Ken Rosenthal on Blue Jays Taking Control vs Yankees & Aaron Judge’s October Pressure

Ken, let’s get right to the Yankees Blue Jays series and you wrote about Vlatty Jr. Give us a little more context on what you’ve seen from him in the first two games. Well, I’ve seen a pretty electric player, a big home run in game one, got the Blue Jays started and then yesterday the grand slam transformed a five nothing game into a nine nothing game. And he seems to feed off the energy of the crowd. They seem to feed off his energy and that curtain call he took, that was just an electrifying moment. So, he is doing things in this series that really all superstars dream of doing in the postseason and it’s honestly cool to see. Ken, I know we have the sodto shuffle. Do we now have the Vlatty shimmy where he was shimmying in? He was giving the whole in between pitches before he hit that grand slam. Are we going to now see eight, nine year old kids doing the shimmy before they take swings? Well, I’m sure in Canada they’re going to be doing a lot of things like Vlad Jr. and Yeah. I mean, he’s got something going on with that for sure. And it’s just really cool again to see a guy who kind of struggled in September, actually not kind of, struggled in September find himself. And he has said that basically what happened is that the rest from the layoff did him good. And obviously that is a huge part of any player’s situation because of the difficulty of the season and the grind and everything that goes on. So for him to get that break for his body seems to have really made a difference for him. And in his case, okay, it’s working. And you never know if it’s going to be good or bad for a player that 5day layoff or so. What kind of reception do you think Vlad’s going to get? Cuz earlier in his career, and he since stepped back when he was about to hit free agency, he said, “I will never play for the Yankees.” Until it started getting closer to his free agency and he’s like, “Well, Yankees have a lot of money. Maybe I would, but what kind of what kind of ovation do you think he’s going to get from Yankee fans today when they announce the starting lineup? I’m sure that he will be welcomed as all villains in Yankee Stadium are welcomed and he’ll be brewed around. And just to go over the history of that guys, 2022 23 offseason, he gave an interview to a Dominican outlet in which Eric, you’re right, he said he never played for the Yankees. Then during the 23 season, he doubled down, said it was personal. And then in 24, as he was approaching what would have been his free agency, yeah, I’ll play for any team. I talked to a few Blue Jays players about this. They don’t want to talk on the record about it, but they said, “Yeah, he’s got something going with them. He likes playing against the Yankees for whatever reason. Some guys just like playing against the Yankees because it’s a bigger stage and obviously you have more attention on you.” I don’t know that it’s still personal for him. He’s got the 14-year $500 million contract. He’s fine. But at the same time, his numbers against the Yankees, including this postseason, obviously when he’s six for nine with two homers, six RBI’s, they’re pretty outrageous. Ken, let’s go to the another potential Toronto star. What did you see out of Treya Savage? How cool was that? How good was he yesterday against this so-called potent Yankees lineup? I never I’ve never throw the way he does with the action he has. So to watch him, that was amazing. I agree, AJ. And we have seen guys like him with that action. Ian Anderson was one. I’ll give you a more obscure name. Josh Coleman. The guys who went over the top. Quit stealing my names, Ken. Quit stealing my names. I already said that. Okay. Well, I’m sorry, AJ, but that kind of split and the fast ball and the whole package with him, it was incredible. And I don’t know that it’s easy to impress John Smoltz, but John Smoltz was very impressed. and 11 strikeouts in five and a third innings, no hits. And he too is feeding off the energy in Roger Center. Aaron Judge, you had mentioned it and you even wrote about it too. Aaron Judge is 34 as he is playing in this postseason. His numbers are very good, but as a team, they’re on the brink of not playing anymore. What does this series, this game, this next game mean to his legacy in an organization that is all about winning World Series, not making the postseason? Eric, that is what I wrote about today. And it is a question that to me becomes more pressing if they go out, even if they go out in the World Series, they don’t win the World Series because he’s going to be 34 next April. Now granted, can’t take anything away from him. He is still at the peak of his powers. is not in decline, but at some point he will decline or at least start to decline. Won’t be the same player. As you get older, injuries become more frequent and all these things happen. So, as great a player as Aaron Judge is, and let’s face it, he might win the third MVP award in four years, the clock is ticking, and they will only get so many chances with him at this level. Now, his performance this postseason is interesting. He’s hitting and he’s drawing walks. He’s got a couple of walks, but there’s only one extra base hit. It’s a double. And of course, the biggest at bat for him in this postseason was bases loaded, none out, sixth inning against Gossman the other day and he struck out on ball four. Obviously, Aaron Judge is a great player and obviously he is going to continue to do great things in the game, but this is something that yes, is part of his story right now. his own postseason I wouldn’t say failures in this particular case but failure to be what Vladimir Guerrero dreamers being for the Blue Jays and of course the Yankees not being the team that they want to be when they start every season which is a team that wins the World Series. If the Blue Jays can finish it out in the next three games, Bob Bashett’s health, where does that stand in what you’ve been hearing? And are they concerned that maybe even in an ALCS Bobett’s not back? In my opinion, they have to be concerned. And it’s not so much what I’m hearing, but what I’m seeing being by their dugout. He is not walking like a guy who is fully healthy. He’s got a bit of a limp. And to my knowledge, he has not begun running yet. So it doesn’t seem to me that he’s all that close. Now the ALCS starts on Sunday. It’s only Monday today. So there’s time, plenty of time actually before that would begin. But at the same time, what I’m seeing, it doesn’t look like a guy who is close to returning. Now I could be wrong and I’m not a doctor obviously and I have not diagnosed him, but again, what I’m seeing is a guy who’s kind of limping around still a little bit. FT fam, another reason why you should love Arena Club is the grading system. So, you recently pulled a slap pack and then you said, “Hey, it’s not graded. Grade it for me.” They gave you an 8.5 out of 10 on your Auto Whitey Ford card and then they show you all the details of the grading system. It’s very interactive within the app and then you’re done. If you want to sell the card or you want to know what it’s worth, you’ve got it. Yeah. It’s like getting taken to school on cards. And I think that’s the coolest part of it. if you’re young or old, you understand, hey, this is how it gets deciphered all the way through. 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Ken Rosenthal joins Foul Territory to break down the Yankees–Blue Jays ALDS. From Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s grand slam and rookie Trey Yesavage’s dominant start against New York, Ken explains how Toronto has flipped the series behind energy and swagger. He also discusses Aaron Judge’s postseason legacy, what kind of reception Vlad will get at Yankee Stadium, Bo Bichette’s injury timeline, and what it means if Toronto advances.

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12 comments

  4. Look, Aaron Judge does not control the front office, and he is not the general manager. There are a lot of parts needed to create a championship.

    I say this as a Jay's fan. Aaron Judge's legacy is not harmed if they lose this series.

    Roy Halliday never won a world series. Is he to be remembered as a failure?

  5. I'm not so surprised that the Jays are up 2-0. I'm more surprised with how they're doing it… with home runs! And many of them. If the Trajekt machine makes that much of a difference, I expect the Yanks to hit Bieber a little bit tomorrow. Conversely, against another lefty in Rodon, I do expect the Jays to keep doing their contact thing and maybe there will be more homers, as well.

  6. Vlad Jr “shimmying” showed he was feeding off the moment, feeding off the energy of the crowd. His real signature is the heel click while in his home run trot between 2nd and 3rd. And if you’re looking for a Blue Jays comparison of Yesavage’s arm angle I would compare it to Juan Guzman

  7. Watch Vladdy on the pitch before he hit the grand slam. He took it for a strike and nodded his head. The pitcher then threw the exact same pitch and bam he nailed it.

  8. These two boneheads are too negative.. take a job working for the cities sewer system or some other job that a positive personality is not required.

  10. If anyone is curious why Vladdy says it's "personal" about the Yankees: look up the story about the Yankees signing Gary Sheffield and all the drama around the signing. They used Vlad Sr. as leverage, Sheffield thought he was negotiating from a position of power, so Yanks approached Vlad Sr. to scare Sheffield or something like that. Vlad Sr. thought the Yankees were signing him but they were just using him. I forget all the details but you can look up articles from that period, pretty interesting

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