Hour 1: Bobby Skinner

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Michael Kay (0:35)

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Jake Asman (0:41)

No Michael Kay. Oh yeah, no Michael Kay. Jake Asman in for the Kaysters. We take you till 3 o'clock here on a Tuesday, as Michael loves to give the date, Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026 Appreciate everyone who's tuned in to the show, whether you're watching on the Espn New York YouTube channel brought to you by the Parisman firm, or you're listening on the radio or the Espn New York app. We certainly have a ton to discuss. The Yankees about to play a double header today. And we will start with the Yankees. Obviously, there's some huge news with the Giants to react to following the Monday night loss to the Rams last night, the latest on dart and everything. But we'll start with the Yankees because here's the reality for the New York Yankees. There's going to be no Aaron Judge for at least the wild card round. And I think it's one of those things where if you see Aaron Judge again this year, I'd be somewhat surprised to be totally honest. Not trying to be an alarmist or a doomsday person, but let's think about what we know about the injury. So Aaron Boone said before the game today that Judge has a quote, moderate grade strain. And he's not expected to be available for the wild card series, aka he's not playing in the wild card series, which would start a week from today. You typically look at how long it takes calf injuries on a best case scenario, if it's like a low grade injury. And we don't know the grade because the Yankees are hiding the grade, which tells you if it was a low grade injury, they tell you that. So just using context clues here, I think it's fair to say we will not see Aaron Judge until maybe the American League Championship Series at the earliest. I think the Yankees have to just look at it like we're not getting him back and don't get the idea of, oh, we're going to get him back and it's okay. Like move on. As crazy as that is to say without an all-time great player, even if they did get him back, is he going to be able to play right field even at Yankee Stadium? Probably not. So he's only going to be a DH, which is going to weaken your lineup because, yes, you're going to have to play Aaron Judge. He's Aaron Judge, but that means who sits? Luis Garcia, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt. You're not going to be able to put your best lineup out there if you were able to play Aaron Judge in right field as a normal player. And outside of the one home run, Judge, hey, it was clear, he was still trying to get his timing back when he came back from the rib injury. So the idea that Aaron Judge is just going to be Aaron Judge, even if he had magically were to be healthy, let's say for the divisional round or even the ALCS, I can't buy into that. But I'm not going to give the Yankees a pass. And they're about to play a doubleheader against the Rays today. And really, there's a good chance that at this time tomorrow, the remainder of the Yankee regular season is going to feel like spring training games. Because if the Rays just win one game, they clinch the American League East. And if the Yankees win one game, they clinch the top wild card spot. So they split the doubleheader today. Both sides accomplished what they were trying to accomplish at this point. And then I think for the remainder of the regular season, it's all about just trying to get your bullpen in order. Maybe you try out some guys in different roles. Carlos Legrande be called up, and you give him an opportunity to show what he could do. Over these final couple of regular season games, I don't think you're going to have Gary Cole and Cam Schlitler fully exhaust themselves. The pitchers today for the Yankees are Rodan and Fried. You're still building up Fried. I think he's around 75 pitches. So if the Yankees lose the first game of the doubleheader today, I think you're going to be careful with all these guys. Because at some point, the Yankees will win another game, and they will host those games in the Bronx next week against the Red Sox. But everything the Yankees do, once they're officially eliminated, is going to be geared towards how do you put together the best possible lineup when you're facing the Boston Red Sox. Even without Judge, I think with the Yankees pitching, the expectation has to be you win the series. Again, you're going to start the series with the best pitcher in the world on your team having one of the great seasons in Yankee history starting that first game. I expect the Yankees to win. If you win the first game of the series, I know last year the Yankees lost game one to Boston, they won the next two, but since this new wild card format several years ago, typically the game one winner wins the series, the vast majority of the time, and I expect the Yankees to get to at least the divisional round. I'm sorry, the Tampa Bay Rays should not scare the Yankees where, you don't have Aaron Judge, you just have no chance against them. If you were to get by the Rays, well, then you have a soft American League team that's going to benefit from the ridiculous baseball playoff format, where you're going to face a mediocre, if we're going to be kind, team in the American League Championship Series. So while it's obviously a huge blow to lose Judge, I mean, are we that surprised? He's a 6'7 giant. It's going to take him time to recover from any injury, and when he left the game, Aaron Judge is not taking himself out of the game because it's a real injury.