like Friday’s victory was so great for the team that they immediately booked their plane tickets to Punaana and and called it and called it a first half. Um I want to circle back to something that you said at the start of of recapping Friday’s game because it’s so valuable. Cody Bellinger, um at the start of June, Stacy, he was hitting 235. He’s now hitting before the All-Star break 282. In almost a month and a half, he’s raised his average like 50 points. He’s been that good in the last month and a half. He’s got 16 homers, 54 RBI’s, and 830 OPS. He’s on pace for 90 RBI’s, 28 homers. If he gives you these numbers, I mean, what an unbelievable year. A Cody Bellinger is going to get paid. He’s going to get paid big time this off seasonason. I don’t know if it’s going to be the Yankees. I hope he doesn’t price his way out of the Yankees, but overall, you have to be thrilled with the contribution that you’ve gotten out of Cody Bellinger. I mean, you’ve gotten some unbelievable play out of him. Also, the glove in the field, too. He He plays anywhere. He doesn’t complain. It doesn’t affect him where he is in the field. He’s an everyday winning baseball player. And you you look at the player that he was, Stacy, when he won the rookie of the year with the Dodgers. And the player that he was, we only that MVP with the Dodgers. He’s a completely revamped baseball player. He had that terrible year with the Dodgers. He clearly took it to heart where he hit like 200. He clearly took it to heart. He got uh traded by the Dodgers, left there, and completely revamped who he is as a baseball player. He is now an average hitter that has power and is a really good OPS on base guy. Cody Bellinger has become a terrific baseball player. So, I want to give him his kudos, too. And Carlos Rodon, by the way, this definitely closed off the the best half of baseball that he’s had as a Yankee by far. This is by far his best season as a Yankee. It’s not even close. Yeah. got his 10th win finally after two misses beforehand and uh looked just he looked really good. And speaking of judge, got his 350th officially even though he really has 352, but we’ll do we’ll go we’ll discuss that on another day because if you count the home run in 2017 that they changed to a triple even though it clearly went over the fence, he should have had 53 home runs in 2017. And then earlier this season in Tampa when the ball went over the foul pole that wasn’t high enough and they couldn’t decide if it was a home run. That was a home run. So congrats to him for reaching 350 sooner than anyone in baseball. And one more guy that I want to note from this uh this weekend who has been terrific over the last month and a half and they really hasn’t gotten his proper kudos because of of the start to the season. Devin Williams in the last month and a half. He’s been absolutely terrific. I think now he has not given up a run in his last 22 appearances, which is unbelievably impressive for him. I think that’s correct. You can quote, you can find that out for me uh in the comments and let me know if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. Um 13 saves, 4.58. So, if you look at the RRA and you’re kind of wary on how he’s been this year, don’t do that because he has been outrageously good over the last month and a half. Um he deserves his props, too, because it was a really, really rocky start coming in with the Yankees the way it started off. But I mean, Stacey, he’s been really since the Luke Weaver injury, he’s been absolutely money. He really has. Yes. Yes. It’s good to see him turn his season around, and it’s good to see Cody Bellinger turn his season around because his April was very forgettable. And uh May, June, and so far halfway through July are not forgettable for Cody Bellinger. No, I mean, it’s been he’s been again, my only fear is that he’s playing himself into more of an AAV than the Yankees are going to be want to give him. I don’t think it’s gonna be I think they will pay him because he’s gonna deserve it. But my fear is that he’s gonna play his way into an Ae that they’re not gonna be comfortable giving. Yeah. Well, they’re gonna have to suck it up because as you said, he hits the ball. He plays wherever you tell him to play. He has no issues playing anywhere. He doesn’t look lost playing anywhere. He could play center, he could play right, he could play left, and he could play first base. So, we’re also another note, too, we’re also kind of in this generation of the five tool player being gone. You’ve got guys that are power guys, guys that are speed guys, but the five tool player has kind of been eliminated from the game for the most part. There’s a few guys here into the bets, the judge, all that kind of stuff, but not everyone is a this very select few. Cody Bellinger is has become that. He is truly a five tool player. He even plays first base, too. I mean, he’s just he’s all over the place on the field. And again, from what he was in his rookie year to what he is now, he’s completely revamped himself as a player. It’s it’s it’s fun to watch, honestly. Don’t forget, subscribe to the channel. Hit the like button on our videos. Hit the notifications so you know when our videos go up. You can also join the locked on Yankees insiders club. The link is in the description. You’ll get texts from us. You can text us questions, comments, reactions to trades and signings. We send out the lineups during the season, roster moves, and breaking news, so you don’t have to check social media. There’s a 14-day free trial. Coming up, we’re going to discuss the Yankees tendency to not do well in the last series before the All-Star break. It’s not that big a deal, but there’s a pattern. And unfortunately, there are a lot of patterns when it comes to Aaron Boone’s Yankees. So, we’re going to discuss that next. We’ve all been there, logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. Well, live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping. And that’s where Game Time comes in. Game time makes getting concert tickets faster and easier than ever. Prices actually drop as it gets closer to Showtime. And you can save 60% off with their killer last minute deals. And with Game Time, the price you see is always the price that you’re going to pay. There’s no hidden fees. And are you worried about what happens if plans change? The Game Time Guarantee has your back with cancellation protection and more. I’ll be seeing Shine Down next weekend. I’m super excited for that concert. And it’s all going to be game time for me. On the way to the venue, I can get tickets, the best tickets I want. No stress added. Take the guesswork out of buying concert and show tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app today. Create an account and use code one word locked MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create that account and redeem code Loc for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. So, every week, every Friday, we have fan mail Friday and you guys ask us questions and we answer them to the best of our ability. And if you’re on YouTube, we have a way for you to do it. That’s very easy. You go to our channel’s page, you click on the post tab, and you will see the latest post where I tell you, leave your fan mail Friday question here, and I tell you what the deadline is. Usually, it’s Thursdays at 5:00 p. p.m. Eastern, just to make it easy. So Stacy, uh, we’ve gone over this plenty of times over the last few weeks, specifically over the last year and a half. There are too many trends with Aaron Boon, where it links to poor play, poor things, poor things that continuously happen and become non-surprises for Yankee fans, including us. And one of them has been going into the All-Star break. I I think it has a lot to do with this country club atmosphere that he’s created in the locker room where they’re so ready to get on a vacation before the All-Star break. Did they kind of forget that they have games remaining? But you dove a little bit deeper into how big of a problem this actually is. Yeah. Now, I mentioned this to all of you listening and watching. I mentioned it probably two weeks ago when we were looking at the schedule and seeing who the Yankees were going to be playing, how this first half, again in in air quotes because it’s not technically the first half, was going to end. And I told you to look out for this series, this specific series, just to see how they did leading into the All-Star break. So, in the past five seasons, the Yankees have lost the last game before the All-Star break four times. Their only win was in 2022. The team was also 64 and 28 at the All-Star break. So, they were doing really well. They beat up on Boston like double digit wins in the Saturday game and the Sunday game. So that’s the only time in 2021, the infamous game where they were up on the Astros 72 and then lost 8-7 on a walk-off by Joseé Altuve. And that was the game where Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez were having fun in the dugout with the coat on after they were hitting home runs and then they got embarrassed heading into the All-Star break in 2023. That’s the team that didn’t even make the playoffs, but they lost five out of their last eight before the All-Star break, including the Sunday game against the Cubs. Interestingly enough, in 2024, they lost that embarrassing Sunday game to the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth after Ben Rice hit that three-run home run in the top of the ninth because the Yankees were down 3-2 in that game. They went up 5-3. And you’re thinking, okay, this is a great way of going into the All-Star break. And of course, you know, Ben Rice doing his thing and then Klay Holmes blew the save. That never happened in 2024. And Verdugo screwed up in left field and allowed the winning run to score on a like Yeah. So, remember that one all too well. Yeah. This year they had the two lifeless games against the Cubs after having like, you know, they had a big win on Friday night. You think they take that role and roll into Saturday and Sunday and it just seemed like they gave up like, “Oh, this guy’s pitching too well. okay, we can’t really do anything against him. And it’s just frustrating to watch. And again, the Cubs are a good team. But every year for the past five seasons, this team just looks lifeless going into the All-Star break. And as you said, it looks like their mindset is like gh we just have two days left and then we can go on a break. You know, especially the guys who aren’t playing in the All-Star game. It’s just frustrating to watch this because again like the swoon that they go under when they’re, you know, whether it’s June, whether it’s July, whether it’s a bad August, this always happens under Aaron Boon’s watch. What does it take for this team, for the front office to realize that this is a real problem? Well, again, it’s the country club atmosphere that’s been created. It’s it’s that simple. That there has been this attitude created in the clubhouse where, you know, they all think they’re the best team in baseball. They all think they have this they have this this this confidence and this ego to themselves because they’re wearing the pinstripes that they’re this feared team around the league and they go into a lot of they beat up on a team on Friday against the the Cubs a really good baseball team that comes in a first place team in the NL Central that’s 18 games over 500 that’s playing really well this year they beat him up 11 nothing and they’re they walk in on Saturday with their chest puffed out quite frankly that oh we’ve got this Max Freeds on the mound that’s a series victory wrapped up before we get the all-star break perfectly you know what? Book your plane tickets now. And look what happens. You lose the next two games and now you leave that series, you know, where you didn’t get swept like me and you kind of thought was going to happen, but you still lost two out of three to Chicago, a team that again, they should fear you as much as you fear them. So, it’s again I think it has a lot to do with this attitude that’s been graded in the clubhouse where again they stick their chest out thinking that they’re we’re the New York Yankees and maybe the 99 team had a right to do that and maybe the 2000 team before entering the postseason that that that that swoon they had in September. Maybe that team, not that there’s an excuse for that swoon, but maybe they had a little bit of a right to walk into the clubhouse coming off of three World Series championships in four years to stick their chest out a little bit. um knowing how good they were. Yeah, we’re heading into the postseason. We’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out. And lo and behold, that team did figure it out. But this team doesn’t have that. And and and quite frankly, no Aaron Boone team has the the right to feel that way walking into any bad stretch of play or any positive stretch of play or any stretch of play to begin with. And that’s what bothers me is there’s this attitude and this ego that’s been created with this team under Aaron Boon that they really haven’t earned. They really haven’t earned this level of of uh of narcissism, I guess, if you want to call it, as a roster, right? That they think they’re great. They know they’re great at everything like that, but they haven’t done much over the years to really prove they’re as great as they actually think they are. The records are there, sure. The power numbers there, sure. The division titles are there. Where are the If this is a World Series or bust organization, where are the World Series? Because last I checked, there’s one pennant in the last eight years hanging up under this manager. So where is it? This this country club we are the New York Yankees attitude has to go. And this series to me Stacy is an exact example of and not this series alone. This series along with the stretch going into the All-Star break is an exact example of this team feeling like it’s a country club atmosphere all the time because you know who cares? We’ll figure and even if we lose these two games, we’ll figure it out on the other side with the Yankees. We’ll figure it out. And you got a series against the Braves coming in. and a team that’s going to be looking to uh make start their postseason stretch. A pretty good team with a bad record who’s had a lot of injuries. So, it’s not getting easier for them coming out of the break either season. The thing that disappoints me is they played so well against Seattle, right? They have that comeback win on Thursday and they basically embarrassed Seattle and sent them on their way in that last game and then Seattle turns around, goes into Detroit and embarrasses them on Friday night. Yeah. So, Seattle’s not a bad team and the Yankees made them look bad. And then the Yankees come in on Friday, they make the Cubs look bad, they win 11 nothing, and you’re thinking, okay, this is a great role for them to be on heading into the All-Star break and then Saturday and Sunday happens and it’s just a pattern and I just really don’t understand why no one ever questions him on this ever. It’s a great point with Seattle, too, because again, going into that Detroit series where uh they went in and just embarrassed Detroit, they swept him. Um, you would think the Yankees would coming out of that Seattle series have a lot of confidence in themselves thinking, “Oh, we can handle these these good teams. We can play with them.” Cal Raleigh to one one and 11. Yep. One for 11. I mean, the one was a home run, but one for without their aces, by the way, without without Seattle, without the Yankees aces going in that series either, by the way. So, yeah. But again, you I don’t want to say you fully erase it because you don’t and they do tend to have Seattle’s number over the last five or so years, but Stacy you you almost do erase the confidence that you build in the Seattle series going into the Cub series and not not have not doing anything. It’s you you have to keep the play consistent. And it’s almost as if again the Seattle series ends. Boon tells the team that they’re the best team in baseball again and look how good we are yada yada. And then they win the Cub game on Friday and they reassure themselves with damn we are good. Four in a what was it? Four three in a row at that point. We’re really good. Look at us. Look how great we’re playing. We beat the Cubs. We got Freed going tomorrow and then look what happens. It was actually It was actually five in a row. There you go. Boom. Boom. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Then then you lose the game on Saturday. Freed goes out with the blister. you lose the game on Sunday and now you’re heading into the All-Star break on a two-game losing streak when it could have been on a seven-game winning streak and you could have really started to, you know, feel a lot of confidence after the really bad month and a half that you just had. So, you had an opportunity and it was kind of blown there. And on top of that, the Red Sox have now won 10 games in a row. They’ve passed the Rays because they swept the Rays over the weekend and now they’re right on the Yankees tail. So, it’s just they can control their own destiny and they choose not to at some points. They just are just like let’s hope the Cubs return the favor because they get the out of the break the Cubs are going uh the Red Sox are going to Wrigley and then and then the Red Sox get the Phillies too. So, and then the Dodgers. So, they have a really tough stretch coming out of the All-Star break. So, let’s hope the Red Sox kind of cool off starting. This is a good time as Yankee fans for the Red Sox to get the All-Star break. Yeah, let’s let’s go NL. Let’s uh let’s get the Red Sox out of here. All right, coming up next, we’ll tell you how Luis Heel did in his first rehab start with Somerset. We also have some information about George Lumbar Jr. and how he did at the Futures game. And we have news from around the league. So guys, not only do we cover your team every day, but we are now also giving you instant episodes after every single game. You can check out the Locked On Yankees postcast. It’s hosted by Jay Berman and it appears right here on the Locked on Yankees podcast feed as well as streaming on our YouTube channel. Get rapid reaction to all the biggest moments with the Locked on Yankees post. Stacy, I always find it a little weird that going into well and we call it All-Star weekend even though it happens at the beginning of the week. I don’t know why Major League Baseball just does some really weird stuff and I don’t know why the All-Star game and the festivities are not held on a weekend. They can’t lose the gate. They can’t lose the gate at the stadium. Yeah. Yeah. And then they sacrifice the All-Star gate because people can’t make it because they’re It’s just so weird. Um regardless, they start the festivities generally prior to the actual game being played. And earlier on Sunday, you had the future, well, Saturday, I believe, was the futures game and the celebrity all-star game. And then Sunday was the draft. We got a lot of news on that. So, why don’t you let us know what happened in the futures game? So, George Lumbard Jr. was the representative for the Yankees. He went one for two with a walk. The one hit was a double. He was also miked up and he cussed a few times. Had a boy. People clutching their pearls because I was going to say grown man, but he’s literally 20. Uh cust on TV, but he’s a baseball player. They all do. Well, you see them all. You see them. You can see the mouth things when a pitcher gives up a home run or a guy strikes out or you hear it. So, yeah. One for two with the double. And he looked, oh my god, he’s so fast. When he hit that ball, he is so fast. I watched him running around the bases. I was like, wow, that’s get excited. He He’s again, he is the untouchable prospect they have. They will, from all accounts, they are not moving him unless a legitimate superstar is offered to them at the deadline. So, yeah. Yeah, they as we keep saying, he he literally just turned 20, so you’re not going to see him up with the Yankees yet. He’s only at Somerset, which is impressive for a 20-year-old, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. Very impressive. Speaking of Somerset, Luis Heel made his first rehab appearance. And we said the other day it was three innings or 50 pitches. Three and one third innings, 50 pitches. Right on the nose. Yeah. So, two hits, one run. The one run was a home run. One walk, six Ks. He’s going to have a few more rehab appearances before he comes back to the Yankees. So, it might not be until early August at this point. It looks like they’re trying to get him to 75 pitches before calling him up to the major league level and then they’re going to build up that 75 to 100 pitch mark at the major league level. The 6Ks is what makes me feel good about it, Stacy. Um that the fact that he’s locating and the velocity is there, that is a really good sign. So, you know, but again, like you said, this is going to take a bit. I think probably look for early August. Yeah. Uh also in uh draft news, that was Sunday. Uh, round one technically doesn’t count as a first round pick, but it is in the first round. Um, 39th pick, the Yankees took a shortstop, Dax Kilby. Um, he’s out of Newman High School. So, again, high school player. I believe he’s 17 years old. So, it he was born He was born November 17th, 2006. So, feel really old right there, Yankee fans. Really old. Um, so yeah. Well, you will not see him for a while. Please, we we we beg you, do not use them taking a shortstop as um a reason why you believe that that Anthony Vulpi is on his way out as a Yankee shortstop, right? This is not basketball. This is not football. Teams are not drafting players to immediately come in and make an impact. You will not see Dax Kilby in a Yankee uniform. The best case scenario, you’ll see him in a Yankee uniform in 2030. Yeah, I was going to say 29, but yeah, 2030 probably better. Exactly. Don’t Don’t get your hopes up. You will not hear this name probably for another four or five years. Yeah. Um Stacy, your favorite segment of the week uh besides tomorrow when we do uh Miners Monday. Um news from around the league. O’Neal Cruz. He was scratched from Saturday’s game with a hip flexor issue. They’re going to hope that he can participate in the home run derby, but I’m gonna be honest with you, it would be pretty malfeasants if he does participate in the home run derby, right? I don’t know. because they were saying that they hope he will. Like even his coaches were saying that they hope he will and that this was just some sort of blip. Bad job out of the coaches. I don’t love the Jazz isn’t going to be in it to be honest with you. I to me if you have any remote ailment whatsoever, I don’t think swinging a baseball bat 130% of your strength um out of out for you know how many if you if he’s going to win the whole thing over a hundred swings. Yeah. I don’t know if that’s great for your body or your shoulder. And J for Jazz in particular. If he comes out of this with an injury, I’m going to be aggravated because this seems like a Jazz Chisum Jr. uh decision. I I find it hard to believe the Yankee organization advised him to do this, right? Yeah. I feel like this was a Jazz thing. Jazz wanted to do this. Jazz told them he’s doing this and let’s hope Jazz doesn’t get hurt because uh I don’t love the idea that he’s going to be in it to be honest with you. Yeah. Um this is weird. Let let me tell you let me let me tell you this. So, the first overall pick in the draft was um Eli Wil Will Willlet. He is a uh is he Reggie Willlet’s uh son uh well son out of he’s a high school player, first overall pick. Um, the Nationals fired their GM Mike Rizzo about a week ago after they they’ve slid off and no one no one that’s respected had Eli Willlets in the top projected 10 picks in the draft and he went first overall to the Nationals. This is why you don’t fire your entire general manager and staff behind him a week before the draft. That it was a complete like Has that ever happened before? I don’t think so. In the middle they fired the manager and the GM like you we’ve seen the manager get fired in the middle of the season, but that’s one of those things where he’s handling everything on the major league level, but the GM has a lot to do with, you know, the draft and trades and free agency and all that stuff. And his staff, too. When you fire a GM, you’re firing the GM and his staff. You’re not just firing him. All these people are losing jobs. So, all the I I I find it don’t think that Rizzo was sharing the draft analysis they had done for the first with the first overall pick once he was out of the organization, Stacy. Right. This is one of those uh I’m gone and my computer files are gone, too. So, good luck. Taking him at that point is just uh ridiculous uh from every account possible. So, we’ll see how it works out. But the other crazy note from the draft, Stacy, is the amount of of young players that are getting drafted now out of high school. It’s insane the scouting that goes on in the league. Ethan Holiday, another one of them. Matt Holidayiday’s other son. Two kids now that have gone in the top five. Isn’t that insane? That’s I’d be proud. I mean, you can’t argue it’s not in the jeans. Yeah. Um he’s going to the Rockies, too, which is pretty cool. uh following in his father’s footsteps. So, uh him and Jackson Holiday. Now, we probably won’t see Ethan for a couple of years, but Jackson Holiday got called up quickly. Yeah. So, we’ll see how quickly it takes Ethan Holiday called up. And on uh lastly, a good note, Terry Franka got his 20,000th win as a manager. Really impressive stuff out of him. Uh he’s got the Reds playing really well. Base, really good baseball, Stacy. They finished the uh I guess you know, first half with air quotes. Uh four games over 500. that’s pretty good for this Red’s team that I don’t think people expected a lot out of this year. So, um he’s it’s crazy what he shows fully what a manager can mean for a team. And we have an example uh daily on what a manager can also mean for a team just reversed. So, yeah. Yeah. There was a last note there about the Red Sox 10game winning streak, but we already talked about that. But we did not mention that the last time they had a streak this long was 2018. And we all remember what happened in 2018. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Although Glaver almost got it to a game five. Yeah. That last at bat that’s about a couple couple inches. Yeah. Oh wow. Yep. Just just another faithful Yankee playoff loss that we all sat through. Yeah. Well, on that note, thank you for making Locked on Yankees your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked On MLB game night. Every game, every night, all season long. You get local analysis on a national scale. You can find MLB Game Night Unlocked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And you’re going to see a familiar face. Yeah. Every Sunday for the rest of time probably. Uh I’ll be locked on MLB’s Sunday night’s game host. So uh yeah, pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing all you guys there. So that’ll do it for this edition of Locked on Yankees. I’m Stacy Gotulius and I’m Brian McKinnon. We’ll catch you guys tomorrow. [Music]

The New York Yankees’ recent series against the Chicago Cubs is analyzed, with a focus on Giancarlo Stanton’s performance and the team’s pre-All-Star break tendencies. Luis Gil’s rehab start and George Lombard Jr.’s Futures Game appearance are discussed, along with the Yankees’ first-round draft pick. MLB news, including O’Neill Cruz’s injury and Terry Francona’s 2000th win as manager, rounds out the episode.

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