Hour 4: Big Mac Questions Starting Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz Over Gerrit Cole

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
MOTORBOARD!
The Carton Show, Big Mac. All right, so just real quick.
Yankees tonight trying to take the second game of the series against the Astros. Gerrit Cole not pitching tonight. Didn't pitch last night. He's ready to go on rest. Not pitching though, Big Mac.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:21)
Yeah, you're focused on this, huh?

**Craig Carton** (0:22)
Yeah, because it don't make no sense to me that Elmer Rodriguez would pitch the second game of this series after the, what, 9-7 loss yesterday to the Astros, a team that's fighting to get into the postseason at 500, believe it or not.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:40)
Yep.

**Craig Carton** (0:40)
That you'd push...

**Chris McMonigle** (0:41)
Right there, their division.

**Craig Carton** (0:42)
That you'd push Gerrit Cole back a second consecutive day to make room for Elmer Rodriguez.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:49)
They didn't really push him back. Well, he should have pitched yesterday. With the day off...

**Craig Carton** (0:53)
On regular rest.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:54)
Yeah, they didn't bump him up with the day off. They could have bumped him up.

**Craig Carton** (0:58)
Okay.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:58)
But regular rest. To still pitch on regular rest.

**Craig Carton** (1:00)
Yes.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:00)
You could have bumped him in front of Warren.

**Craig Carton** (1:03)
Yes.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:04)
He could have.

**Craig Carton** (1:04)
Yeah, and then he would have been available for Sunday against the Red Sox.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:06)
And then he would have been available for Sunday against the Red Sox. Which he does...
I don't want to say it's avoiding the Red Sox, because I don't think they would do that. Right. But he has been traditionally awful.

**Craig Carton** (1:16)
So maybe it is avoiding the Red Sox.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:18)
He has been...

**Craig Carton** (1:18)
Let him pitch the rubber game this series, in theory, if they win tonight.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:22)
Hopefully.

**Craig Carton** (1:22)
You're also now pretty much telling the bullpen, guess what? Everybody be ready tonight. Yeah. Because what are you going to get out of Elmer tonight? I don't know. If you got five full innings, that's a gift.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:31)
Oh, you take it. I'd sign for it right now. 100%. Five innings and the game is, you know, a one up, run down, whatever, something like that. Close game, five innings. I would sign for it right now. But look, we could talk about that. To me, the bigger story is, Brian Cashman screwed up at the deadline, and we're seeing it again.
Cruz went on the IL today.

**Craig Carton** (1:51)
Correct.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:51)
He has been, I know he struggled as of late. We talked about he's given up some home runs as of late. But he is one of the guys in the bullpen that has been huge for them, has had a great year overall. And I know, again, has been great recently. He's someone you rely on. They don't have anybody. They just signed Michael Fullmer out of nowhere. I didn't even know he was still pitching in Major League Baseball.
To be part of the bullpen. They needed to add arms. And yeah, Cashman made a bet that this team would have guys ready and healthy. And he could transition Warren, he could transition Weathers into the bullpen. He would have Clark Schmitt back by now. And none of that has come to fruition. You've got a re-injured, even though it sounds like he's going to be back relatively soon, Max Reed. Weathers has a forearm strain. You have all these issues. And right now you're relying on guys you should never have been relying on. They needed to go out of the deadline and bring in another reliable bullpen arm. And I don't know why I didn't do it.
And right now they're staring without... Whatever you want to say about Cruz, who are they pitching tonight? In a big spot.
Big spot in the sixth inning.

**Craig Carton** (2:54)
Yeah?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:56)
You let Rodriguez start the fifth or sixth, right? He gives up two walks to start the inning. Now you have a one-run lead, two runners on, nobody out. Who's coming into that game in the fifth inning?

**Craig Carton** (3:05)
Right.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:06)
I don't know.

**Craig Carton** (3:07)
It's a crapshoot.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:07)
De Los Santos? Michael Fulmer? That's probably who it's going to be.

**Craig Carton** (3:11)
Yeah. And by the way, wins and losses now have an impact Of course. on what happens and what seed you are, whether or not you're a division winner or not.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:18)
But Brian Cashman, I just don't like it. I don't understand why another arm wasn't brought in. You're seeing why. It's hard to make it through the year. And now they have three pitchers you can rely on. Three. Three.