Keefe To The City Podcast

The Yankees were embarrassed by the White Sox, losing 12-2 in Chicago. It was the most runs the White Sox have scored this season, their biggest margin of victory and just their second win in their last 26 games. The Yankees left 18 runners on base and fell to 5-5 in August against the Blue Jays, Angels, Rangers and White Sox, four teams that won't reach the playoffs.

The Yankees lost to the Angels 9-4 on Thursday, dropping a home series to the third-worst team in the American League. Nestor Cortes was awful again as the Yankees fell to 8-16 in his starts (they are 60-32 when anyone else starts) and the offense no-showed until the game was out of hand and over in the late innings.

Alex Verdugo and his .291 on-base percentage and .660 OPS led off the first game of the doubleheader against the Angels on Wednesday. Gleyber Torres and his .310 on-base percentage and .668 OPS led off the second game of the doubleheader. If Aaron Boone isn't going to use Juan Soto or Aaron Judge to lead off then the only other option at the moment is … DJ LeMahieu. 

The Yankees stopped their free fall and look to have ended their collapse. They haven't lost a game since acquiring Jazz Chisholm Jr. and are returning home to start the easiest schedule in the majors over the next month. What a difference a week makes.

The Yankees were swept in the Yankee Stadium half of the Subway Series and swept for the entire 2024 edition of the Subway Series. They have lost four of six since the All-Star break, 12 of 18 in July and 23 of 34 since June 13. Things could get worse with the next six games on the road against the Red Sox and Phillies.Yankees fan and author of The Daily Dirt Nap (along with many other investing-related books) Jared Dillian joined me to talk about the Yankees and their six-week free fall.

The Yankees lost another game and lost another game to the Mets. Now 0-3 in this year's Subway Series, the Yankees never had a chance with the lineup their manager put together on Tuesday. The Yankees are 11-22 since June 13 and things could get even worse for them and their three-game lead in the loss column for a postseason spot over the next week.

It's been a beautiful four days without Yankees baseball. Nice, calm, peaceful, relaxing nights without frustration, anger, elevated blood pressure and the need to heavily consume alcohol as the result of watching the 2024 Yankees play. But Yankees baseball is back this weekend with the Rays in the Bronx and the second “half” of the season begins.

The Yankees are in a free fall for the third straight season. They have lost 17 of 23, are fading in the division race and are dangerously close to beginning to drop in the wild-card standings. Despite all of this, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone are showing no signs of urgency and are admittedly relying on “hope” to save the season.

The Yankees lost three of four to the Orioles, and in what was essentially a postseason series during the regular season, these Yankees played like they always do in the postseason. The offense scored six runs over the four games, and Aaron Judge went 1-for-the series with a measly single. The season is 20 percent over and Judge is hitting .197/.331/.393. Is he healthy? Is his toe bothering him? Does he need a different spot in the lineup? When will Aaron Boone stop telling everyone Judge will be fine?

The Yankees lost to the Orioles 2-0 on Monday as they were shut out for the fifth time in 30 games this season. Clarke Schmidt turned in what I think was the best start of his career, but the offense stranded all 10 of its baserunners and the Orioles took a one-game lead in the AL East.

Beginning on Wednesday, the Rangers will play three games over four days and five games in eight days. Their opponents will be the Penguins, Flyers, Bruins, Sabres and Red Wings. The Rangers could get Adam Fox back next week, and hopefully, during these challenging eight days, Mika Zibanejad will break out of his scoring slump.

The Rangers wrapped up their five-game, season-long road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Jets in Winnipeg to go undefeated on the West Coast and in Western Canada. Tom Dianora of Blueshirt Banter joined me to talk about the wildly successful road trip and the state of the Rangers as they return home.

The Rangers left for their season-long, five-game road trip after a dismal performance against Nashville at home. Unlike past seasons, the Rangers are racking up West Coast and Western Canada wins, having won won their first three games with two to go. Chris Lopresti of WFAN and SNY joined me to talk about the first-place Rangers and their impressive start to the season.Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It's a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that's committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

The Rangers opened their season with a 5-1 win over the Sabres in Buffalo. Every Rangers fan should be buzzing after the best 60-minute effort the Blueshirts have provided in years. I know I am. So is Brian Monzo, and he joined me to talk about the impressive season-opening win.

The Yankees are three games under .500. They are in last place. They have lost seven straight games. They have won one series since June 25. Somehow, their manager thinks they will turn the season around.

The Yankees have four games left until the trade deadline: three against the Orioles and one against the Rays. With 60 games to go, the Yankees are still 2 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot and still need a starting left fielder, which they have needed since last season.Yankees fan Bobby Milone joined me to talk about the impending trade deadline, who the Yankees should target and what they should be willing to give up.

The Yankees continue to be a mess. The mirage that was them sweeping a historically-bad team in the Royals over the weekend was followed by a humiliating 9-3 loss to the Mets at home.

The Yankees lost again to the Angels, and this time they only managed to score one run on two hits. Aaron Boone was as annoyed as ever with the media questioning his players' lack of production, and the Yankees as a whole are in a really bad place.

The Yankees opened the "second half" of the season with an embarrassing series loss to the NL-worst Rockies. The offense couldn't solved Austin Gomber or Chase Anderson and their nearly-7.00 ERAs, and now the Yankees are in last place in the AL East and two games out of the last playoff spot.After the recap, Andrew Rotondi of Bronx Pinstripes joined me to talk about the state of the Yankees with now 68 games remaining.

The Yankees don't know when their superstar and only productive bat will return. Their center fielder doesn't want to come off the injured list. Their prized free-agent starting pitcher hasn't thrown a pitch this season. Their five veteran bats making a combined $95.7 million can't field. They are now 3-6 against the White Sox, Red Sox and Mets since last week and the team's owner called them a "championship-caliber" team just a few days ago.

The first game of this season's Subway Series looked like it was going to be a disaster for the Yankees. Luis Severino couldn't get an out and aside from a Giancarlo Stanton home run, Max Scherzer was shutting down the offense. But everything changed in the fourth inning, and not even Aaron Boone could prevent his team from a much-needed win (though he desperately tried).

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox 3-2 on Friday, but bounced back to beat them 3-1 on Saturday. In the series, Rafael Devers has driven in two of the Red Sox' four runs with solo home runs and scored another after a double. If Devers doesn't beat the Yankees, the Red Sox can't beat the Yankees, and yet, they keep pitching to him.

The Yankees will play the Red Sox for the first time this season this weekend, and they will do so at much less than full strength. Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader will miss the series on the injured list, and so will Nestor Cortes. Thankfully, the Red Sox aren't very good.Michael Hurley of CBS Boston joined me to talk about all of the Red Sox' issues as they fell under .500 this week.

The Yankees won the three-game series  against the Dodgers in Los Angeles to finish their West Coast trip 4-2. Now the Yankees return home after a day off on Monday for a series with the lowly White Sox.After the Dodgers series recap, White Sox Dave of Barstool Sports joined me to talk about everything that has gone wrong with the White Sox this season.

The Yankees extended their winning streak to three straight with a 10-4 win over the Mariners in Seattle on Monday night. Aaron Judge hit 16th and 17th home runs of the season and robbed one as well, and the Yankees continue to go as he goes.

The Yankees dropped two of three to the Orioles and now they will see some familiar faces and ex-Yankees over the weekend with the Padres in the Bronx.

The Yankees escaped what would have been a crushing loss to the Orioles thanks to a bottom-of-the-ninth, game-tying home run from Aaron Judge. Once again, Gerrit Cole wasn't good against a good team, but Judge saved the day.

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-2 on Thursday with Ryan Weber and Albert Abreu asked to pitch the seventh and eighth innings behind Nestor Cortes. Aaron Boone jokingly called it "Nestor and the Funky Bunch" but there was nothing funny about it.

Gerrit Cole gave the Yankees six scoreless innings in Toronto, but the offense only provided three hits (all singles) and the Yankees lost 3-0 to the Blue Jays. With Nestor Cortes being inconsistent, Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito being bad and Domingo German suspended, the Yankees can't afford to lose on days when Cole starts.

The Yankees overcame a blown three-run lead, losing Domingo German to a foreign substance ejection, losing Ian Hamilton to a groin injury, four Gleyber Torres brain farts, an Anthony Volpe error and the Blue Jays accusing Aaron Judge and the Yankees of cheating to win 6-3 on Tuesday in Toronto.

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 7-4 on Monday in Toronto. The story isn't that the Yankees won, have won six of eight or beat up Alek Manoah for the first time ever. The story is that Aaron Judge kept looking in the Yankees dugout during his plate appearances in a game in which he hit two home runs and reached base all five times.

Every single day Aaron Boone does something inexcusable as manager of the Yankees. Today it's dropping Anthony Volpe down to seventh in the order, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa will bat sixth.

The Yankees trailed 2-0 and were being shut out when the sixth inning began on Tuesday night, and it looked like yet another sad and embarrassing loss. But the top of the order came through, and the Yankees are now above .500.

The Yankees are in last place in the AL East this late in the season for the first time since 2016. That was the last season the Yankees missed the playoffs.

It was going to be nearly impossible for this version of the Yankees to beat Jacob deGrom and essentially impossible once Aaron Judge wasn't in the lineup Judge had to undergo an MRI on his hip and the Yankees lost 5-2 in a game that was as boring as any meaningful game could ever be.

The Yankees roster was intentionally built to look like this,  and it's performing exactly as expected.

The Yankees' roster is littered with oft-injured, underachieving, overpaid and washed-up players as well as a few players who don't belong in the majors. Whose fault is that?

The Yankees lost to the Guardians 3-2 on Monday night, but the game was really over on Monday afternoon when Aaron Boone posted the lineup.

The Yankees are off to good start this season, having won their first two series and boast a nice 4-2 record after their season-opening homestand. But hanging over this season is Aaron Hicks, his roster spot, his contract, his playing time and his performance. In a season that is supposed to be about trying to end a 13-year championship drought, Hicks' presence has become a distraction.

The Yankees took an early lead against the Phillies on Monday night, kept tacking on runs as the game went on and eventually won a laugher, 8-1. Nestor Cortes was solid through five innings, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo homered and the bullpen provided four scoreless innings. More easy wins like this, please!

After a disappointing 7-5 loss to the mediocre-at-best Giants on Saturday, the Yankees looked more like the Opening Day Yankees on Sunday, winning 6-0. The power showed up with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Kyle Higashioka hitting home runs an Johnny Brito was dominant with five shutout innings in his major-league debut. The game wasn't without lineup controversy as Aaron Hicks was on the bench against a right-handed starter, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa started in center field despite having zero career outfield appearances. Hicks wasn't happy and made it known to the media.

There's nothing like an Opening Day win, especially when it comes as easy as it did on Thursday. The Yankees beat the Giants 5-0 the exact way they plan to win every game: great starting pitching, a shutdown bullpen and home runs.

Yankees baseball is back and so is the annual Yankees over/unders podcast.Andrew Rotondi of Bronx Pinstripes joined me to go through our annual over/unders for the Yankees' roster.

The Yankees were thought to have the "best rotation in baseball" for 2023. Now that rotation is down 40 percent of its members with Nestor Cortes working through a hamstring injury and Frankie Montas set to undergo shoulder surgery. Cortes is expected back for the start of the season, if all goes right, but Montas' best-case scenario is to be back sometime late in the season. The Yankees' pitching depth will be tested right away, and the depth isn't what it was before the trade for Montas.

There's still more than three weeks until the trade deadline, but the Rangers decided not to wait until the last minute, trading for the Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.The Rangers sent Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick an a conditional fourth-round pick to the Blues in exchange for Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola with the Blues also retaining 50 percent of Tarasenko's cap hit.There isn't a single negative to the trade for the Rangers. It's an unbelievable job by Chris Drury.

The World Baseball Classic rosters were announced on Friday and three Yankees will be participating: Kyle Higashioka, Nestor Cortes and Jonathan Loaisiga. I'm not worried about Higashioka participating. I'm somewhat worried about Cortes participating. I'm extremely worried about Loaisiga participating given his injury history.

In what was the most exciting and entertaining game of the season, the Rangers beat the Flames 5-4 in overtime at the Garden. It may not have been the Rangers' best performance, but the game had everything coming off a 10-day layoff, and that included Jacob Trouba having to defend himself after two more clean open-ice hits.

A new baseball season is just about here, and the Yankees continue to try to change the perception of how last season ended and how this offseason has gone. Over the last few days, Brian Cashman once again talked about how close the Yankees were to the World Series, and Michael King went on to say only injuries prevent the Yankees from beating the Astros. It wasn't a great weekend to be a Yankees fan.

The Yankees blew a two-run lead at home in Game 2 of the ALDS and now go to Cleveland having given away home-field advantage. Nestor Cortes wasn't himself, the offense performed its annual postseason disappearing act and Aaron Boone had one of his worst games as Yankees manager in the Yankees' 3-2 loss in 10 innings.

The Yankees trailed Game 1 of the ALDS 1-0 to the Guardians, but once they tied the game and then took a one-run lead, the outcome never seemed in doubt. The Yankees went on to win 4-1 in what was a relatively easy postseason victory, and how it played out only made me more confident in the Yankees' chances of advancing to the ALCS.

The Yankees pulled off a miraculous ninth-inning comeback on Tuesday night, beating the Pirates 9-8 at the Stadium. The Yankees trailed by four runs and scored five without recording an out, led by Aaron Judge's 60th home run and a Giancarlo Stanton walk-off grand slam. Judge now has five games remaining on the homestand against two last-place teams in the Pirates and Red Sox to break Rogers Maris' American League record.