Baseball's Back in New York City

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Matt Katz: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Matt Katz, keeping the big seat warm for Brian today. We'll wrap up today's show with a look at the start of the baseball season for our two home teams. As local trees begin to sprout their flowers and temperatures rise, sports fans flooded the subways over the weekend to see their favorite team, or I guess, only the Yankees were in town. They flooded the subway to see the Yankees begin a new year of baseball, and us Mets fans had to watch on TV for the time being.

The Yankees started their season strong, sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in their first three games by huge margins. The Mets, not as successful against the Houston Astros. Deesha Thosar, MLB writer for Fox Sports who covers the Mets and Yankees, joins us now to talk about these games, what she's looking forward to this season, and what happened over the winter. Hey there, Deesha. Welcome back to WNYC. Nice to talk to you again.

Deesha Thosar: Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

Matt Katz: We got to start in the Bronx where the Yankees had an extraordinary weekend. They broke, I guess on Saturday, a franchise record and hit nine home runs in one game. Aaron Judge had three home runs, including a Grand Slam, but then is there something fishy with their bats? What's going on? Can you catch us up?

Deesha Thosar: Yes. On Saturday, of course, after their barrage of home runs, nine home runs, setting a franchise record, people were curious about the bats they were using. They were looking like bowling pins, weren't sure if it was legal. It turns out the Yankees have been using these bats, not just this year. A couple of players even used them last year. They are really seriously proceeding with torpedo bats is what they're calling it in that there's just more wood at the sweet spot of the bat. What that means is basically hitters tend to hit the ball at the same spot on their bat over and over and over again. Each hitter is different.

What the Yankees did, actually an MIT physicist who used to be in their front office decided to move more wood to that sweet spot of each hitter's bat. That way, that part of the bat is fatter, it's harder, and the ball will go farther. We saw that on Saturday and yesterday. They just cannot stop hitting home runs, a total of 15 home runs, which tied an MLB record for the first three games of the season. This is all legal. It was completely-- The league is allowing it and other teams are definitely going to hop on, I would say.

Matt Katz: Yes, that could happen pretty quickly. Everybody could be having torpedo bats soon enough, right?

Deesha Thosar: Yes, exactly. That's what I found interesting was a lot of the players just didn't even know these bats existed. I think that's partly because they don't all have the big investment that the Yankees do. Some teams like the Dodgers, the Cubs, a lot of these big franchises have the money to look into how to improve, how to get a better edge. Teams like the Brewers, who the Yankees played this weekend, simply had no idea about these bats. Two men in that clubhouse and the manager were really surprised that these existed.

There was a pitcher, Trevor Megill, who was frankly annoyed, extremely pissed off that the Yankees are even getting away with it, but it is legal. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I think there are going to be a ton of hitters around the league who will be interested in trying these bats. What I found interesting is that they're not necessarily for everyone. Aaron Judge is not using one and he's off to another scorching hot start. He just doesn't need it.

A lot of other guys said that it doesn't feel good in their hands. I think it is just a case-by-case basis, but I am expecting it to be sort of a breakthrough for hitters, at least on that side of the plate.

Matt Katz: Listeners, we've got the phones open for a few minutes for baseball fans. What are you looking forward to this season? Give us your predictions. What are you watching for, and are the Yankees cheating? Call or text us at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Now the Yankees are recovering from maybe the worst-ever inning in World Series history last year. Can you tell us what happened against the Dodgers in the World Series? Remind us of that and whether this team has that memory forefront of mind.

Deesha Thosar: Oh, definitely. I think especially Aaron Judge, the Yankees captain. He seems to have walked into this season with a different edge. He is a little more pissed off than usual. I think it all goes back to that Game 5, really, in the World Series, where the Yankees collapsed and really it just came all down on themselves by way of defensive errors. Judge was right in the middle of that with his drop ball. There was a lot of infield errors and the memorable home run that Nestor Cortes gave up to Freddie Freeman which was in Game 1.

Really, it was an all-around kind of backward World Series for the Yankees. That is not the performance they wanted to put out. A lot of credit also goes to the Dodgers. They are a super team for a reason. They dismantled the Yankees easily. The things that stand out from that World Series is definitely what do they have to improve, their lineup for sure, and a lot of those defensive miscues. Now that this season's started, already we're seeing errors being carried into this season.

It hasn't hurt them because it goes back to all those runs they scored. 36 runs in the first three games is going to be enough to overcome their defensive errors, but that's not always going to happen. They were playing a Brewers team that is really not up to par to contend this year. If the Yankees are playing the way they did this weekend against a team like the Dodgers or the Mets or the Phillies, more of these contenders, I think that is going to be more of a true test just to see how much they've improved from that World Series.

Already, even without Juan Soto going to the Mets, the biggest storyline of the offseason, it looks like the Yankees have more lineup depth to overcome some of the offensive issues they had last year.

Matt Katz: You mentioned Juan Soto and you mentioned the Mets. The Mets, of course, secured Juan Soto with the largest contract in sports history. Why were the Mets, the perennial underdogs, usually the underspenders, how were they able to land Soto, and are Yankee fans just going to boom all season?

Deesha Thosar: [chuckles] Well, how they were able to land him comes down to three numbers, $765 million. That was the winning lottery ticket to get Soto into Queens, and really, I think for him, especially because he signed a 15-year contract, he's only 26. Soto's at a pivotal point in his career. Really, he hasn't even entered his prime yet on the field. Outside of that, this is around the time that players start to want to settle down, want to start a family, really start thinking about those things.

In order to do that, a lot of these guys like to just know that they're going to be with that same team in the same city for a handful of years. I think when Soto's deciding where he wants to play for maybe until he retires, it came down to, for him, his family. He's really a humble, private guy. He's not someone that spends his money and goes out all the time. He is really family-focused, family-oriented. The Mets under Steve Cohen are exactly that.

With or without Juan Soto, they have an initiative to make this ballpark experience more family-friendly, invite players' families to be more in touch with the organization, and just bring everybody in that way and know that every single person is involved in winning a championship, their ultimate goal. I think all of these factors mattered a lot to Soto, but there was no one factor that was more important than that contract, record-breaking $765 million.

Matt Katz: Incredible. This is The Brian Lehrer Show. I'm Matt Katz, in for Brian today, talking baseball with my guest, Fox Sports MLB writer Deesha Thosar. We have some callers. Let's go to Joan in Manhattan. Hey, Joan.

Joan: Oh, hi. This is the first time hearing about these bats. I'm very curious about that. The question I had was really calling for an opinion, a little psychological opinion, I guess, from the guest and maybe from you too, Matt. You mentioned that Game 5, I forgot about Game 5, but I was wondering if you thought that the Yankees have kind of gotten over the loss of Juan Soto or do you think they experienced a little [unintelligible 00:09:21] for it and now and then when the Mets lose. That was one question. The other question is about these bats. Do you think everybody [inaudible 00:09:28] to use them now? I would think they would.

Deesha Thosar: Yes, I think--

Matt Katz: Yes.

Deesha Thosar: Oops, sorry.

Matt Katz: No. Go ahead, Deesha.

Deesha Thosar: I think definitely when it comes to Juan Soto, there's two answers to the Yankees fan base. They're definitely experiencing joy when he struggles with the Mets. When it comes to the Yankees clubhouse, I think they could not care less what the Mets are doing, and really, they don't even pay attention to the Mets until they're playing them in the Subway Series. That's just players being locked in. In spring training, it looked like the Yankees were not over Juan Soto, and there were a lot of questions about how they would make up that bat.

Now that the season's started and they're seeing how productive that offense can be, I think the players are certainly encouraged that they can be a better team, a better offense without Juan Soto.

Matt Katz: The Mets and Yankees have a Subway Series in May. I'm actually going to one of the games with my son. We'll be wearing Mets jerseys. I think my son will be wearing his Soto Mets jersey. That's going to be a exhilarating experience in the Bronx, I imagine, that weekend. Right? I've never been to a Subway Series. What do you imagine that environment will be like?

Deesha Thosar: Oh, yes, I think it's going to be one of the more hostile environments we've seen, at least in recent years from these two teams now that they're both extremely competitive, both going for the World Series. It was always kind of the backdrop even going into this season, but with Soto switching sides, he knew what he was doing. I think he's someone that is just going to get more of an edge when he, of course, is going to get booed out of his mind when Soto plays in the Bronx. I think that just might help him.

He's not someone that really gets bothered by those types of things. He doesn't need to be beloved by every fan base. We've seen that because he's switched teams so many times. I think it is going to be really back to that early 2000s vibe when the Mets and Yankees were meeting in the World Series and that sort of hostile environment in both stadiums. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. There's going to be a lot of discussion about which team runs New York, and I think it's going to be exciting to find out. We really don't know how these two lineups match up against each other until they really do it.

Matt Katz: There's been some change in team chemistry with the Mets. Obviously, you bring in Baty, but you also lose this guy, Jose Iglesias, who was the-- He was a part-time Latin pop star, and his song OMG became the anthem of the team. Iglesias is no longer with the Mets. What do you make of team chemistry? I don't know if it sometimes overstated its role in baseball. Is that something to watch for with the Mets this year?

Deesha Thosar: Yes, I think definitely, just because of the way they came off of last season and how high that team chemistry was with the Oh my God Mets and the sign and just-- It was a bond that everyone in baseball was talking about. Not just within the organization, within the clubhouse, but it was evident that team culture to everyone that played against them.

I think when the Mets are coming off that scenario and they're entering this year with the Soto and like you mentioned, no Jose Iglesias, who was right in the middle of all that positive team culture, they do have to find a way to get some of it back. I do think some of it can be overstated only in this part of the season since it has only been the first weekend-

Matt Katz: That's true.

Deesha Thosar: -of the regular season. I think now in the first half, a lot of these guys are finding out what the culture is going to be, what their makeup is going to be. Now if the Mets don't really have a team culture by the All-Star break, then it's a problem.

Matt Katz: Thank you so much, Deesha Thosar, MLB writer for Fox Sports. I'm Matt Katz. This is The Brian Lehrer Show. Thanks for listening, everybody, and thanks so much, Deesha. I appreciate it. Enjoy baseball.

 

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