All right, let's hit the field. Oh, wow, just wanted to talk, that's all. Today is Friday, August 30th. And the Yankees were back in the Bronx. And Marcus Strowman was trying to lead them back into the win column. Only two more days until September baseball. My recap, your reactions coming up next. This is Pinstripe territory. Welcome to the Neil Yossipe territory. Just when they blow me down, they pull me back in. All right, how's it going, everybody? Welcome back. Welcome back. Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone except Jose Altuve. Tonight was the Austin Wells show. Austin Wells, with his first ever multi-home run game in the Major League's fans chanting his name in the eighth inning, big night for the mostachioed one. I want to know from you guys where Austin Wells ranks in your all-time Yankees mustaches, you know? We had Mattingly, we had Thurman Munson, Jambi had a good one for a while, who could forget Goose Gossage, who could forget Thurman Munson. We've had Brett Gardner had a mustache for a while. All-time Yankees mustaches, where does Austin Wells rank? Yankees did exactly explode offensively other than Austin Wells. They were out hit by the Cardinals tonight. I believe the Yankees had six hits. Yeah, they had six hits, and the Cardinals had 10. But the Yankees managed to hold on to a very slim margin for most of that game. We had Cousins and Kaney and Holmes out of the pan after a strong start by Marcus Drowman. And it was the two run home run by Wells in the eighth that finally made that game a little bit breathable. But with as bad as the offense was in general tonight, I just had a feeling like this one could go the other way. So I'm glad the Yankees were able to hold on. Very, very good night for Marcus Drowman. He was solid. He did scatter nine hits. That's more hits than you want to typically allow. But you know, first couple of innings, he was very sharp. He had some trouble in the third. I think he threw 27 pitches in the third inning. And then I don't think he threw that many pitches for the next three. It was like eight pitches, six pitches, eight pitches over the fourth, fifth, sixth inning. Just ridiculously efficient. And it was ground balls. So it was what you want. And even some of the hits were ground balls with eyes. Now they were hit hard, but keeping them all on the ground, which is what you want to see from Marcus Drowman, doesn't typically allow a lot of home runs. Seven very good innings, nine hits, two runs, no walks, five strikeouts, 3.81 ERA on the season. He picks up win number 10. He is now 10 and six. He has made 26 starts, 139 and a third innings, 102 strikeouts, 1.39 whip or walks and hits per innings pitched. So a very solid start to his first season in pinstripes. We'll see how he can finish it. I got to think that he's going to be in the playoff rotation. And I got to think that so far, Cashman and the Yankees view this contract as a W. You know, they had to pivot from Blake Snell, who actually refuted recently that the Yankees offered him 150 million. He said that was BS. So we don't know really what they offered. They might offer him the same contract they gave to Strowman, honestly. But I think you have to call this one a solid first year for Marcus Strowman. Now, let's talk a little bit about Anthony Rizzo. He could be coming back soon. And I still think that the first base situation is unsettled. We had Rice again tonight. He went 0 for three, I believe, yeah, 0 for three. He's hitting 174 with a 625 OPS. We all know DJ Lamehu has not been swinging the bat well. Oswaldo has played some first base, but not a ton. I've been advocating for giving Oswaldo more chances at first base than DJ Lamehu. I think that at this point in his career, Oswaldo is a, you know, he's a player on the climb, right? He's getting better, whereas DJ is getting worse. And Oswaldo is young and fresh, and he's not going to be worn out as much this time of year. Even though DJ did have the first part of the year off, he just looks tired, he looks old. I think Oswaldo of the options we have right now is the best. But we do have Rizzo coming back, and he is a veteran. And there is kind of this unwritten rule in baseball that you don't lose your spot due to an injury, right? And that's usually true. And the Yankees usually observe that rule. And I expect them to do so with Anthony Rizzo. But Rizzo needs to have an extremely short leash as well. You guys may have forgot, or you may be attuned in late this season, but in his previous 31 games before he broke his arm, we were talking about DFAing the guy. He was hitting 171 in those 31 games with one home run and a 227 on base percentage. And this is when he's supposed to be fresh. Now remember, he had a bad year last year. He had all the concussion stuff, got off to a decent start, and then just plummeted. So we'll see what he looks like when he gets back. I want to see the guy hitting balls hard right away, okay? If not, you got to have a short leash. First base, in my opinion, remains a big question mark for the postseason. Will it be Rizzo? Maybe. Will it be DJ Lemayhew? Maybe. I doubt it. Could it be Oswaldo? Could it be Austin Wells who does a great job behind the dish, but you want his bat in there? He hasn't played first base all year, I don't think. So it's just something the Yankees need to consider. You got John Bertie coming back. He could probably play a little bit of first base. He can play corner infield. So it remains one of those up in the air kind of position. So keep an eye on this base. Ben Rice, I think, has played himself into a demotion. You know, we keep talking about the rosters expanding and how they might add some guys. I think you might see one of those things where not only do they add a player or two, but they might also subtract a player or two to get some of these guys back and just kind of send some other guys down. I think Rice might be optioned when Rizzo comes back. I mean, like I said, hitting 174 with a 625 OPS. I like the guy. I think he's got a world of potential, but right now the league has figured him out. So might need to step aside, you know, for a little bit. One guy that could be called up or may not be called up is the Martian before the game. Aaron Boone said that the Yankees were considering calling up Jason Dominguez on Sunday when the rosters expand, but would not commit. You can add two more roster spots. You have to figure one of them is going to be a pitcher. They need another arm for sure. The other one should probably go to an area where you're most in need. And, you know, the outfield still doesn't have a clear lane for Dominguez. Verdugo had been swinging the bat a little bit better lately. They did a feature on Yes Network tonight about how well he's been swinging the bat, and then he went 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. So you don't know how that's going to play out, but you know how I feel. I would put Verdugo right on the bench and just play the Martian over him every single day. The other thing that could be a fit is to give Verdugo the days off against lefties and play Dominguez because he can hit right-handed. And then, you know, match up Dominguez with someone else against righties, right? So, you know, sometimes Stanton will get a day off and you can move judge to DH and put Dominguez in center. You can kind of do that. But one thing I don't want is for this guy to get called up and sit the bench the way that Paraza did, the way that others have, if you call him up, you got a plan. The Yankees absolutely cannot handle this guy the way they did with Anduhar and others. They can't screw this guy's career. He's got too much talent. Sitting him on the bench and only bringing him in, you know, to face some nasty relief pitcher and get one at bat late in the game, you know, is bananas. It's the wrong approach and it will only hurt his development. So, as the Fox Mulder of this particular Alien Fan Club, I urge the Yankees to either give this kid regular at bats in the Major Leagues or just leave him in AAA to develop and go after it next year, opening day. Verdugo, again, 0-3 tonight hitting 2-32, he's in the number nine spot. And as Bernie Williams used to say, once you get down to number nine, you can't go any further. Next spot is the bench. So, Derek Chase's. Martian came up and gave us four strikeouts. He actually struck out three times. He was facing the Probable American League Saw Young Award winner. So, you know, let's cut the kid some slack. But, all right, let's get to the recap. Good night for the Yankees. - All right, let's go, let's get it going. - Oh, by the way, I forgot to go to my sponsor. Let me go to my sponsor real quick, then we'll be back with the... The summer gets super busy and getting back on a good fall workout routine needs to be easy for me. With any time fitness being available anytime, anywhere, they make it easy to work on getting stronger and more confident all within my schedule. It's gotta be easy to make that routine happen and that's why I love anytime fitness. With access to 5,000 plus well-equipped gyms open 24/7, this is not your average gym experience. They also provide personalized coaching support offering the best training, nutrition, and recovery guidance. This includes the anytime fitness app, which generates personalized workout plans or workouts programmed by your coach and tracks your daily progress. Get after it. To claim your free anytime fitness trial pass, visit anytimefitness.com and get yours today. We've also put that link in the description, so check it out for more information and claim that free trial pass at anytimefitness.com. - All right, let's go, let's get going. - Now let's get it going. Sorry, that was me preemptively hitting the wrong button. So appreciate it, check out anytime fitness. Link is in the description. Both teams went quiet early, work quiet early today. Bottom two, John Carlos Stanton with a John Carlos Stanton nuke to center field. Scud guided laser missile, 116.5 off the bat and hit the center field wall. Nice productive at bat by jazz chism to get him over to third base and then Anthony Volpe brought him in with a sack fly. (audience applauds) - Lori Sees says, "Ridugo is allergic to playing well." - Yikes, that's cold, Lori, that's cold. Third inning, cards got to Marcus Strowman. Contact was on the ground, but it was hard for the most part. Cards jumped ahead, two nothing, but after that, he flipped the switch and he settled down. And to his credit, he was excellent going forward. Yankee's bounced right back in the bottom half, walked to labor and then Juan Soto scorched a double into the right field gap to tie the game. Next batter was Aaron Judge. And I'm surprised they even pitched to Aaron Judge in this situation 'cause you had first base open, you had a runner on second base. - He's got a lot of (beep) balls. - But he did pop out. So Austin Wells had to pick him up. Big swing from Austin Wells. (upbeat music) Just over the razor sign, just got over the right field wall. Only his third home running Yankee Stadium this season. And the kid just keeps getting better and better. The swing is beautiful. It's tailor made for this ballpark. You make a mistake down and in and he absolutely tattoos it. Top five, great throw by Juan Soto from right field to nail a runner, trying to take second base. His arm, I think, has been more impressive than I thought. He's been a solid outfielder this year. There was a lot of criticism when we traded for him. People were saying, well, you're getting for somebody who's just offense only. He doesn't play defense. He's gonna be a DH, yada, yada, yada. He's actually been an above average defender this year. And the arm is really, really good. It's better than I thought. I had no idea it was so accurate or that it was so strong. 10th outfield assist of the season tied for the American League lead. Fans were chanting, "Resign Soto." Resign Soto. Have to agree. Strowman was done after seven innings. Like I mentioned, terrific job. Extremely efficient from the fourth inning onward, showing lots of emotion on the mound. You'll love to see it. Love it when this guy gets pumped up. It gets me pumped up, watching TV. He's shouting, he's screaming. I'm shouting, I'm screaming, I'm pumped. And the stadium was pumped tonight. Electric, nice job for Marcus Drowman. Right now he's in my playoff rotation. Him and Garrett Cole and Clark Schmidt are locks for my playoff rotation. Jury is still out on Rodon and Nester. If you're going with a four-man rotation, you need a lefty. One of those guys, Rodon makes more money, but Nester's been more reliable as of late. You know, I don't know if I trust Rodon in a big spot yet. I guess we'll find out. My guess is they'll give that spot to Rodon. He leads the team and wins. He's going to probably have 16, 17 wins when it's all over, but around a four ERA, probably going to be right around the same ERA as Nester, although Nester, I believe is a little bit lower now. So let me know in the chat, in the comments, who is your four-man rotation for the playoffs? You typically don't need five, but at some point you might see the Yankees go with five. In 2009, I loved it when they just basically went with three guys and said, everybody's going on three days rest. It was CC, it was AJ Burnett, and it was Andy Pettit, and that was one of the reasons I loved Joe Girardi. Man had colonies. Got a lot of f*cking balls. Nolan, Aaron Otto, went deep off of Jake Cousins in the eighth, it was a hanging slider. Didn't think it was a bad pitch, it was low, but it probably got too much of the plate, and Aaron Otto snuck it over the left field wall. Bottom eight. Laboratory has led off with a bloop single, fifth hit for the Yankees in the game at that point, and he came around to score. On another big swing by the Moustachio'd one. (crowd cheering) There we go, that boy is home. It is four in it. This one a bomb. Second home run of the night. First career multi-home run game for Austin Wells, moves into sole possession of the second most home runs by a Yankee catcher in their rookie season of all time. Behind Gary Sanchez who had 20, he passes Yogi Barra, who had 11, and that was a big one because it gave the Yankees some padding for Clay Holmes, who usually needs it, but tonight he did not. Yankees take game one, six, three. (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) (upbeat music) Drushing the water on the end. (crowd cheering) (crowd cheering) So I think there's gonna be very little doubt about the belt tonight. Strowman was pretty good, but really it was the swings of Austin Wells that made the difference. Austin Wells, you're a belt winner. (crowd cheering) The Moustachio'd one. (crowd cheering) Snowboarding addicts is bench Trevino and start Wells. Well Wells is pretty much gonna get most of the starts against Rites, and Trevino's gonna get a lot of 'em against lefties. (crowd cheering) Wells doesn't slug very well against lefties. He gets on base against lefties. He gets on base. I need that as a soundbite. He gets on base against lefties, but he doesn't hit for much power. It doesn't have a lot of extra base hits. He might not have any extra base hits against lefties, but Trevino is okay against his average. I think his lower body slugs a little bit higher, and then defensively, roughly they're equal. They're both very good defenders. You know, Wells might be a long-term solution at first base. You wanna save his legs? You wanna get him in the lineup? Look, he's got a swing that is absolutely built for a Yankee Stadium. So let's talk a little bit about it. Ronald Paula says, "I told my dad, Austin Wells, "was hitting 15 home runs when he was at two home runs." And it took him a little bit, 'cause he didn't hit a home run for a long time, so you might have called it. I don't know if he's gonna get to 15, but the way he's swinging the bat right now, he probably will. He's at 12, so he needs three more in the final 27 games, something like that, 28 games. I can't believe there's that few games left. I can't believe we've done that many recaps already this year, that many podcasts. JD says, "All right, handers this weekend, "which means you should see lots of Austin Wells." And then the Yankees play Texas on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I believe they have some lefties, so we'll see how it shakes out. But right now, Austin Wells getting the bulk of the opportunities, at least against righties. Egyptian magician says, "Travina doesn't do anything "against lefties." Let me take a look at his stats. There's this website called statmuse that I go to sometimes, and you can just type in something like Jose Travina versus lefties. And it will pull it up. So Travina has a 185 batting average with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 94 plate appearances against lefties. This is a cool website that you guys got to check out. If you don't use statmuse, it's awesome. So you can do Jose Travina versus lefties. Now let's take a look at Austin Wells versus lefties. Bear with me. Austin Wells, nine for 47. So that's, what is that? 47, let's say nine divided by 47 is 191, who's actually hitting for a higher batting average. No home runs, but he does have four RBIs in 56 plate appearances against lefties. Let's see what Juan Soto is doing for lefties, just for shits and giggles. Juan Soto versus lefties, 'cause Juan Soto crushes lefties. Juan Soto, 276 with 12 home runs against lefties. So he is not fazed at all against lefties. So anyway, anyway, check out statmuse. It's a fun little website where you can just kind of have fun searching for things, the old fashioned Google way, not having to sort through spreadsheets and so forth. All right, let's get some final thoughts here. Yup, so I got two people, hang on, hang on. I forgot to change my format from when Terence was on. There we go, we're back, we're back. Lucas Datora says the Yankees can't hit lefties in general, you're not wrong, you're not wrong. - Absolutely, hey. (audience applauds) - They have definitely struggled against lefties, especially these last few days. What's going on with the Orioles tonight? So let's take a look. Last I saw they were down two, one, they're down or they're up now on the Rockies three to two. So right now the Yankees lead the American league east by two games. If the Orioles lose, it'll be two and a half. If the Orioles win, it'll be one and a half. So Colorado, anything can happen. They're playing in Colorado, which is known for offense. So that game probably will not end three twos already. Six hits for the Orioles, seven for the Rockies through four plus. So hopefully, we'll see. We got a super chat here from Rick Marrero. He says, if Wells and Stan keep hitting like this, they'll have to stop walking judge. Also, this is big if judge never goes into a slump. So judge actually now four straight games without a home run, right? So he's due, he's due. I picked him from the Nostradaric pick a couple times this week and he's let me down both times. But all right, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for watching. We'll be back after the recap tomorrow. Follow on all your favorite podcast platforms, like and subscribe, all that good stuff. Check out Anytime Fitness, link is in the description. Check out foul territory. Check out all the podcasts from the foul territory network. If you're just a baseball fan and not a Yankees fan, we got a bunch of them. We got Dodgers. We've got the Cubs. We've got the Braves and hopefully more to come. So they also do the hot sheet with baseball America. A lot of good stuff. So tune into all that and we'll see you tomorrow. (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) - If you enjoyed this video, please drop a like and give us a subscribe. It helps other Yankees fans find the channel. We're also on all your favorite podcast platforms and social media. Join the community, have some fun. We're here after every game. This is Pinstripe territory. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
