Voicemails: Yankees are Cornered, Need a MIRACLE

Voicemails: Yankees are Cornered, Need a MIRACLE

Just wanted to talk, that’s all. [Music] Yo, what up? How you guys doing? How you guys handling a tough weekend? I have been grumpy all day. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been grumpy. I’ve been in a foul mood. And that’s not uncommon when the Yankees are playing bad, but especially worse when they’re playing bad in the playoffs. But it’s not unlike I felt after two games in the 2017 American League Division Series. There is a song by Mike and the Mechanics, a cheesy 80s song. It’s called All I Need Is a Miracle. And that’s exactly what the Yankees need. Now, some people might say, “Well, I don’t believe in miracles, right?” But that song has been running through my head for the last 24 hours or so because not only do the Yankees need to pull off an unbelievable task of winning three straight games after falling down two-0, they got to do it against a team that clearly owns them in Toronto and is feeling very very confident. You just have to hope that the spigot of runs dries up for the Jays, right? I mean, teams don’t average 10, 12 runs a game. I mean, it it goes up and down. You just hope that it kind of evens out and that the Yankees get some really good pitching in game three from Carlos Rodon and hopefully in game four from Cam Schlitler and then in game five, anything happens. You never know. That’s the beauty of baseball and of sports in general. Back in 2017 when the Yankees made their comeback, uh, a huge part of it was seven shut out innings by Masahiro Tanaka. And that’s where he first started to get his reputation as being lights out in the playoffs. And Judge took away a home run in that game. Greg Bird hit one of the most electric home runs I’ve ever seen in my life. I still think about that and I still watch that home run all the time when I’m going through my Yankees highlights binge. If the Yankees win tomorrow and if they win game four, there’s probably going to be one or two of those moments. Who’s it going to be? Who’s it gonna be? Rodon has not pitched well against the Blue Jays this year. Not even a little bit. We need him to reverse course. We need him to re to to reach deep and give the Yankees everything he’s got. To put this quite simply, he needs to deliver the performance of his life tomorrow or the season is probably over. There’s a lot of talk about Max Freed and living up to his contract. We got a couple of comments here that I agree with. X-rated says, “Why wasn’t he using his curveball?” I thought that was strange, too. Maybe he just didn’t have a feel for it. Maybe he didn’t feel confident in it. Maybe he felt like he was tipping it. But, you know, he got a massive contract and he didn’t perform yesterday. He performed against Boston. They lost the game, but he performed well. Carlos Rodon has had some up and down moments with the Yankees for sure. He’s also paid pretty well. Now’s a chance for him to really earn that paycheck tomorrow. Anyway, a member of that 2017 team that came back from O2 is going to be on the show tomorrow for the postgame. Mr. Eric Kratz will be joining us for the postgame show. So, tune in for that. Win or lose. And maybe we’ll have Frankie Baseball on before the game if he’s available to do the pregame show. Aaron Judge catching a lot of flack because of his big strikeout with the bases loaded. I mentioned that his numbers are kind of hollow and I believe they are and I stand by that. We’re going to need a big moment from Aaron Judge. Full stop. We need him to step it the hell up with runners on base. And one, we got to keep getting guys on base in front of him, but also it’s not going to matter if we keep giving up 10 plus runs a game. Okay, it’s very difficult to win when you allow 23 runs in two games. is very difficult. But if you get a decent outing tomorrow from Rodon, the offense has got to do its thing. And that begins with Aaron Judge, whose legacy now is somebody who kills it in the regular season and just kind of folds when there’s the big bright moments in the postseason. Now, he has hit over 400. He’s gotten hits, but I thought Joel Sherman was correct when he compared it to Luis Arise rather than all Rise. It’s a lot of singles in situations where a single doesn’t really help you. We need that big three-run jack, two-run jack in the first inning, a big, you know, grand slam in the sixth just to put to break the game open. That’s what we need. We need a stress-free win tomorrow and we need Judge to catch fire and put that in the minds of the Jays and put it in his mind quite frankly. Get his confidence going. Confidence is such a big part of this game and he has got to turn it on. Now maybe he’s not built out of championship stuff. We said that last year. Maybe that’s just the case. Maybe he’s one of these guys who’s built for the regular season. But if we have any chance at all, any hope at all of winning the World Series, we need Judge to step up. Jack Mazak says 2017 New York is not like that team. Who knows? Who knows? You’re not in the clubhouse. You don’t know. Let’s find out. Let’s find out what they’ve got. I don’t think we can make that judgment yet. We’ll see. Uh, it doesn’t help that our our best pitcher didn’t throw his best pitch yesterday as X-rated pointed out. I watched some coverage of Derek Jeter evaluating the series and he seemed pissed off. We have got to find a way to get that guy back around the team more regularly. You know, maybe it’ll rub off. He’s a champion. Maybe it will rub off on the other guys if he has any interest in doing it. Maybe he doesn’t. You know, you would think as a lifelong Yankee fan, a Yankee icon that he would want to be involved in baseball. I think A-Rod does want to be, but the team doesn’t want him. Jeter the other way around. And you know, we had a call a couple of months ago. I I forget who it was, but they were very critical of Brian Kman. And I talk about this all the time. He has ruined a lot of the Yankees relationships with the players of the past, including Derek Jeter. Brett Gardner, where the hell is Brett Gardner these days, Don Maddingley, all of these guys avoid the Yankees. And we’ve ended up with a bunch of Ivy League grads in the, you know, analytics department, but no champions, very few champions involved with this team. And that’s how you end up in this perpetual launch angle cycle that leads to record numbers of strikeouts every season and as you see every postseason. Bronx Kid says, “This is the most talented team we’ve had in years.” I agree. This is a great team. The the the bullpen sucks. The bullpen is trash, but we’ve got a a consistent offense most of the year. We got young guys with power. We got speed. We’re playing good defense right now. And we got good starting pitching most of the time yesterday and the day before, notwithstanding. And Cam Slitler is one of the most electric young arms we’ve had in years, you know, but I don’t see a lot of winners on this team. I don’t see a lot of guys with that killer instinct. Schlitler has it. That dude oozes it. I think Rodon when he first got here was the antithesis of a winner, but he’s transformed himself mentally, physically, and as a pitcher. And we’re going to find out tomorrow what that cat is made of. We’re going to find out real soon what Carlos Rodon is made of. Then you still got to find a way to win game four and game five. I think Cam will pitch well in game four if you get there. Game five back in Toronto. Not feeling great about it. Let’s take some voicemails. It’s just a reaction. Here’s John. Hello, Derek. John from California here. If the Yankees start Rodon Tuesday night, they’re going to lose. They got to let Slitler do the job and then Rodon figure out how to do it Wednesday. Take care. Enjoy your show. No, they they want to keep guys on their regular rhythm. Uh you don’t want to alter guys rhythm as a starting pitcher. And you know, eight innings from Schlutler. You don’t want to start bringing back on short rest. And those are eight high stress. Like I know it didn’t look stressful, but believe me, it was. Hey Derek, it’s Phillip and I just want to call and say I know a lot of people on social media is criticizing Boone uh for the way he managed the playoff series so far against Toronto, but honestly it’s up to the players. You know, as much as we criticize Boone for his decision making, um bullpen management, at the end of the day, so far it’s up to the players. The players did not perform. Game one was a joke. Game two, a late rally against Btier bullpen pitching from Toronto. And you know, just max free getting paid 200 plus mil, getting out pitched by a rookie. I mean with a contract that size minimum six innings and you know Judge is having a decent well I’ll say decent playoff series so far but we’re still waiting for that big hit that signature moment. Stanton as much we love October Stanton you know he hasn’t he hasn’t been showing up lately. Um, but that could that that could be said for the whole team besides Boli. Stanton has been hitting the ball hard. His problem has been launch angle. He’s been hitting the ball on the ground and that’s not what Stanton is supposed to do. We want Stanton to have that high launch angle. You know, we want Stanton to hit the ball in the air hard and because it’s usually a home run. Now, we had a comment here that Schlitler has an eight plus erra against the Jays. Now, I want to weigh in on that one. The second time he pitched in the major leagues was against the Jays. His second career start. He went into the fifth inning or he pitched into the six and and got taken out. Five innings, seven hits, two runs, three walks, three strikeouts. And that was before he had the weapons that he has now. He he wasn’t throwing the breaking ball really at all. His second time was in Toronto where I’m sure they got something going on. I know that there’s been a lot of like talk about, oh, we shouldn’t say that. [ __ ] that. They got something going on. I don’t know what it is yet, but they got [ __ ] something going on up there. And he gave up five hits in and four runs in one and two/3 innings. Let’s see what it looks like. I’ll take my chances with Schlitler in game four. 100%. Hey, what’s up there? Ryan calling from Long Island. Couple couple points I want to make. It’s Monday. I’m driving to work. Just watched your show as always. Um, first, the only thing that let me sleep last night was remembering October, I think it was October 9th, 2017. We go down two nothing against Cleveland. Come back and win the series. That’s the only thing that put me to bed last night. I couldn’t sleep. I was tossing and turning. Today sucks. The second point I thought you just find this funny. I’m in a group chat with a bunch of guys um just for the camaraderie of the games. Um, someone said, “We’ve now accomplished everything in this chat since the inception. 2021 wild card loss. 2022 ALCS loss. 2023 missed the playoffs entirely. 2024 World Series loss. 2025 ALDS loss. I hope that’s not going to be true, but we shall see. We’ll see you tomorrow night. Let’s go Yanks.” Yeah. I mean, miracles happen in the postseason all the time. That Greg Bird home run in the ALDS was just magical. It was magical. You know, other teams have had moments like that, too. The Yankees need that moment. And I think if it comes from Aaron Judge, I think that changes everything. Here’s a call about Judge. Yes, I’d like to agree with you what you said about Judge and his stats. They’re soft. That’s a John Carlos Stanton build up his great postseason stats. That’s all they are are stats. They’re either tack on or we’re getting our butts kicked all the time. He had all right. So, first of all, bringing up Stanton and saying Stanton stats are soft is [ __ ] stupid. That’s one of the dumbest takes I have ever seen, ever heard. He must be the stupidest son of a [ __ ] alive. Stanton carried us to the World Series last year. He was ALCS MVP. He hit enormous home run after enormous home run. Stanton was a god last year. And I I don’t think you’re giving him enough uh enough credit. Hey, what’s up, man? I’m just still mulling over this game. And one thing that really really was frustrating me and just really confusing me as I’m watching the game, the approach at the plate, I’m just so baffled by it. I looked back on the app bats, like I used the app that shows you the strike, pitches called, whatever. Six guys in those first five and a third, two and third inning, whatever when you have a position. Six guys watched a 94 95 mile per hour fast ball down middle middle of the plate. Just watched it called strike and then the next pitcher swinging at splitters in the dirt. So maybe the approach was we’re not going to swing at fast balls today like we did against Gossman and we’re just going to sit on a splitter. But then everyone’s sitting on splitters and swinging in the dirt. So, I just don’t get it. H how it doesn’t make any sense in a splitter, fastball pitcher that we’re watching fast 94 meatball fast balls go down the middle of the plate. And I love that call because I was thinking the same thing. I even tweeted about it. The first pitch of the inning, like two innings in a row, was 94 or 95 right down the pipe and the Yankees took it. And you know, you you got to hit that pitch if they give it to you. The Jays certainly were. You’ve got to be more aggressive in the zone and less aggressive out of the zone. Here’s Patrick. Hello, this is Patrick. I’ve been Yankee fan since around 2003 when I and I was 11. Um, I just want to say I think the lineup should be John should be Cody Bellinger, Lean, Ben, and Judge Benj Santon. whether we’re regardless of whether we were facing a lefty or a righty a righty or a lefty. Um I just think that’d be very effective. Uh let me know what you think. I apologize it’s probably samaring by the way. It’s okay. There’s there’s a there’s a lot of people who who like to put the top three hitters one, two, three in the order. You know, the way that Trent Gisham has been playing this postseason, I’m open to ideas. I’m open to suggestions. It’s it’s win or go home. So, I I you know, I don’t hate it. I don’t hate it. Get these guys as many at bats as possible. Here’s Brandon. Hey, Derek. This is Brandon. Been uh watching for a while. First time calling in. Love your takes and and what you do. Appreciate it. Um I think best we can hope for is maybe a quality start out of Rodon. I’ll take uh tomorrow night, but the offense has to get going. They haven’t really done anything the entirety of the postseason. If you really look, um, the Socks threw the ball around, you know, booted it in the field. You know, Yankees haven’t gotten it done with bases loaded, nobody out, rough at bat from Judge. It’s just been tough to watch. Hopefully, they’ll turn everything around hitting, pitching, and uh, keep the season going. If not, you know, get him next year kind of thing. And look forward looking forward to the offseason shows. Thanks. I appreciate the call. I I agree with the audience that say we got to get more than six from Carlos Rodon. Give us six and two/3. Give us seven. I I want seven shuddy like Mazahiro Tanaka did that one time in game three. That’s what we need. Here’s Brian. What’s going on, Derek? So, after a little bit of reflection there after those opening opening two games getting blown out both games, uh the only bit of reprieve I can try to come up with in my head here is that uh if the Yankees can somehow get out to a lead with Rodon versus uh Bieber here coming up in game three, if they can get out to a lead, it seems that The Blue Jays don’t have a starter lined up for game four. So, they’re going to probably do a bullpen game and probably try to keep their their main arms ready for that game if we can jump out to a lead in this Rodon game, which makes Rodon a really really obviously it’s win or go home, but an even more pivot pivot pivot I can’t even say it easy for you to say than it should be. Um, so let let’s see what happens here. If he if he wins that and then we come up against a uh a bullpen game, you never really know. And uh one game take all, anything can really happen. Even though we’ve got our jocks kicked in all year long in Toronto, you still never know what one game can produce. That’s the hope. One at a time. Let’s go. I agree with you. All right, we got a couple voicemails that just called in. I haven’t listened to them yet. So, here we go. Hey there, just calling in. I heard you accusing the Jays of cheating on air. Pretty wild. But I mean, obviously you wouldn’t say that if you didn’t think there was something or you didn’t see something. I’m saying something suspicious. I’m not accusing them of cheat. I think something is suspicious is happening. Their their numbers are skewed, right? And they looked way too freaking comfortable against our guys. Way too comfortable. Something’s up. I think I um This is Ben all the way from London, Ontario, Canada. Um, obviously a Blue Jays fan, but I got to tell you, I’m not counting my chickens until the series is over. It’s the Yankees. I got a lot of respect for New York. Actually, I’m from Venezuela. And the Yankees used to be my favorite team when they had Jeter and that amazing 90s run and even in the early 2000s. So, I got a lot of respect for the Yankees obviously because I moved to Canada. I got the Blue Jays as my team now. But again, I knocked counting the Yankees out. No. All right. So, first things first. You can’t be switching teams like that, my guy. Come back to the dark side. Let’s go. Come on. Here’s Ryan. Hey, Derek. It’s Ryan. Been watching a long time. This is my first time calling in. Got to say, these first two games have been very depressing. And it absolutely sickens me that Buck Martinez is grinning somewhere. I want to wipe that smile off his face so bad. Me too, man. I’ve been a fan a long time and I’ve seen a lot of playoff baseball. And I’ve seen teams get off to hot starts look totally unbeatable and then suddenly they go flat. And I’m hoping that’s what’s going to happen. Just look at the Yankees history. You got the 2017 series against the Cleveland. You got 2001 against the A’s. And I hate to go back to even the 1996 World Series, but for five games, the Braves looked like the best team in the history of baseball. Three against the Cardinals and the first two games against the Yankees. Yes. And then they look totally lost after that. But for that to happen, the guys got to start hitting. We need good We need a good outing from Rodan. And if we could take game three, then suddenly things change a little bit and things look a little bit different. Let’s just hope for the best. Love your show. Appreciate the call. Yeah, that’s a great point. The the go back and look at the stats. I don’t have them off the top of my head, but the Cardinals absolutely got destroyed by the Braves in that NLCS of 96. Then they beat the Yankees 12 to one in game one of the World Series and then Maddox tosses a gym. They win 4 nothing. Then the Yankees won three in a row on the road and finished it off with a fourth straight. It can happen. Baseball is a game where anything can happen. We got a couple of more voicemails, but first I got to get to DraftKings. So, be back in 60 seconds. Pressure is on, the lights are brighter, and with DraftKings Sportsbook, you’re right there in the middle of every moonshot moment. DraftKings Sportsbook delivers the intensity of October with player props, live in-game betting, and odds that can change as fast as a ball flying over the fence. New customers bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get paid out $200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code foul. That’s code FO, to turn five bucks into $200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem, call 1800 gambler. In New York, call 8778 hopey or text hope and y467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Bootill Casino and Resort in Kansas, fees may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bet must win to receive reward. Minimum minus 500 odds required. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dk&ng.co/audio. Now, there’s a good pitching matchup here uh going on right now. As NY Sports Empire points out, you got Phillies versus Dodgers. And right now, Snell is throwing a no hitter in the fifth inning. And Snell is throwing a couple of no hitters. And Lazardo pitching great for the Phillies. Five innings of one hit ball. I really want the Phillies to knock out the Dodgers really, really bad. Uh, and Dodgers came back and won game one. So, uh, not feeling strong about that. Uh, and then later on tonight, Cubs take on the Brewers. You got Imanaga versus Aaron Ashby. So, that’ll be another good game. All right, here’s Josh. Hey, Derek. This is Josh from Hartford. Man, those two games are rough. Um, I wasn’t even watching either game and I was shocked when I saw the score, especially yesterday. But it is what it is. And am I the only one that is feeling like we have a shot still? Maybe I’m just fooling myself from being depressed, but I think we still have a shot. Carl Ferdon and Schlitler are two great starters. I think we can beat Bieber. I think the Blue Jays are doing a bullpen game in game four. This kind of reminds me of 2017 ALDS. Lose the first two games on the road, come back to the stadium, win them, and then win game five on the road. I think you do it. Give Max Freed a shot. I don’t think he’ll suck in two straight games. Maybe I’m wrong. I think there’s still a pathway. Let’s go Yankees. Let’s hope so. We’ll see. Last call. Yeah. Uh Derek, Steve from Maine, I I made a boo boo in the last uh call. Gisham has struck out 11 times in the last 23 at bats, not the last 20 games. Get him out of the leadoff spot. Agree. Agree. He can’t be the leadoff guy. I mean, he’s he’s been he’s been ice cold for a while now. Time to get him going. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I will see you tomorrow for the pregame show. Call in. Uh we’re probably going to have Frankie baseball. Frankie, if you’re watching, let me know. Uh and um then Eric Kratz for the postgame show and hopefully not the final postgame show of the year. We’ll see you next time. [Music] If you enjoyed this content, please hit that like button and subscribe. Check out nydesigns.shop for some great merch. Support our sponsors. It helps keep the show going. And you can find us on all major audio platforms, so be sure to subscribe there, too. But most importantly, come back again soon. We’ll see you next time. [Music]

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