Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
Tim Cable, Hey, everybody, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello? Tim? And Rob Hanson. Good talking to you, Good
talking to you. Guys. We got the World Series. It
starts tomorrow. We're gonna preview it. I'm pumped. You guys
are pumped. Everybody listening is pumped. The Yankees are in
the World Series. Let's talk about Yankees versus Dodgers. Tim,
you remember the last Yankees Dodgers series?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Does it feel like a rivalry series to you?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, in a way no, But in a way yes,
because it's not that far ago that a lot of
fans are around who saw the seventy seven seventy eighty
one series. So for those of us, it is something
(01:05):
that we can pick up as a rivalry.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Now, Rob, you're the same question to you. You and
I are about the same age, right, We're elder millennials.
We're not around in nineteen eighty three. Does this feel
like a rivalry series to you?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
You know, in some ways it does, And I think
MLB is going to want it to be that way
a little bit because it is two of the most
historic franchises, two of the oldest franchises, two of the
biggest markets out there. Dodgers Yankees is not just the
eighty one World Series, not just seventy seven and seventy eight,
but you go back to the sixties, the fifties, the
(01:40):
forties Yankees Dodgers, especially when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.
I mean that was the World Series. You had the
best players, two of the best center fielders playing at
that time. So this series I think has a little
bit of that legacy behind it to give it that
rivalry type feeling, and I think it's going to be
a great boon for baseball.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I mean, I think the to me, the rivalry is
more about like the two big dogs in terms of
like spending in the league right now, like that these are,
you know, maybe the two best organizations in baseball. You're
all told, and that doesn't happen very often. Usually at
least one team that's you know, doesn't really deserve to
be there kind of pushes their way to the World Series.
(02:22):
And this now it's like, you know, the two teams
that started the season thinking they were favorites, the favorites,
they're in the series. They're the biggest markets. To me,
that's the rivalry. I don't know, the history doesn't mean
anything to me at all, Right, Like, I don't I
don't remember that the Dodgers in the National League, you know,
I remember, you know the you know the it's Yankees Mets.
That's a different kind of rivalry. There's a geographic rivelry here.
(02:43):
But you know, these are teams that are three thousand
miles apart. I don't get the sense that they dislike
each other, right there's you know, when they played earlier
this season, they just just kind of playing a fun series.
I'm excited for the World Series. I just don't know.
To me, I'm not into the rivalry thing. But as
you guys are, and I hope hopefully everybody I think
your Rob's Wright's right for and they'll be to sell
it because it's kind of fun and you know, you
(03:05):
can sell the history of the game. But I don't know,
I don't feel the rivalry. I feel the present day
Judge versus Otani, Soto versus Betts heavyweight matchups. We want
to talk a little bit about big picture and kind
of a big picture with our thoughts about the matchup.
So I'll ask you go first this time. So, big picture,
how do you feel about Yankees versus Dodgers as a matchup.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
There are certain things that certain aspects of this matchup
that I think favor the Yankees, and there are certain
things that I'm a little more nervous about. Lineup wise,
you know, the big three of Judge, Soto and Stanton
versus Otani, Bets and Freeman, it's close to a wash.
You know, Judge didn't have a great ALCS or Tony
(03:54):
had a great ALCS. Bets hit really well. Freddie Freeman unfortunately,
has has not been hitting well for virtually for him,
so to hit Crazy and Stanton while maybe the you know,
the batting average wasn't there, Every hit that he had
in that playoff series was impactful, was important. But it's
ahead tied us. Stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And then when you get to the i'll say and
friends portion of the lineup, you know, it's kind of
close there too, Although I give the edge to the
Yankees even despite someone like Tommy Edmund hitting a hitting
hitting a ton and same for Max Munsey because ti
Oscar Hernandez has not been hitting, Will Smith has not
been hitting. But we've got Glaber, we've got Volpi, we've
got Rizzo. They've all been hitting Jazz. I think is
(04:35):
gonna be primed for a big series, So I think
lineup wise, i'd give it to the edge of the Yankees,
but it's close, uh. And then the Yankees got the
edge on I think starting pitching, Yamamoto has been hot
and cold. Same for Walker Buehler, same for Jack Flaherty,
who uh has you know, had a good start, had
(04:56):
a terrible start. Same thing for Bueller, same thing for
Yamamoto and Cole Rodon and Heel I think are the
better starters.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
And I think the Yankees bullpen matches are better against
the Dodgers, and the Dodgers bullpen matches up against the Yankees.
They don't have a ton of lefties in the bullpen,
and the Yankees aren't great against the lefties, so they're
gonnaee a lot of rieties and that's that's gonna be
really nice. But it's gonna be really close. This is
gonna be a really close, uh series, And I would
give it to the Yankees in a squeaker.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Tim you're a big picture.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I agree with with most of what Rob said. I
think they're they're evenly matched. I think it's gonna be competitive.
It could come down to you know, uh, something small
or you know, like a like a fielding era or
a blunder of some kind that could make the difference.
(05:47):
So I think, and I also think there's always the possibility,
you know, of an unsung hero coming up. But I
think it is gonna be a tight series, and I think,
you know, I think the Yankees will win, but I
think it's gonna be a very tightly contested series.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, I agree with you guys on everything you said here.
I've been searching for my take on these teams, my
big picture take on these teams. So I could write
a substack post, and here it is. I think this
is a series where the hitting is basically even. You know,
we can nitpick, and I have some thoughts on kind
of you know, you know, have the big dogs of
both teams match up, but it's not that different. They're
(06:32):
they're pretty similar. And so you look at the rest
of the team, the pitching, and I think that the
the Yankees had the better starting pitching and the Dodgers
have the better bullpen, and so this this series comes
down to the Dodgers bullpen versus the Yankees starting pitching.
And to me, like that that's gonna be the story
of the series. Can the Yankees get to the three
(06:55):
starters that the Dodgers have early, force them to use
their good reals often, and then exploit them when they
run out of pitching? Right? The Yankees, on the other hand,
can their starters put in strong performances so that they
don't have to use tim Meza, so they don't have
to you know, pitch you know, six innings of Luke Weaver? Right?
(07:19):
Do what they you know, they ended up exhausting their
bullpen in the Cleveland Series, and partly because those are
all close games, and in part because their starters went
longer than the other teams but still not super long.
The but if we if we end up in that situation,
the Dodgers are at a disadvantage because the Dodgers are
they just they just don't have the starting pitching. The
(07:40):
Yankees score some runs off of that starting pitching and
force them to keep it close. I think that's the
story of the series, and I think we'll see it
immediately in the first couple of games. Can the Yankees
knock out Jack Flaherty, right? Can they knock out Yao Momoto?
Can they knock those guys out early in the game
and then force all of the Dodgers good relievers to
come in. The Dodgers have a good bullpen. They don't
(08:02):
have Cleveland's bullpen, right. They have Blake Trinan, who's the
best closer on this team. Uh in this in this series,
they have Michael Kopek, who's really good. They might get
Anthony or Vezia back, a really strong lefty, but the
rest of the guys, they're just good guys with the
eras in the threes, productive relievers, and I think the
(08:25):
Yankis can score runs off of those guys. So you've
got to make them throw the guys with the ras
and the ones trying in Kopeck, et cetera. I think
the Yankee showed that if that happens game after game
after game, eventually they're gonna wear down. You're gonna get
enough looks at them, and the Yankees are gonna are
gonna tee off. I don't know. To me, I maybe
(08:46):
i'm writing the script. Does that sound like like the series?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I would agree with that, you know, I think you
have to. I think the bullpen is gonna be an
sort factor for both teams.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, I mean, I agree, and the Yankees bullpen is
vulnerable right like like they don't they they have the
problem on enough arms. We're gonna talk about in Nextra
Cortezu's coming back. But my my kind of thought here
is like in a short series, like the bullpen variant
kind of equals out, Like you can get a killer
performance from Mark Leier or Tim hill In in a
(09:22):
five game in a seven game series and just win
and uh, and they may may not be that talented,
and you can also get home runs off of a
Manuel class a like that. That to me is is
the is like the like the sample is so small
that that the bullpen luck can really isn't all that different.
I think. I think the Dodgers got really lucky in
(09:43):
the in the championship series. The Championship series was all blowouts,
so it was it was Dodgers blow blow out the Mets,
Mets blow out the Dodgers. The Dodgers basically gave up
that game. Dodgers blow out the Mets, Mets bout right
like that. There were there was only one close game
and that was a four run game the entire series,
and so they didn't have to use their good guys.
(10:03):
They were able to avoid them and prevent the Mets
from seeing them too many times, so late in the
series they didn't have that advantage against them. I think
that's just lucky, like they if the Dodgers had scored
the few in not that many runs in the other games,
and the Mets it scored as many runs in those games.
And so there's a lot of like eight eight games
and a lot of one zero games. They're using their
bullpen every game, and then by the time they have
(10:26):
to do that bullpen day, they're worn down and it
really kills them. I think bullpende game four will kill
a team if that bullpen is not well rested. And
so I think the Yankees are in a position to
really punish them for only having three starters.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And I think they're definitely I think they're in a
good position to do something like that. We saw in
the championship series. We saw a lot of guys take
a lot of pitches, you know, Vulpe, Rizzo, Glabor, they
all did a great job working counts, getting hits. Soto
of course is uh, you know, stuff of legend at
(11:03):
this point for for Yankees fans. But they did a
really good job at taking on good starting pitching and
getting to those bullpens. So they are I think they're
in a good mindset, a good focus whatever they've got
going on right now for their strategy and their planning.
As far as their approach to the plate, I think
(11:24):
I think they're in the best position possible to get
to Buela, Flaherty and Yamamoto early, get them out of
the game and then like you said, if that, if
they can do that, and then you've got all those
guys they've had to you know, like like the look
like the Guardians, did they take out a you know,
if if if y'am Mona's got to go after you know,
(11:46):
you know one in the third, one and two thirds
innings and they've got to go to the bullpen for
to get you know, twenty outs, that's gonna be a
lot of guys. You know, uh, that's gonna be a
lot of time that think is gonna see those guys
and by the time they get to that game four
for that bullpen game, like Kopek might start right, he'll
get two wings to start the game. It puts him
(12:08):
in the best position possible. No guarantees, obviously, but it's
the best position possible.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So the Yankees only carried eight relief pitchers in the
Championship Series, which was low. Everyone else carried nine or ten,
and so they're definitely going to be adding one. It
looks like they're going to bring nine, and that's gonna
be Nestor Cortez. He's rehabbing. You know, he threw a bullpen,
he threw a live batting practice or something today or yesterday.
Sounds like he's fine. He's going to make the roster. Fantastic. Quote.
(12:36):
I'd love to hear your reaction to Tim. This is
from Eric Boland, who's at News Day. He said, quote
nest Cortez recovering from a flexer strain, who expects to
be on the World Series ros roster. On the risk
he's taking, perhaps coming back too soon, quote, we weighed
the consequences. But if I ever ring and then a
year off of baseball, then so be it. What do
(12:57):
you think about that?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I'm not thrilled with it, because you know, I think
I think it's great that he has that attitude and desire.
That's good. But I think the Yankees need to exert
a little more common sense about it because if he
comes in and he does blow his arm out and
(13:19):
misses all of next year, you know that that's a
major risk. And what if he does it on his
first pitch? No, but I mean yeah, but I mean
then you lose a whole year or whatever for one pitch.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I feel like he wouldn't He wouldn't be here if
he was that fragile.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
No. But the other thing is, you said they carried
eight pitchers, they really only carried seven because then you
never used Stroman.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's true, Rob, What if let's say Cortez's pitching, what
kind of role is he going to pitch him?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I think it's gonna be one or two things if
if there is no no, I take that back as
I'm thinking, I think he's going to be. I think
he's gonna be a late inning kind of high leverage
situation type of guy with some of the bigger left
handed batters coming up. That's gonna be Tim Hill's lane.
I think it's gonna be Nester's lane as well, if
if Hillton available or they need it a second time
(14:14):
in the same in the same game. Because if he
is that fragile, I wouldn't see him as the guy
that comes in, uh during let's say a game two
is a blow up for the for the Dodgers, and
you know, we're just gonna we just have to eat
up innings. Now it's a lost game. Is ten nothing
in the in the in the fourth and that you know,
it is what it is, right. I don't think you
bringing Nester in that point if he is that fragile.
(14:35):
I think I think that's that's the that's the spot
for for Stroman to come in and kind of eat
up the innings and you know, maybe give the Yankees
a chance to come back in that sort of game.
But I think Nestor comes in for guys like like Otani,
guys like Freeman and any other tough left it that
they have him and Tim Hiller I think have that role.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, if Freeman's playing, we don't know if he's gonna
be playing. There's a there's a lane at the top
of the Dodgers lineup because it's that's Otani. Bets is
a righty, Otani's a lefty. Max Munsey is up there,
Freddy Freeman is up there, and so there's a there's
a real good lane for Cortez and you're gonna need
to get through a lot Cortes's splits against lefties, he
(15:13):
hit lefties hit two oh four to eighty two against him,
so he just killed lefties this year. Right he's teed
off or at least by by twenty twenty four standards
two fifty six, three oh one, five four to fifty nine.
So he really alled a lot of home runs. He
led twenty two home runs to uh to righty's and
only two to lefties and obviously a much smaller sample.
(15:34):
I think this, like, I think this is a real
weapon you could get. But I totally share Tim's concern,
Like I also kind of want him for the future,
and I want his career to go well. Like I
really wonder if he has like a handshake deal with
the Yankees. If I blow my arm out, you give
me the contract I would have gotten if I were healthy,
because like I would hate to see the guy basically
like end his career, you know, in a you know,
(15:57):
trying to pitch in the World Series. That that would
be a little rough, all right. So that's Nestor.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I don't think any other injured players are coming back.
It really is not an injured There's a couple of
Anthony Rizzo is apparently getting quarters on shots every night.
Ian Hamilton is out, he's done. I'm not really sure
what's going on with Clayton better Digital and may who
is not coming back. So it's basically the same roster.
They're going to have to pull someone off the roster,
probably a position player, one of Dominguez or Grisham. We'll
(16:27):
find out who that is probably by the time you're
listening to this. So that's the machinations on this roster.
I want to kind of talk about each of us
to kind of go around the roster, talk about some
individual players who are you know, for the lack of
a better term, X factors, right, so people who you
know could be good, could be bad, and that will
(16:48):
determine what will be play a big part of telling
us where the Yankees are going to end up. So Tim,
I want to start with you, X factor give me
one player who you think could be could be that
kind of hind.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Austin Wells tell me why, because well I think his
his catching ability is going to be a key component,
but I also think hitting if he can if he
gets hot, which he can, and he did have the
one game in the Alcs where he hit the home run,
(17:23):
he could be he could be provide a real boost,
especially if he's batting a little lower in the lineup.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And he's had some rest right laster for another week
he had. He had played five games last week, but
didn't start all of them like he should like unless
he's there might be an injury that's not gonna get
better until the offseason. But if whatever his struggles are
caused by, just like wear and tear, he's you know,
he can't help you. You can't really ask for more
rest than he's gotten at this point. And he did
(17:50):
hit that home run, which was a real solid home
run late in the series against the Guardians. I also
I agree that I think he's looked great on defense.
I think he looked incredible on defense in the championship series.
Rob give me a next factor.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
I'm gonna go with Carlos Rodan. I think if he
can come in and in a game two, you know,
assuming you know, whatever the result is in game one,
I'm going to assume that Cole has has he he
comes ready to play, has a good start, whatever it is.
I think if Rodan can come in as a strong
number two and he had for the most part. If
(18:25):
you take out a kind of an awkward middle part
of the season, he had a very good pitching season.
If that Rodan comes in and gives you six innings,
seven innings, six plus, that's that that really changes the game.
Rest guys in the bullpen, gives them, gives them fewer
looks by the Dodgers for the bullpen, and hands it
(18:45):
off in hopefully a situation where you know we're in
a place to win Game two. I think Rodin's going
to come in and be a really big act factor
in that game too. And then if it goes you know,
further in the series.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, I agree that. I I think I think you
need one or two starting pitching pitchers to actually go
some length. You can't run a seven game series like
a sprint. And if that's redonn in game two, if
that's Cole in game one, I don't think it's Schmid,
I don't think it's Hill. I think that that's what
I think that can win the series for you because
(19:19):
it could just kind of, you know, essentially force uh
the other team to play catch up in terms of
pitching pitching, you know, exhaustion, and that's kind of what
happened with Cleveland, right, Like Radon just kind of just
just won the Cleveland series by going going six right
you went into the seventh. I think like that is
(19:41):
that in game two or game one from Coal. That's
really I think how you win the series.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Mh And and Cleveland definitely played the championship series like
a sprint. They pulled guys super fast. Bibby was the
only you know, and that was game five by that
point he went, they had a start to go, or
even let us start go any length in that series.
You know, if they got that start from Biby maybe
was whatever he pitch, Game two or three or whatever
(20:08):
it was, or game one. If they got that early
on that maybe the series looks different. But they didn't,
and they burned everybody, and by the time you know,
you got to the end, it was it was too little,
too late for them.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And the Dodgers made the decision to basically throw Game
two against the Mets, and I wonder if that was
a I think that was a smart decision in hindsight,
And I wonder if the Yankees think about that too,
if they allow If Rodnand allows four runs in the
first inning. I think you keep them in there and
and you try to score some runs and maybe come back.
But if you don't, you know, Stroman pitches the rest
(20:40):
of the game. Ti Mason pitches some of my vats
and then you you save your bullets for the next game.
You really can't manage every single game like a must win,
because yeah, it just doesn't work. I have I have
my X factor, and it's a weird X factor because
I said the players that you don't really expect to
be the hint lynch Pins, but by expectors, Aaron Judge
(21:03):
like the Yankees and the Dodgers, they are on paper
equal offenses, as they were the two best offenses in
baseball last year against you know, right handed pitching. The
Yankees were a little bit better against lefties. The Dodgers
were a little bit better. The Yanks are facing mostly
righties for the Dodgers, so that's good, but they're still
really good. The Dodgers are really good against everybody. The
Yankees are really good hitters against everybody. And that all
(21:25):
assumes that the best right handed hitter in baseball history
is hitting like them, and judges not hit like that.
In the playoffs, he did a little bit better in
the Championship Series, but he's still batted under two hundred.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
He had a couple of home runs, but really not
a lot else. When Judge was on this season, I mean,
he was hidden singles, he was in doubles, he was
taking a million walks, like all that was just has
just not been present. I think it's a miracle the
Yankees have managed to win two series with Aaron Judge
playing his poor lees. He has because he's so important
to the team. And I think this is I think
that when we're talking about matching up against Otawny and
(21:59):
Betts and Freeman and you know, and that on Tascar, Hernandez,
that whole supporting cast, the Yankees just don't do it
without Aaron Judge. You know, Judge is better than Otani.
Soto and Antani are roughly equal. And so if you're
talking about a big you know, the top four hitters here,
it's Judge, big gap, Otani, Soto, big gap, Bets and
(22:20):
that all of a sudden that you're you're relying on
John Carlo Stanton to be playoff John Carlo if you
don't get something from Aaron Judge. And I think I'd
rather get it from Aaron Judge, right, I'd rather get
it from the best player in baseball. Tim, do you
are you confident about judging the series?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I am because I think, I mean, you can only
hold him down so long. I mean, you know, I
think I think he could have And again, these are
shorter series. That was a it wound up being a
five game series against the Guardians. So I think I
think he could really bounce back. He's had time off.
(22:57):
I think he'll be fresh. I think I think he
could really do well.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Rob How do you feel about Judge?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
You know, I'm I'm cautially optimistic, only because you know,
Judge hadn't hit too much in you know, against ostensibly
weaker teams in the Guardians and in the Royals, and
the Dodgers are like, like you mentioned towards the beginning
of this conversation, the Dodgers are one of the better
(23:27):
franchises in baseball. And my guesses are going to have
a good strategy going in, and if they execute it
against against Judge, you know, he might not break out
as much as as we'd like to. Soto is the
type of guy that the way they swing is whatever
it is. I am not worried about Wanso Doo. Wanso
is gonna hit three something with a four to eighty
(23:49):
on base percentage.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
The last time we saw him play, I bet it
was the home run to win it.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It was, yeah, which is amazing, but I'm afraid of that.
That for Judge, it's you know, yes, I think once,
you know, once they when they walked Soto to get
to Judge, I think after that you saw a little uptick.
But to your point, it wasn't like it was he
was spraying the field. He did get a home off
(24:15):
a Class A, which was nice, but it didn't quite
have the volume. Now maybe, like to Tim's point, it was,
you know, it's a short series. They only played five games.
It's not like he had like another two three, four
games after that, walked to Sodo to compile a bunch
of stuff. But but the Dodgers, you know, like we said,
(24:36):
like they're gonna be tough, all.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Right, I want to go through another round of we
call it X factors. I'm calling it at my my
picks to click. I want to be optimistic. So one
player who, based upon what they've done this postseason so far,
you think is going to have a big series. Who
is going to be the unexpected hero of the series, Tim,
give me one of.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Your picks to click and unexpect hero?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, someone who uh you know again, not Soto, not Stanting,
someone someone that you think could really be the stealth
MVP of the series, the loute, not the least soho
but you know, you know what I mean, Jazz.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Chish because I think he when he came over to
the Yankees, you know, he showed he has a lot
of talent and he can be explosive. He likes a
big stage, he likes attention, he likes the competition, and
he seems like he's really happy being with the Yankees.
(25:38):
So I think, you know, you can't focus on everybody,
and he might not. They might not focus as much
on him, and he could wind up, you know, really
having a great series. Plus the other thing with him
is when he gets on base, he's a tremendous weapon
with the base stealing, so he can bring a lot
(26:01):
of different dimensions.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Rob, who's your pick to click? Uh?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I I'm gonna pick I guess in some sense, Uh,
someone like like your judge picked before. Uh, I'm I'm
gonna pick someone who's who's been doing it, and that's
that's Labor. I think I think he's gonna be a
big factor in this if he continues to become to
be the I'm gonna say say that, like, you know,
(26:27):
the best overall pure leadoff hitter U probably in probably
in this World series at this point because he's ever
since I think, what was it, ever since he got
benched of that one game, you know, back over the summer,
you look at it. Ever since then, he really turned
it around and he got put in that leadoff spot
at the beginning of the game and he you know,
he's he's become fantastic at this point. And so if
(26:49):
he can continue that, I think he's gonna he's gonna
be in situations where I think he's gonna have the
opportunity to to make uh to drive and runs and
and get and get the Yankees offense going.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
So, I think he's one of my X Factor picks.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Incredible, just incredible to watch. I think I talked about
it on the show before before the postseason. I was like,
you know, Soto Torres could like end his Yankee career
as a hero, and I think he's like I think
he's already done it. Like I think even if he
has like an okay series and the Yankees win the
World Series, He's gonna be remembered as like one of
the heroes of this postseason team. I think it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
And he might not. He might not end his Yankees career.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I you know, every game that he gets like a
leadoff hit, that's the first thing I think. I'm like, man,
he might stick around. But that's an offseason conversation. I
have a weird one. I'm gonna pick Jake Cousins. The
Yankees really needed another relief pitcher, and to start the series,
Cousins was very much a question mark. I think he
(27:51):
had pitched like what one inning or one appearance against
the against the Royals, was coming off the weird peck
in injury, and the Yenges just weren't going to him
in big spots until they were forced to. They were
going to Weaver, Holmes and Kinley and Tim Hill, and
after that, Cousins was the next guy, basically the last
(28:11):
guy they had any real trust in, and that you know,
eventually they ran out of you know, ammunition from the
other guys, and so they had to bring Cousins in
Game five to a big spot and he struck out
four guys. If you look at his velocity, it's a
tick below where it was this season. So he was
throwing ninety four and a half to ninety five on
(28:32):
average during the season, and then that night he was
throwing ninety three ninety four right So still good velocity,
but the peck injury had some had dropped his velocity
back when he was suffering from it. During the regular season,
his highest pitch was ninety four point three, so he
still had most of his velocity. Maybe it's just a
(28:53):
little bit cold, but his slider was incredible, Like his
slider was huge and he got the strikeouts on it,
or I think he got a couple of strikeouts on
the fast ball, but he was just throwing crazy sliders
at the Guardians. And if he can do that, if
he can go back to being that player we saw
for like two months leading up to that injury, I
(29:15):
think the bullpen advantage of the Dodgers mostly goes away.
I just I think that the Yankees can kind of
go punch for punch with the Dodgers if they add
that one more really strong right handed reliever, and I
think Cousins is that. Then you add Innestra Cortez in there, hopefully,
you know, you start having a pretty strong bullpen and
a bullpen that can give you a little bit you know,
has a little bit more length than it did kind
(29:37):
of against the Guardians. So Jake Cousins my pick too. Click.
All right, it is that time. It is time for predictions.
I will remind everybody the rule of the Bronx By
podcast is you're not allowed to pick the Yankees to lose.
So I'm gonna ask you, guys to who is going
to win the World Series. I'm gonna ask you in
how many games? And who will be the MVP of
the twenty twenty four World Series. Tim, I want to
(30:00):
ask you first, who is going to win the twenty
twenty four World Series?
Speaker 1 (30:05):
The Yankees in six games and the MVP will be
Austin Wells.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Austin Wells for the MVP. I love it. That's a
fun one. Rob. Who will be who will win the
twenty twenty four World Series?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
I'm going to pick Yankees in seven and I will
pick the World Series MVP to be labor Tourist.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
All Right, everybody, thank you so much for listening. We
will be back probably after Game two with another episode
that we're going to kind of play by year a
little bit. I have a little bit of a weird
travel schedule this week, but my pick to win the
twenty twenty four World Series is the New York Yankees
in seven games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a
hard fought seven games, and your MVP will be none
(30:52):
other than Garrett Cole. Garrett Cole pitches in Game one,
he pitches in Game five, and in Game seven, he
comes out of the bullpen got You appearance and gets
a three inning save to win the World Series for
the New York Yankees. Let's go Yankees. Everybody, thank you
for listening. This has been your Bronx Beat podcast.
Tim Cable, Hey, everybody, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello? Tim? And Rob Hanson. Good talking to you, Good
talking to you. Guys. We got the World Series. It
starts tomorrow. We're gonna preview it. I'm pumped. You guys
are pumped. Everybody listening is pumped. The Yankees are in
the World Series. Let's talk about Yankees versus Dodgers. Tim,
you remember the last Yankees Dodgers series?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Does it feel like a rivalry series to you?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, in a way no, But in a way yes,
because it's not that far ago that a lot of
fans are around who saw the seventy seven seventy eighty
one series. So for those of us, it is something
(01:05):
that we can pick up as a rivalry.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Now, Rob, you're the same question to you. You and
I are about the same age, right, We're elder millennials.
We're not around in nineteen eighty three. Does this feel
like a rivalry series to you?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
You know, in some ways it does, And I think
MLB is going to want it to be that way
a little bit because it is two of the most
historic franchises, two of the oldest franchises, two of the
biggest markets out there. Dodgers Yankees is not just the
eighty one World Series, not just seventy seven and seventy eight,
but you go back to the sixties, the fifties, the
(01:40):
forties Yankees Dodgers, especially when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.
I mean that was the World Series. You had the
best players, two of the best center fielders playing at
that time. So this series I think has a little
bit of that legacy behind it to give it that
rivalry type feeling, and I think it's going to be
a great boon for baseball.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I mean, I think the to me, the rivalry is
more about like the two big dogs in terms of
like spending in the league right now, like that these are,
you know, maybe the two best organizations in baseball. You're
all told, and that doesn't happen very often. Usually at
least one team that's you know, doesn't really deserve to
be there kind of pushes their way to the World Series.
(02:22):
And this now it's like, you know, the two teams
that started the season thinking they were favorites, the favorites,
they're in the series. They're the biggest markets. To me,
that's the rivalry. I don't know, the history doesn't mean
anything to me at all, Right, Like, I don't I
don't remember that the Dodgers in the National League, you know,
I remember, you know the you know the it's Yankees Mets.
That's a different kind of rivalry. There's a geographic rivelry here.
(02:43):
But you know, these are teams that are three thousand
miles apart. I don't get the sense that they dislike
each other, right there's you know, when they played earlier
this season, they just just kind of playing a fun series.
I'm excited for the World Series. I just don't know.
To me, I'm not into the rivalry thing. But as
you guys are, and I hope hopefully everybody I think
your Rob's Wright's right for and they'll be to sell
it because it's kind of fun and you know, you
(03:05):
can sell the history of the game. But I don't know,
I don't feel the rivalry. I feel the present day
Judge versus Otani, Soto versus Betts heavyweight matchups. We want
to talk a little bit about big picture and kind
of a big picture with our thoughts about the matchup.
So I'll ask you go first this time. So, big picture,
how do you feel about Yankees versus Dodgers as a matchup.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
There are certain things that certain aspects of this matchup
that I think favor the Yankees, and there are certain
things that I'm a little more nervous about. Lineup wise,
you know, the big three of Judge, Soto and Stanton
versus Otani, Bets and Freeman, it's close to a wash.
You know, Judge didn't have a great ALCS or Tony
(03:54):
had a great ALCS. Bets hit really well. Freddie Freeman unfortunately,
has has not been hitting well for virtually for him,
so to hit Crazy and Stanton while maybe the you know,
the batting average wasn't there, Every hit that he had
in that playoff series was impactful, was important. But it's
ahead tied us. Stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
And then when you get to the i'll say and
friends portion of the lineup, you know, it's kind of
close there too, Although I give the edge to the
Yankees even despite someone like Tommy Edmund hitting a hitting
hitting a ton and same for Max Munsey because ti
Oscar Hernandez has not been hitting, Will Smith has not
been hitting. But we've got Glaber, we've got Volpi, we've
got Rizzo. They've all been hitting Jazz. I think is
(04:35):
gonna be primed for a big series, So I think
lineup wise, i'd give it to the edge of the Yankees,
but it's close, uh. And then the Yankees got the
edge on I think starting pitching, Yamamoto has been hot
and cold. Same for Walker Buehler, same for Jack Flaherty,
who uh has you know, had a good start, had
(04:56):
a terrible start. Same thing for Bueller, same thing for
Yamamoto and Cole Rodon and Heel I think are the
better starters.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
And I think the Yankees bullpen matches are better against
the Dodgers, and the Dodgers bullpen matches up against the Yankees.
They don't have a ton of lefties in the bullpen,
and the Yankees aren't great against the lefties, so they're
gonnaee a lot of rieties and that's that's gonna be
really nice. But it's gonna be really close. This is
gonna be a really close, uh series, And I would
give it to the Yankees in a squeaker.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Tim you're a big picture.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I agree with with most of what Rob said. I
think they're they're evenly matched. I think it's gonna be competitive.
It could come down to you know, uh, something small
or you know, like a like a fielding era or
a blunder of some kind that could make the difference.
(05:47):
So I think, and I also think there's always the possibility,
you know, of an unsung hero coming up. But I
think it is gonna be a tight series, and I think,
you know, I think the Yankees will win, but I
think it's gonna be a very tightly contested series.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, I agree with you guys on everything you said here.
I've been searching for my take on these teams, my
big picture take on these teams. So I could write
a substack post, and here it is. I think this
is a series where the hitting is basically even. You know,
we can nitpick, and I have some thoughts on kind
of you know, you know, have the big dogs of
both teams match up, but it's not that different. They're
(06:32):
they're pretty similar. And so you look at the rest
of the team, the pitching, and I think that the
the Yankees had the better starting pitching and the Dodgers
have the better bullpen, and so this this series comes
down to the Dodgers bullpen versus the Yankees starting pitching.
And to me, like that that's gonna be the story
of the series. Can the Yankees get to the three
(06:55):
starters that the Dodgers have early, force them to use
their good reals often, and then exploit them when they
run out of pitching? Right? The Yankees, on the other hand,
can their starters put in strong performances so that they
don't have to use tim Meza, so they don't have
to you know, pitch you know, six innings of Luke Weaver? Right?
(07:19):
Do what they you know, they ended up exhausting their
bullpen in the Cleveland Series, and partly because those are
all close games, and in part because their starters went
longer than the other teams but still not super long.
The but if we if we end up in that situation,
the Dodgers are at a disadvantage because the Dodgers are
they just they just don't have the starting pitching. The
(07:40):
Yankees score some runs off of that starting pitching and
force them to keep it close. I think that's the
story of the series, and I think we'll see it
immediately in the first couple of games. Can the Yankees
knock out Jack Flaherty, right? Can they knock out Yao Momoto?
Can they knock those guys out early in the game
and then force all of the Dodgers good relievers to
come in. The Dodgers have a good bullpen. They don't
(08:02):
have Cleveland's bullpen, right. They have Blake Trinan, who's the
best closer on this team. Uh in this in this series,
they have Michael Kopek, who's really good. They might get
Anthony or Vezia back, a really strong lefty, but the
rest of the guys, they're just good guys with the
eras in the threes, productive relievers, and I think the
(08:25):
Yankis can score runs off of those guys. So you've
got to make them throw the guys with the ras
and the ones trying in Kopeck, et cetera. I think
the Yankee showed that if that happens game after game
after game, eventually they're gonna wear down. You're gonna get
enough looks at them, and the Yankees are gonna are
gonna tee off. I don't know. To me, I maybe
(08:46):
i'm writing the script. Does that sound like like the series?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I would agree with that, you know, I think you
have to. I think the bullpen is gonna be an
sort factor for both teams.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, I mean, I agree, and the Yankees bullpen is
vulnerable right like like they don't they they have the
problem on enough arms. We're gonna talk about in Nextra
Cortezu's coming back. But my my kind of thought here
is like in a short series, like the bullpen variant
kind of equals out, Like you can get a killer
performance from Mark Leier or Tim hill In in a
(09:22):
five game in a seven game series and just win
and uh, and they may may not be that talented,
and you can also get home runs off of a
Manuel class a like that. That to me is is
the is like the like the sample is so small
that that the bullpen luck can really isn't all that different.
I think. I think the Dodgers got really lucky in
(09:43):
the in the championship series. The Championship series was all blowouts,
so it was it was Dodgers blow blow out the Mets,
Mets blow out the Dodgers. The Dodgers basically gave up
that game. Dodgers blow out the Mets, Mets bout right
like that. There were there was only one close game
and that was a four run game the entire series,
and so they didn't have to use their good guys.
(10:03):
They were able to avoid them and prevent the Mets
from seeing them too many times, so late in the
series they didn't have that advantage against them. I think
that's just lucky, like they if the Dodgers had scored
the few in not that many runs in the other games,
and the Mets it scored as many runs in those games.
And so there's a lot of like eight eight games
and a lot of one zero games. They're using their
bullpen every game, and then by the time they have
(10:26):
to do that bullpen day, they're worn down and it
really kills them. I think bullpende game four will kill
a team if that bullpen is not well rested. And
so I think the Yankees are in a position to
really punish them for only having three starters.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And I think they're definitely I think they're in a
good position to do something like that. We saw in
the championship series. We saw a lot of guys take
a lot of pitches, you know, Vulpe, Rizzo, Glabor, they
all did a great job working counts, getting hits. Soto
of course is uh, you know, stuff of legend at
(11:03):
this point for for Yankees fans. But they did a
really good job at taking on good starting pitching and
getting to those bullpens. So they are I think they're
in a good mindset, a good focus whatever they've got
going on right now for their strategy and their planning.
As far as their approach to the plate, I think
(11:24):
I think they're in the best position possible to get
to Buela, Flaherty and Yamamoto early, get them out of
the game and then like you said, if that, if
they can do that, and then you've got all those
guys they've had to you know, like like the look
like the Guardians, did they take out a you know,
if if if y'am Mona's got to go after you know,
(11:46):
you know one in the third, one and two thirds
innings and they've got to go to the bullpen for
to get you know, twenty outs, that's gonna be a
lot of guys. You know, uh, that's gonna be a
lot of time that think is gonna see those guys
and by the time they get to that game four
for that bullpen game, like Kopek might start right, he'll
get two wings to start the game. It puts him
(12:08):
in the best position possible. No guarantees, obviously, but it's
the best position possible.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
So the Yankees only carried eight relief pitchers in the
Championship Series, which was low. Everyone else carried nine or ten,
and so they're definitely going to be adding one. It
looks like they're going to bring nine, and that's gonna
be Nestor Cortez. He's rehabbing. You know, he threw a bullpen,
he threw a live batting practice or something today or yesterday.
Sounds like he's fine. He's going to make the roster. Fantastic. Quote.
(12:36):
I'd love to hear your reaction to Tim. This is
from Eric Boland, who's at News Day. He said, quote
nest Cortez recovering from a flexer strain, who expects to
be on the World Series ros roster. On the risk
he's taking, perhaps coming back too soon, quote, we weighed
the consequences. But if I ever ring and then a
year off of baseball, then so be it. What do
(12:57):
you think about that?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I'm not thrilled with it, because you know, I think
I think it's great that he has that attitude and desire.
That's good. But I think the Yankees need to exert
a little more common sense about it because if he
comes in and he does blow his arm out and
(13:19):
misses all of next year, you know that that's a
major risk. And what if he does it on his
first pitch? No, but I mean yeah, but I mean
then you lose a whole year or whatever for one pitch.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I feel like he wouldn't He wouldn't be here if
he was that fragile.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
No. But the other thing is, you said they carried
eight pitchers, they really only carried seven because then you
never used Stroman.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's true, Rob, What if let's say Cortez's pitching, what
kind of role is he going to pitch him?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I think it's gonna be one or two things if
if there is no no, I take that back as
I'm thinking, I think he's going to be. I think
he's gonna be a late inning kind of high leverage
situation type of guy with some of the bigger left
handed batters coming up. That's gonna be Tim Hill's lane.
I think it's gonna be Nester's lane as well, if
if Hillton available or they need it a second time
(14:14):
in the same in the same game. Because if he
is that fragile, I wouldn't see him as the guy
that comes in, uh during let's say a game two
is a blow up for the for the Dodgers, and
you know, we're just gonna we just have to eat
up innings. Now it's a lost game. Is ten nothing
in the in the in the fourth and that you know,
it is what it is, right. I don't think you
bringing Nester in that point if he is that fragile.
(14:35):
I think I think that's that's the that's the spot
for for Stroman to come in and kind of eat
up the innings and you know, maybe give the Yankees
a chance to come back in that sort of game.
But I think Nestor comes in for guys like like Otani,
guys like Freeman and any other tough left it that
they have him and Tim Hiller I think have that role.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, if Freeman's playing, we don't know if he's gonna
be playing. There's a there's a lane at the top
of the Dodgers lineup because it's that's Otani. Bets is
a righty, Otani's a lefty. Max Munsey is up there,
Freddy Freeman is up there, and so there's a there's
a real good lane for Cortez and you're gonna need
to get through a lot Cortes's splits against lefties, he
(15:13):
hit lefties hit two oh four to eighty two against him,
so he just killed lefties this year. Right he's teed
off or at least by by twenty twenty four standards
two fifty six, three oh one, five four to fifty nine.
So he really alled a lot of home runs. He
led twenty two home runs to uh to righty's and
only two to lefties and obviously a much smaller sample.
(15:34):
I think this, like, I think this is a real
weapon you could get. But I totally share Tim's concern,
Like I also kind of want him for the future,
and I want his career to go well. Like I
really wonder if he has like a handshake deal with
the Yankees. If I blow my arm out, you give
me the contract I would have gotten if I were healthy,
because like I would hate to see the guy basically
like end his career, you know, in a you know,
(15:57):
trying to pitch in the World Series. That that would
be a little rough, all right. So that's Nestor.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I don't think any other injured players are coming back.
It really is not an injured There's a couple of
Anthony Rizzo is apparently getting quarters on shots every night.
Ian Hamilton is out, he's done. I'm not really sure
what's going on with Clayton better Digital and may who
is not coming back. So it's basically the same roster.
They're going to have to pull someone off the roster,
probably a position player, one of Dominguez or Grisham. We'll
(16:27):
find out who that is probably by the time you're
listening to this. So that's the machinations on this roster.
I want to kind of talk about each of us
to kind of go around the roster, talk about some
individual players who are you know, for the lack of
a better term, X factors, right, so people who you
know could be good, could be bad, and that will
(16:48):
determine what will be play a big part of telling
us where the Yankees are going to end up. So Tim,
I want to start with you, X factor give me
one player who you think could be could be that
kind of hind.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Austin Wells tell me why, because well I think his
his catching ability is going to be a key component,
but I also think hitting if he can if he
gets hot, which he can, and he did have the
one game in the Alcs where he hit the home run,
(17:23):
he could be he could be provide a real boost,
especially if he's batting a little lower in the lineup.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
And he's had some rest right laster for another week
he had. He had played five games last week, but
didn't start all of them like he should like unless
he's there might be an injury that's not gonna get
better until the offseason. But if whatever his struggles are
caused by, just like wear and tear, he's you know,
he can't help you. You can't really ask for more
rest than he's gotten at this point. And he did
(17:50):
hit that home run, which was a real solid home
run late in the series against the Guardians. I also
I agree that I think he's looked great on defense.
I think he looked incredible on defense in the championship series.
Rob give me a next factor.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
I'm gonna go with Carlos Rodan. I think if he
can come in and in a game two, you know,
assuming you know, whatever the result is in game one,
I'm going to assume that Cole has has he he
comes ready to play, has a good start, whatever it is.
I think if Rodan can come in as a strong
number two and he had for the most part. If
(18:25):
you take out a kind of an awkward middle part
of the season, he had a very good pitching season.
If that Rodan comes in and gives you six innings,
seven innings, six plus, that's that that really changes the game.
Rest guys in the bullpen, gives them, gives them fewer
looks by the Dodgers for the bullpen, and hands it
(18:45):
off in hopefully a situation where you know we're in
a place to win Game two. I think Rodin's going
to come in and be a really big act factor
in that game too. And then if it goes you know,
further in the series.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, I agree that. I I think I think you
need one or two starting pitching pitchers to actually go
some length. You can't run a seven game series like
a sprint. And if that's redonn in game two, if
that's Cole in game one, I don't think it's Schmid,
I don't think it's Hill. I think that that's what
I think that can win the series for you because
(19:19):
it could just kind of, you know, essentially force uh
the other team to play catch up in terms of
pitching pitching, you know, exhaustion, and that's kind of what
happened with Cleveland, right, Like Radon just kind of just
just won the Cleveland series by going going six right
you went into the seventh. I think like that is
(19:41):
that in game two or game one from Coal. That's
really I think how you win the series.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Mh And and Cleveland definitely played the championship series like
a sprint. They pulled guys super fast. Bibby was the
only you know, and that was game five by that
point he went, they had a start to go, or
even let us start go any length in that series.
You know, if they got that start from Biby maybe
was whatever he pitch, Game two or three or whatever
(20:08):
it was, or game one. If they got that early
on that maybe the series looks different. But they didn't,
and they burned everybody, and by the time you know,
you got to the end, it was it was too little,
too late for them.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And the Dodgers made the decision to basically throw Game
two against the Mets, and I wonder if that was
a I think that was a smart decision in hindsight,
And I wonder if the Yankees think about that too,
if they allow If Rodnand allows four runs in the
first inning. I think you keep them in there and
and you try to score some runs and maybe come back.
But if you don't, you know, Stroman pitches the rest
(20:40):
of the game. Ti Mason pitches some of my vats
and then you you save your bullets for the next game.
You really can't manage every single game like a must win,
because yeah, it just doesn't work. I have I have
my X factor, and it's a weird X factor because
I said the players that you don't really expect to
be the hint lynch Pins, but by expectors, Aaron Judge
(21:03):
like the Yankees and the Dodgers, they are on paper
equal offenses, as they were the two best offenses in
baseball last year against you know, right handed pitching. The
Yankees were a little bit better against lefties. The Dodgers
were a little bit better. The Yanks are facing mostly
righties for the Dodgers, so that's good, but they're still
really good. The Dodgers are really good against everybody. The
Yankees are really good hitters against everybody. And that all
(21:25):
assumes that the best right handed hitter in baseball history
is hitting like them, and judges not hit like that.
In the playoffs, he did a little bit better in
the Championship Series, but he's still batted under two hundred.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
He had a couple of home runs, but really not
a lot else. When Judge was on this season, I mean,
he was hidden singles, he was in doubles, he was
taking a million walks, like all that was just has
just not been present. I think it's a miracle the
Yankees have managed to win two series with Aaron Judge
playing his poor lees. He has because he's so important
to the team. And I think this is I think
that when we're talking about matching up against Otawny and
(21:59):
Betts and Freeman and you know, and that on Tascar, Hernandez,
that whole supporting cast, the Yankees just don't do it
without Aaron Judge. You know, Judge is better than Otani.
Soto and Antani are roughly equal. And so if you're
talking about a big you know, the top four hitters here,
it's Judge, big gap, Otani, Soto, big gap, Bets and
(22:20):
that all of a sudden that you're you're relying on
John Carlo Stanton to be playoff John Carlo if you
don't get something from Aaron Judge. And I think I'd
rather get it from Aaron Judge, right, I'd rather get
it from the best player in baseball. Tim, do you
are you confident about judging the series?
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I am because I think, I mean, you can only
hold him down so long. I mean, you know, I
think I think he could have And again, these are
shorter series. That was a it wound up being a
five game series against the Guardians. So I think I
think he could really bounce back. He's had time off.
(22:57):
I think he'll be fresh. I think I think he
could really do well.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Rob How do you feel about Judge?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
You know, I'm I'm cautially optimistic, only because you know,
Judge hadn't hit too much in you know, against ostensibly
weaker teams in the Guardians and in the Royals, and
the Dodgers are like, like you mentioned towards the beginning
of this conversation, the Dodgers are one of the better
(23:27):
franchises in baseball. And my guesses are going to have
a good strategy going in, and if they execute it
against against Judge, you know, he might not break out
as much as as we'd like to. Soto is the
type of guy that the way they swing is whatever
it is. I am not worried about Wanso Doo. Wanso
is gonna hit three something with a four to eighty
(23:49):
on base percentage.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
The last time we saw him play, I bet it
was the home run to win it.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It was, yeah, which is amazing, but I'm afraid of that.
That for Judge, it's you know, yes, I think once,
you know, once they when they walked Soto to get
to Judge, I think after that you saw a little uptick.
But to your point, it wasn't like it was he
was spraying the field. He did get a home off
(24:15):
a Class A, which was nice, but it didn't quite
have the volume. Now maybe, like to Tim's point, it was,
you know, it's a short series. They only played five games.
It's not like he had like another two three, four
games after that, walked to Sodo to compile a bunch
of stuff. But but the Dodgers, you know, like we said,
(24:36):
like they're gonna be tough, all.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Right, I want to go through another round of we
call it X factors. I'm calling it at my my
picks to click. I want to be optimistic. So one
player who, based upon what they've done this postseason so far,
you think is going to have a big series. Who
is going to be the unexpected hero of the series, Tim,
give me one of.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Your picks to click and unexpect hero?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, someone who uh you know again, not Soto, not Stanting,
someone someone that you think could really be the stealth
MVP of the series, the loute, not the least soho
but you know, you know what I mean, Jazz.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Chish because I think he when he came over to
the Yankees, you know, he showed he has a lot
of talent and he can be explosive. He likes a
big stage, he likes attention, he likes the competition, and
he seems like he's really happy being with the Yankees.
(25:38):
So I think, you know, you can't focus on everybody,
and he might not. They might not focus as much
on him, and he could wind up, you know, really
having a great series. Plus the other thing with him
is when he gets on base, he's a tremendous weapon
with the base stealing, so he can bring a lot
(26:01):
of different dimensions.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Rob, who's your pick to click? Uh?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I I'm gonna pick I guess in some sense, Uh,
someone like like your judge picked before. Uh, I'm I'm
gonna pick someone who's who's been doing it, and that's
that's Labor. I think I think he's gonna be a
big factor in this if he continues to become to
be the I'm gonna say say that, like, you know,
(26:27):
the best overall pure leadoff hitter U probably in probably
in this World series at this point because he's ever
since I think, what was it, ever since he got
benched of that one game, you know, back over the summer,
you look at it. Ever since then, he really turned
it around and he got put in that leadoff spot
at the beginning of the game and he you know,
he's he's become fantastic at this point. And so if
(26:49):
he can continue that, I think he's gonna he's gonna
be in situations where I think he's gonna have the
opportunity to to make uh to drive and runs and
and get and get the Yankees offense going.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
So, I think he's one of my X Factor picks.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Incredible, just incredible to watch. I think I talked about
it on the show before before the postseason. I was like,
you know, Soto Torres could like end his Yankee career
as a hero, and I think he's like I think
he's already done it. Like I think even if he
has like an okay series and the Yankees win the
World Series, He's gonna be remembered as like one of
the heroes of this postseason team. I think it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
And he might not. He might not end his Yankees career.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I you know, every game that he gets like a
leadoff hit, that's the first thing I think. I'm like, man,
he might stick around. But that's an offseason conversation. I
have a weird one. I'm gonna pick Jake Cousins. The
Yankees really needed another relief pitcher, and to start the series,
Cousins was very much a question mark. I think he
(27:51):
had pitched like what one inning or one appearance against
the against the Royals, was coming off the weird peck
in injury, and the Yenges just weren't going to him
in big spots until they were forced to. They were
going to Weaver, Holmes and Kinley and Tim Hill, and
after that, Cousins was the next guy, basically the last
(28:11):
guy they had any real trust in, and that you know,
eventually they ran out of you know, ammunition from the
other guys, and so they had to bring Cousins in
Game five to a big spot and he struck out
four guys. If you look at his velocity, it's a
tick below where it was this season. So he was
throwing ninety four and a half to ninety five on
(28:32):
average during the season, and then that night he was
throwing ninety three ninety four right So still good velocity,
but the peck injury had some had dropped his velocity
back when he was suffering from it. During the regular season,
his highest pitch was ninety four point three, so he
still had most of his velocity. Maybe it's just a
(28:53):
little bit cold, but his slider was incredible, Like his
slider was huge and he got the strikeouts on it,
or I think he got a couple of strikeouts on
the fast ball, but he was just throwing crazy sliders
at the Guardians. And if he can do that, if
he can go back to being that player we saw
for like two months leading up to that injury, I
(29:15):
think the bullpen advantage of the Dodgers mostly goes away.
I just I think that the Yankees can kind of
go punch for punch with the Dodgers if they add
that one more really strong right handed reliever, and I
think Cousins is that. Then you add Innestra Cortez in there, hopefully,
you know, you start having a pretty strong bullpen and
a bullpen that can give you a little bit you know,
has a little bit more length than it did kind
(29:37):
of against the Guardians. So Jake Cousins my pick too. Click.
All right, it is that time. It is time for predictions.
I will remind everybody the rule of the Bronx By
podcast is you're not allowed to pick the Yankees to lose.
So I'm gonna ask you, guys to who is going
to win the World Series. I'm gonna ask you in
how many games? And who will be the MVP of
the twenty twenty four World Series. Tim, I want to
(30:00):
ask you first, who is going to win the twenty
twenty four World Series?
Speaker 1 (30:05):
The Yankees in six games and the MVP will be
Austin Wells.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Austin Wells for the MVP. I love it. That's a
fun one. Rob. Who will be who will win the
twenty twenty four World Series?
Speaker 3 (30:18):
I'm going to pick Yankees in seven and I will
pick the World Series MVP to be labor Tourist.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
All Right, everybody, thank you so much for listening. We
will be back probably after Game two with another episode
that we're going to kind of play by year a
little bit. I have a little bit of a weird
travel schedule this week, but my pick to win the
twenty twenty four World Series is the New York Yankees
in seven games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a
hard fought seven games, and your MVP will be none
(30:52):
other than Garrett Cole. Garrett Cole pitches in Game one,
he pitches in Game five, and in Game seven, he
comes out of the bullpen got You appearance and gets
a three inning save to win the World Series for
the New York Yankees. Let's go Yankees. Everybody, thank you
for listening. This has been your Bronx Beat podcast.
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