Can the New York Yankees Make Another Deep Playoff Run?

Can the New York Yankees Make Another Deep Playoff Run?

didn’t throw a complete game, but man, he had the swing and miss. I’m talking about Max Freed of the New York Yankees, obviously. Went seven innings, Trevor. 13 punches, allowing only three hits, has a 292 erra. We knew how good this guy was when he was with Atlanta, but he is everything that the Yankees could have hoped for. What did you take out of his outing? Uh, he he’s just classic Max Reed. The guy throws every pitch that exists. Um, and he’s a guy who they need to be hot and be hot right now with his him and and Rodone and Heel. Like they need their three guys ready to go one, two, three in in the playoffs. Assuming that it’s a wild card birth, you got to be ready to go right away. So, great timing for that. Um, but but absolutely filthy throwing high 90s again. He is weird. I’ve heard a lot of hitters talk about this in in terms of like how the ball comes out of his hand. Sometimes it’s like it’s spinning like a like a two seamer and it’s a four seam and sometimes it’s like a cutter and he doesn’t even really throw one of those really. So it’s like he so he’s just dip dive and dodging them up there and always has been and then you add the type of stuff the VO behind that. Him striking out 13 guys doesn’t surprise me one bit. I believe that’s his 18th win. So you can’t always say this. Uh I think it’s important. I think we focus on the negative a little bit too much sometimes but you got your money’s worth from signing Max Freed this off seasonason. I’d say that one has worked out so far. I like the uh dodgeball reference. Dip, dive, duck, dodge. The Yankees closed within three games of the Blue Jays, of course, who lost earlier in the day to the Rays we’re talking about yesterday. Um New York’s edge over Houston. Seattle remained at two games from the top AL wild card spot. Two weeks ago, I said the Yankees weren’t making the postseason and now they’re three games ahead in the wild card. Shows you what I know. But let’s talk about Max Freed a little bit more. We talked so much, you guys, deservedly so, of what Aaron Judge does, Eric Kratz, who is your MVP in the American League. You’ve been very strict about that. Um, we talked so much about what he means to the team, but what has Max Freed meant, especially in the absence of Garrick Cole. Luis Heel took a bit to get back. Um, you know, Carlos Rodon has been good this year for the Yankees, but Max Freed, what he’s done, I think means more considering they don’t have Garrick Cole. Uh, for sure. I mean, when you go out to sign when you go out to sign a guy like Max Freed, you’re like, whoa. Can you imagine game one, Garrick Cole, Max Free game two, Carlos Rodon, game three, Luis Heel, game four, like that. They they had dreams of this. Cole goes down. Rodon has stepped up immensely for this team. I think he does better when he’s not in a when he’s in a spotlight like when it’s like his turn to go. He’s he’s taken the next step for me. He’s been down. They’ve had guys like Slitler and and Will Warren step up for him. So, it’s not what they thought the Yankees rotation was going to look like. So, that’s how important the Max Freed signing was. So many teams signed pitchers and the pitchers didn’t work out this year, but they didn’t go for the Max Freed, the Corbin Burns, the trade for Garrick Crochet. They went for like, ah, we’ll just get a one-year deal. Ah, we’ll give this guy a two-year deal, but we see a lot of upside. Yankees said, screw it. Who’s the best pitcher available? He wants a bigger contract than David Price got. We’ll give it to him. They broke that record for lefthanders. Bang. Now they’re getting paying the dividends. And I’m gonna go back to 2009, the last time the Yankees won the World Series. What Max Freed is doing, don’t compare the numbers, just compare how important it is and the fact that it’s the first year that they signed this guy. The Yankees won the World Series. The first year they signed CC Sabathia. He was the best available in the market. The Yankees are in line to make the playoffs, not according to Alana Rizzo, two weeks ago, but they signed Max Free, the best available pitcher, and he is having that type of year that Cece had where the numbers aren’t like, whoa, like a one erra. He’s out there every single day. Now he’s leading the league and wins, which matters. Yeah. Yankees, by the way, only have a twoame lead over Houston and Seattle right now. I apologize. That was my mistake earlier. I said three, but it’s only a twogame lead. Trevor May, did the New York Yankees have enough to get to the World Series and moreover win it? Absolutely. I mean, I they’ve they’ve been a de a deep team. They have, you know, there’s a couple question marks in the bullpen, but some guys have stepped up. Um uh at least the bridge side of things has been uh pretty strong with Fernando Cruz and uh um I know Lighter Jr. struggled a little bit there in the middle, but he has been better as of late. Uh so they have enough depth. They have enough guys that can step up. Uh and it’s one of those lineups like you know a Cody Bellager G, you know, he’s been I think under the radar very good this year. Um they have guys who can take over games and they’re always going to have the threat of the home run and that is just something that if it’s timed right uh can be just devastating in a in a playoff situation. Um we saw it happen last year. they’re they’re for the most part um most of the players are back and guys who experienced it and and had that experience under the belt. So yeah, I it’s one of those things like if the Yankees make the the playoffs there just there is a path forward because they probably have a handful of the best players in the league. They just always do and uh that that remains true. So um it’s all about getting hot at the right time. Uh though I think things have, you know, evened out since that 09 and and that’s why it’s been tough for them, but uh they still make the playoffs every year. So yes, I I’ll never count the Yankees out. Call that uh uh just a little bit of PTSD from the ent for my entire life, but uh they’re always in it and uh they’re always they always have a chance. Spoken like a guy who’s pitched the majority of his career in the American League. any concern about the Yankee bullpen, Trevor May, Eric Kratz. If you take a look at the numbers recently, uh they’re 29th as far as their erra ranking um since August 1st being the worst in the majors, teetering between basically north of five and a half. I think maybe they picked up some dudes that got worn out by their other teams. I mean, because their starting rotation is giving them some length and their bullpen is there’s a lot of new guys with Bednar stepping up. That is huge. I think Luke Weaver may have come back from the IIL too soon. That was during this August 1st stint. and they have nine games to figure out who is going to be the hottest going into into the playoffs for them because that’s who they’re going to ride. There’s no there’s no going to well, you know, let’s let’s find a soft landing spot. Every time I turn on Yes Network, that’s what I hear. Oh, yeah. Aaron Boon’s looking for a soft landing spot here for Devin Williams, for Camila Duval, for who else? Like it’s basically Lighter Jr. and Bednar and Fernando Cruz if he’s throwing strikes. You can’t find a soft landing spot in the playoffs. You need, in my opinion, if you want to win it all, you need four or five guys that you can count on. If you want to hope, you have three guys. And right now, I think they’re right in that three guy. I hope they all do well and we get seven innings from Max Freed. A win on Friday, guys, puts the Bombers 20 games over 500 for the first time this season. So, it’s not like they’re not winning games, but they definitely need to play more fundamentally sound baseball. Obviously, pitch defense, you guys know it better than anybody else having been in this league as long as you have be really quick, Trevor. Um, before we get to break, we’ve had this conversation a lot. It’s been the topic, uh, the topic duour, if you will. Who’s your AL MVP? Judge Raleigh. It’s the boring answer. It’s very likely, Judge. Um I think things needed to happen or still I mean it’s still possible. I think uh if there’s in this last week major heroics from Cal Raleigh that uh in in a Mariner sweep of the Houston Astros to give him the division like if something like that happens or he somehow gets to 60 homers or even crazier, you know, he’s hit multi homers in 10 games this year. If he just rattled three more off and got to close to Judge’s record, I think that story might push him forward, but just the offensive differences are just I he’s just 80 points ahead of him in batting average. I I understand the batting average isn’t our end all beall statistic, but like almost 100 points. That’s just too much in my opinion. Um but you know, we who you never know. There’s something called voter fatigue. Sometimes you just want to see a different option if it’s really close. Uh this has happened a lot in the history of baseball. So, um but I think just in terms of just general straight up most valuable player, I mean it’s just really hard to say it’s not Aaron Judge every single year. So, uh it’s probably he’s probably the front runner if if we’re going objectively on on statistics, but that’s not how humans work. So, we’ll see. I get it. I think I don’t think there’s a wrong answer. I mean, everybody, of course, who wants the other guy is going to say that they made the wrong decision, but I completely understand where you’re coming

Max Fried struck out 13 in seven dominant innings for the New York Yankees Thursday night, proving once again why his free-agent signing has paid off big. Alanna Rizzo, Erik Kratz, and Trevor May break down how Fried has stabilized New York’s rotation in Gerrit Cole’s absence, what his success means for the postseason, and whether the Yankees have enough pitching depth to make a deep run. They also debate the Yankees bullpen concerns and revisit the AL MVP race between Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

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