Yankees vs Blue Jays | Postgame Recap & Fan Reactions | 9/6/25

Yankees vs Blue Jays | Postgame Recap & Fan Reactions | 9/6/25

All right, let’s hit the It is Saturday, September 6th, and the Yankees were taking on the Blue Jays in game two of a three-game set and trying to recover after a tough loss on Friday night. Luis Heel was on the mound. My recap and your reactions coming up next. This is Pinstripe Territory. That’s all. All right, how’s it going everybody? Welcome back. Welcome back. a little bit later than we expected because of the long rain delay today, but the Yankees have evened the series against the Blue Jays. Very nice job. We had some pretty good pitching by Luis Heel. He was a little bit more wild than you’d want. He had four walks today and only one strikeout, but one run over six innings. You’ll take that every time. Big base knock from Jason Dominguez, a guy who has not been getting in the game very often. Uh Trent Gisham showed that he was mortal with an 0 for four game and three strikeouts today. Bellinger also had a really good day. He walked three times, but the story with him was that he made an unbelievable throw home to nail a runner and save a run. But uh Austin Wells with a couple of ribbies today. Nice job by the bullpen. Luke Weaver got a couple of outs. Fernando Cruz was phenomenal. and David Bednar went one in the third with three strikeouts to close out the game. So, you know, despite the rain, uh the Yankees were able to maintain the solid pitching uh you know, over the interruption. That’s not always easy to do. You know, sometimes after a rain delay, things can get sloppy, but Yankees were able to get it done. Not a great day for the offense for either side. Yankees and Blue Jays each with five hits and nobody hit the ball out of the ballpark for either side today. So, good to see that the Yankees can win a game where they’re not hitting home runs. Uh, we got some comments here. Uh, Collaborative Filmwork says, “At least it’s good to know that a bad ump can be equally bad for both teams.” Yes, the umpiring was not good today. Mary Beth says, “You got to love Cruz’s emotion. 100%. Cruz was phenomenal. I love how amped he gets on the bench. Just a great great performance from Fernando Cruz. Let’s get to the recap. [Music] So Vulpi was back in there at shortstop and he made an outstanding catch. It was a while ago now. It was over four hours ago. Uh on the first pitch of the game, pop up down the line in the sun. McCann lost it and Vulpi was hustling and battling the sun the whole way and made the play. Power defense. I you know we give this kid a lot of crap and obviously he did not have a great day offensively. He did hit a double, 29th double of the year, but we got to give him some props when he makes a really nice play. And that was a nice play. Uh Yankees jumped out to an early lead in this game. Bottom of the second, Bellinger walked, scored on a base hit from my favorite Martian, Jason Dominguez. Dominguez was one for two with a walk. Sporting a 716 OPS on the season, 255 average, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s higher than Gisham. It’s higher than Rice. It’s higher than Vulpi and Wells and McMahon. I mean, he, you know, he makes contact and that’s one of the reasons that I’m not ready to give up on Jason Dominguez. I think we all expected him to have more power by this point and hoped that he would be, you know, an elite defender, but it hasn’t worked out that way. I think the power potential is there. I think the offensive upside is there, but uh big hit for JD today. Uh, you know, I was glad to hear that, you know, the broadcast acknowledged how good a job he’s done adapting to being a limited player. You know, since Judge got hurt, he has not been getting in there all that often. And it seems like when he does play, you know, he’ll pick up some hits and he gets some big hits. So, nice job by Dominguez. Yankees got another run on a sack fly by Austin Wells. Fantastic play by the right fielder uh to rob it was Barger. He he robbed Wells of potentially a double, you know, maybe another run because Dominguez was running on the pitch. So, nice play. Judge singled and swiped his 10th base of the year. He doesn’t steal as much as he used to. I don’t think he needs to, so it’s always interesting when he goes. I always worry about the toe. You don’t hear much about the toe anymore, but they said that was going to be a chronic condition. So, anyway, uh he almost hit the ball out of the ballpark today, too. He hit one to the warning track that got caught. Just fell a little bit short. And obviously the base knock that ricocheted in a weird way right to the left fielder. So he wasn’t able to take, you know, second base on it, but good sign that he’s hitting the ball hard today. Uh tomorrow, Max Scherzer on the mound. They swapped him with Chris Basset today. I’d be interested to see how Max Scherzer works against Aaron Judge. You know, if he challenges him with the fast, that could be a good matchup. Anyway, um Blue Jays made a bid to tie up the game in the top of the sixth inning. Bellinger absolutely hosed Bette at the plate. Just one of the best throws of the year. Immediately afterward, they put the tarp on for the delay. So, you knew that, you know, Luis Heel’s day was over. He went six innings, allowed one run. We’ll talk more about him in just a minute. Bo Bashette ended up limping off the field. I thought for a minute maybe he like tore his ACL or whatever, but he stayed in the game. So, the the rain delay obviously helped there for him. Uh after the delay, Yankees got back on the board. Walked to Dominguez, double off the wall from Vulpi, and then another RBI from Austin Wells. Good stuff from Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz today. Cruz left a couple of men on base for Bedar in the eighth. Bedar got out of it. Uh definitely got a call from the umpire. You he definitely got he got multiple calls from the umpire, honestly, but he did get three strikeouts. And the Yankees even the series ball game over. Jason [Applause] Got some super chats here. Felix Nunez says, “What a great feeling to have a legitimate closer. David Bednar looks good.” And you know what? I was absolutely terrified that Devin Williams was going to pitch in this game. I don’t know why. I just had this this fear that he was going to be pitching in this game. Uh, you know, Boone has has not shown that he grows from his mistakes. So, Junior Koma says, “Cashman and Hal better resign Gish and Belly.” Definitely Belly. I’ll be interested to see if they bring back Gish, but I definitely want Belly back. Pay that man his money. [Music] Brian Bashman says, “FYI, the bet between Jazz and Judge is now 55 to 53 in favor of Jazz. They were betting on who would have a higher combination of home runs and stolen bases. Maybe that’s why Judge is stealing because he wants to to win that competition and he’s not hitting home runs right now. Um Jared says he didn’t want to see Devin Williams. You and me both, buddy. You and me both. Uh all right, let’s get to the belt today. We got Fernando Cruz. I was going to go with Bedar, but I felt like the umpire helped him out a little bit. And also the energy, you know, that Mary Beth spoke about, I think is, you know, a big deal. Injecting some some life into the bench, getting guys pumped up. That’s a big part of the game and he does that well. So, second belt of the season for Fernando Cruz. He pulls past Oswaldo Cabrera, God, and Anthony Vulpi who are all tied with one. Congratulations. [Music] All right, let’s talk about the starting pitcher, Luis, the real deal heel, who had a great day. If I told you before the game that he was going to have four times as many walks as strikeouts, you probably would have said that he was going to have a terrible day. But he pitched around the walks, you know, he scattered three hits to go along with the four walks. If you scatter the runners and spread them out, you know, maybe you allow some walks with two outs or whatever, you can work out of it. And that’s what he did today. Uh, six innings, three hits, one run, four walks, one strikeout. 3.31 ERA on the season. The whip actually went down a little bit today to 1.54. You’d really like a whip to be for a starting pitcher under one and a quarter. Anything over that, I start to really get nervous, right? Um, really ideally around one, you know, but not everybody can do that. For a guy who walks as many people as Fernando or sorry as Luis Heel does, I’ll take one and a quarter. Uh the ERA though, 3.31. Solid. Solid. Rookie of the year. Nice performance. Stuff was terrific. It’ll take six innings of one-run baseball every single time. [Music] All right. So, the Gauntlet, we are now three and two in the first five games of the Gauntlet. Seven to go. Yankees won two out of three against Houston at Houston. They have split the first two games with Toronto. And tomorrow’s going to be a good game. Tomorrow is going to be fun. We have got Max Freed going up against Max Scherzer. When was the last time two guys named Max faced off? They might have done it earlier this year, but Max Freed and five with a 2.98 erra. Max Scherzer 5-2 with a 4.11 ERA. That game will kick off at 1:35 p.m. That’s one I’m sure a lot of people will be tuning back and forth between football and baseball. Seems like that’s kind of what we did in our house growing up when the Yankees played on Sunday, which is why I would always go off to a separate room and watch the Yankees because I didn’t really care that much about football. When when it was up against the Yankees, I always chose the Yankees and I’m sure a lot of you do, too. And I will tomorrow. So, tune in after the game uh for some postgame reactions. Speaking of postgame reactions, let’s get some voicemails going. Hey Derek, uh just want to say a few words about Fernando Cruz. Uh you know, he’s new to the team this year, but I’m telling you what, he’s the heart and soul of the bullpen. I’m watching the game right now. It’s three to one, top of the eight. The game’s not over, but just his energy to the game, I think, is priceless. And to watch him in there, you know, cheering on his guys, it makes me wonder why the rest of the guys aren’t doing the same thing. I appreciate the comment and I agree 100%. I love the energy. Some guys are just like that. Some guys are like an energy black hole. They suck energy in, you know, and and and and they bring the team down, I think. And some guys just put that energy back out, you know. I don’t I don’t I don’t know if this is like woo woo mysticism or whatever, but I feel like people just naturally have different ways of interacting with sort of the energy and the vibes in the room. Fernando Cruz is one of those guys who lifts everybody up, who gets everybody excited. He puts energy out there. You know, we’ve had some guys in recent years who have the opposite effect. I think Klay Holmes is one of those guys. And you know, Devin Williams might be one of those guys. Just sucks the energy out. Um, look, Fernando Cruz, he’s been vital to this pen. You know, our guy TK, who will be on the show tomorrow, mentioned this when the Yankees traded for him that he has got some of the best strikeout stuff in the sport, and he has not been a disappointment. He has been racking up strikeouts all year. Love watching the guy pitch. Here’s Taber Talk. Hey, uh Derek Taber Talk from the Cast Skills again. Yeah, one other thing I forgot to mention now. Um what a throw by Bellinger in the six. And great play by Wells too to get to get uh Bobette uh there uh to save that run. But uh incredible. I want to know um who do we sign next year? Cody Bellinger and uh and Trent Gisham. You you can’t keep both. So that’s what I’m hearing. That’s very unlikely. It’s probably one or the other. And if you have to choose, I still say you got to go with Bellinger. So Bellinger has been so amazing this year. So solid. He’s so smart. He could play any field. He’s a great fielder, great guy. He’s amazing with two strikes. No one’s better than than he’s just he’s just great. And and again, the Trent Gisham is unbelievable. The 30 home runs and all that 830 OBS. He’s just been absolutely incredible. I wish we could keep both honestly, but I I I wish we could keep both. And I wouldn’t be opposed to Yankees paying for both. That would be I think money well spent. I think Gisham is for real. I mean, if you look at his metrics, and I’ll pull up his statcast metrics here, he has maintained well above average numbers, you know, on all of these baseball soant stats all year long, right? He’s in the 91st percentile of batting run value. The only thing that’s interesting is that his fielding run value is down this year and his base running value is not good. I think part of that is he’s been nursing a leg injury all year and he’s been playing through it. And actually, that’s one of the reasons I like him is because he continues to play through it even though he’s, you know, not feeling his best. We got a lot of guys who if they’re feeling anything in in in the in years past right to the IIL, you know, don’t even show up. But he’s a guy who’s clearly playing through something and still managing to play at a high level. So, nothing but respect for Trent Gisham. Here’s Rick. Hey Derek, it’s Rick in South Carolina. The throw that Bellinger just made to end the sixth inning is a perfect example of why Judge cannot play right field anytime soon. Yeah, that run would have scored and they got to resign Cody Bellinger. The guy just does it all. I agree with signing Bellinger, but you know, you got to have Judge in in the outfield. Every once in a while a run is going to score on Judge. That’s just we’ve got to learn to live with that. you make that sacrifice to get both Judge and Stanton in the game because I mean today it sucked not having Stanton in the game, but he’s as Judge transitions back in the outfield going to be your primary DH. And the way he’s been hitting this year, he’s going to account for a lot more runs in than you lose having Judge in the outfield. Right now, if I’m the Yankees, I’m telling Judge, “Catch everything you can get to. Hit the cut off, man. Don’t hurt yourself. and also buy a first baseman’s glove in the offseason. Uh Brian Bashman says Trent Gisham 2025 is Aaron Hicks 2018. Hicks um he had some good years early on. Yankee signed him to that long contract and he was just never the same. I don’t I don’t know if I agree though. I think whatever Gisham has done has it’s going to stick, right? He’s he’s found it. Some guys are late bloomers. He’s 28 years old. Some guys, it takes a while. But this is a guy who’s a 15th uh overall pick by the Brewers. And the Brewers, as we’ve seen, can scout. They know. So, I mean, he’s he’s a legit player. He’s call about Vulpi. Hey, Derek. Matt here from California. Man, Vulpi is killing me. If you look at his ops right now, um I’m looking at the ops during the uh the delay. Uh his ops is 666. So, that pretty much tells you all you need to know about Vulpi. Uh bummed to see him in the lineup and again leaving runners on. Um they got to do something with this guy. I’m over him. 666. Devilish. I don’t even know if that I mean the game was still going on at that point. Let’s see what he finished with. Uh 669. So slightly better. But overall this year uh Vulpi just not having the numbers that we want. He now he does have 70 RBI’s and 19 home runs. cuz I’d be interested to know how many major league shorts stops at this point have 19 home runs and 70 RBI’s. He’s also got 16 stolen bases. But this is what I’m concerned with. 271 on base percentage. If he was hitting 208 but also walking a ton and had a 330 on base percentage with his speed, you could live with that. But he doesn’t get on base enough to justify. To me, he’s he’s turning into like almost like a Joey Gallow of shortstop, right? decent defender, not great, not as great as he was as a rookie. No arm. Uh, but he has driven in runs. So, I I I I saw someone the other day say, “You can’t turn the page on a 24 year old shortstop.” If I were the GM, I would say, “Watch me.” Here’s Willie. Before I can say anything, Rever gives up a double. But he better not bring in whim through Val or Lighter in the next Willie for manager. Here’s uh here’s Mo. Hey Derek, it’s Mo. Uh so Austin W just got a sack fly and so far he’s now batting 215 with 20 for 20 home runs. It’s 65 RBI’s on that sack plot. 177 OPS and he has really turned it around since like August really in his last 15 he’s batting 280 333 on base percentage with five homers eight RBI he’s been very good and the thing that maybe the Yankees could consider maybe having Rice just be your everyday first base because you have got to get him in the lineup, man. I’ve got to have Wells in this lineup right now. I I’m much more high as a lefty. I’m much more high on on um Rice than I am on Wells. Although, you’re right. Over his last 20 games, Austin Wells hitting 245 with nine RBI’s, 11 runs scored. I do like that he gets sacrificed flies. He’ll drive in runs. He’ll get guys in. I think Rice has a higher upside as a hitter. I think Wells is a better catcher. It’s an interesting conundrum that the Yankees have. I think the Yankees would be better off committing fully to one guy and not, you know, no half measures, Walter. You know what I’m talking about from Breaking Bad. I think I think you got to let one of these guys play full-time and then get a proper backup. Austin Wells, I think, will lose a little bit of value framing wise once ABS comes. And Rice, I don’t think is as good as a catcher as Austin Wells, but I think Rice has a higher upside as an offensive player. you know, he’s already gotten more home runs and, you know, he hits the ball harder, more frequently, doesn’t strike out quite as much, and he’s not as experienced as Austin Wells, right? So, Austin Wells had more of an opportunity. So, um, I I would not be opposed to trading Austin Wells, making Ben Rice your everyday catcher. Uh, but the option exists, you know, if if if Bellinger signs elsewhere, if he opts out and he goes to maybe the Mets, you know, Ben Rice can easily slide in as your first baseman, then you got, you know, first baseman who lefty power. Yankees love that. And then you still got Wells behind the dish. And then maybe bring Gisham back to play center field. You still got Dominguez for left. I think they should sign I think they need to prioritize signing Cody Bellinger because you can either play him at center field or first base. That allows you to kind of plan the rest of your off seasonason. Uh quick word from DraftKings and we’ll be back to wrap it up. Game on. Week one starts now and every touchdown brings you closer to a payout with DraftKings Sportsbook and official sports betting partner of the NFL. This isn’t just football. its first touchdown fireworks. Anytime TD rushes and live bets that ride every momentum shift at DraftKings. Every play is your next shot to win. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code foul. That’s code foul to get $300 in bonus bets instantly when you place your first bet of $5 or more. Plus over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1800 gambler. In New York, call 8778NY or text hopeny at 467-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 8887897777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Bootill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 and over. Agent eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkg.co. So, we got a comment here that I want to uh bring up. Says that Austin Wells is hitting better than Adley Rushman. So, I’m going to go ahead and search for Rushman stats because I haven’t looked at him in a while. Uh, and we’re going to find out how he’s doing this year because when he first came up, he was a monster prospect. And you know what, Brian Bashman, you are absolutely 100% correct. Adley Rushman hitting 227 this year with nine home runs, 29 RBI. So, you know, Wells driving in many more runs. Uh, that’s that’s an interesting stat. I did not realize that, although I knew that, you know, the Orioles young talent hasn’t exactly panned out, but to see that Wells is out playing him. Uh, definitely uh, worth noting. So, hey, that’s why you can’t predict baseball, right? Can’t predict baseball, right, Susan? Uh, we got another call here. It’s about Luis Heel. Hey, Derek. It’s Thomas and I’m just talking about Luis Heels velocity. It’s kind of been all over the place with his fast balls today. Um, he’s thrown like 93 to like 98. I don’t know if that’s just he’s a little fatigued when he pitches. I don’t even know. So, they actually mentioned this on the broadcast last time. He’s purposefully trying to throw not quite as hard on every pitch. maybe to save some strength, but also to dial in his fast ball a little bit. And you know, uh that would uh presumably help him throw more strikes, although that w wasn’t how it worked out today. Got another call here about Ryan McMahon. Yeah, here’s some numbers for Ryan McMahon to back up what I’m saying about how terrible he is. He’s hitting the big 239 since we got him. He’s played 35 games. He’s got three home runs and he’s got 15 freaking RBI’s. That equates to about 15 homers a year and and about 65 to 70 runs batted in in a full year. And you know, you can’t have that as a third baseman. I’m sorry. I appreciate the call, Robert. So, when he was with Colorado, he actually hit 217. So, he’s actually improved on his numbers since coming to the Yankees. From Colorado, 217 batting average with the Yankees 239. On base percentage with Colorado, 314 with the Yankees 341. Now, the OPS is only up a tick from 717 to 726. And the slugging is actually down a little bit. His OPS plus is 103 with New York, 90 with Colorado. He’s already amassed almost as much in 36 games war uh with the Yankees as he did with Colorado. with the Yankees 0.9 war in 36 games. Colorado 1.2 war in a 100 games. So I think he’s actually playing okay and I think there’s a lot more upside there. The Yankees are trying to work out his swing. I think maybe Robert you’re judging him a little bit too soon. To me he looks great on defense. He’s a phenomenal defender and the Yankees got him for nothing. Nothing. You can maybe unlock something as a hitter. He’s got great exit velocity when he makes contact, which unfortunately he doesn’t do enough, but I think there’s something in there and I like what we’ve seen from him so far. So, give him some time, Robert. And one more time, Yankees even the series. [Applause] [Music] Wayne Jay with the final word says McMahon is definitely a step up as a third baseman. He does need to cons continue his offensive ascent. Let’s keep that trend line going upward, baby. Uh we’ll be back after tomorrow’s game. I’ll have TK with me and we’ll recap this series and we’ll be halfway through the gauntlet. Right now, Yankees have won three out of the first five. Tomorrow is the halfway point. And if you can take tomorrow, that would mean you’ve taken each of the first two series, one against Houston, one against Toronto. You would send Toronto out of town just two games back with 21 to play, which quite frankly is doable given the Yankees schedule down a stretch. So fingers crossed. We’ll see you next time. [Applause] 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]

0:00 Intro
2:15 Game Recap, Key Takeaways, & Belt Winner
7:45 Luis Gil Fires 6 Solid Innings
9:00 Gauntler Tracker
10:07 Audience Voicemails
19:40 Draft Kings
20:40 Audience Comments
25:01 Outro

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