HOUR 3: Dave Sims Joins | Yankees Injury Issues Have Followed Them Into The Postseason

Craig Carton (0:00)

We'll have some guests coming for you here in the second half of the show, but it's all about the Yankees now, and their quest for number 28, it starts off with the wild card, of course, and if you are just waking up or tuning in, and have not followed the news today, Giancarlo Stanton, on their roster for the wild card series, and was just taking batting practice, and Aaron Judge not on the roster. So that's the big development, at least right now, for the Yankees.

Chris McMonigle (0:28)

Yep, no, that's the big development. There's a couple other decisions, too. Grisham on the line in the roster as well, coming back from the hamstring injury.

I think there's a chance he starts game two against Sonny Gray. I do not think that he would be in the lineup tonight. I mean, obviously, he's not on the line tonight. He's not on the roster. He's on the roster. What did I say? He's on the roster. I think he could be in the lineup tomorrow as you're starting center fielder and move Spencer Jones over to right. But he's an interesting piece, too.

As bad as the years he's had, and he had a terrible down year, multiple long injuries, hit about 200 Over the last couple years, there's not been a better hitter, slug-wise, in baseball, late and close. So that's another piece. As a left-handed pinch hit bat, that you could see late in the game, too. There are plenty of options for this manager. But, yeah, Giancarlo is watching him warm up now. And it is amazing to watch Giancarlo, because I don't know if you've been watching, he's half-swinging.

Craig Carton (1:20)

Right.

Chris McMonigle (1:21)

Like, he is taking it as easy as you could possibly take it, and yet...

Craig Carton (1:24)

He's also pitching against the machine.

Chris McMonigle (1:25)

Yeah, no, he's hitting it right. He's hitting it against the pitching machine. But he is barely swinging, and the balls are just going all over the yard. Not out of the park, but... No, but I mean, there are ropes all over the place.

Craig Carton (1:37)

Yes, yes.

Chris McMonigle (1:39)

So again, I'm not saying it's... It's not so much, wow, Giancarlo looks great. I'm just saying, do you recognize just the Major League Baseball player and the strength he has? He's barely swinging.

Craig Carton (1:47)

Yeah, they're a different breed.

Chris McMonigle (1:48)

They're a different breed, man, and he is a different breed of the different breeds. So let's see when he plays and when he's healthy. But something tells me that Giancarlo has a role to play in this.

Craig Carton (1:59)

That's a dream scenario for you.

Chris McMonigle (2:01)

I'm just telling you, something tells me...

Craig Carton (2:03)

Because you harken back to what you said in March, which is that Giancarlo Stanton is going to play 140 games and in 40 home runs. So you're kind of vested in... No, I'm not. By the way...

Chris McMonigle (2:15)

I'm vested in the Yankees being successful. But how about this?

Craig Carton (2:18)

Remember this, though. If Giancarlo Stanton gets up in the 8th or 9th inning of tonight's game and hits a home run to win game one for the Yankees, the fact that he missed a regular season is forgotten.

Chris McMonigle (2:32)

It means absolutely nothing.

Craig Carton (2:33)

Forgotten.

Chris McMonigle (2:34)

That's the whole thing. Joe Torre used to talk about this.

Craig Carton (2:36)

One at that is all he needs.

Chris McMonigle (2:38)

Joe Torre used to talk about it. It's the gift and the curse of being a Yankee. You could have a phenomenal year. You could have Ben Rice's year.

Forty-one home runs, ninety-seven RBI's helped carry the team the entire year when Judge was out. MVP votes. And he goes for 13 in this series, and we're all pissed at him. Right.

Craig Carton (2:56)

Which is why people are talking about Judge about the drop in center field.

Chris McMonigle (2:59)

And Judge, that's the curse. The gift is also, Jean Carlo can miss the entire year. Grisham can be the bane of Yankee fans' existence, talking about, why would you give him the qualifying offer? This guy sucks. It's a big home run in the eighth inning tonight.

And he's a hero forever.

Craig Carton (3:12)

That's right.

Chris McMonigle (3:14)

That's the gift and the curse of being a New York Yankee, because year in and year out, you're going to have an opportunity to either take advantage and erase a terrible season, or if you don't perform, you could erase a wonderful season.