YGY Series Preview Show Rewind: Yankees-Cubs (5/20-5/21)

May 16, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Wrigley Field. (Photo Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

On this edition of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, I started the episode off by giving a recap of the New York Yankees’ (23-20) latest home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. New York was able to take two of the three games from Pittsburgh thanks to five home runs from the team on Saturday and a decent pitching performance from Hiroki Kuroda in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader. On the other hand, the Yankees’ injury news has not been good. C.C Sabathia will be out until July at the earliest after getting a stem-cell injection into his knee and Carlos Beltran is scheduled to visit Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday about his elbow injury.

The Yankees will play their next six games in the city of Chicago, starting with a two game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs (15-27). The season has not been kind for the Cubs, considering they have only won two series the entire year. That being said, there are still some bright spots for Rick Renteria‘s ball club. It starts with their ace, Jeff Samardjiza. Samardjiza (Wednesday’s starter) hasn’t recorded a win in his last 15 starts, but his 1.62 ERA is one of the best in the game. As for the offense, shortstop Starlin Castro leads the team in batting average (.302) and first baseman Anthony Rizzo has seven home runs on the season to go with being third in the National League in walks.

For this episode, I was joined by Jacob Misener, the editor of Cubbies Crib. Jacob is also the creator of the show’s awesome introduction, so we thank him for that. He joined me to talk about the future of Samardjiza in Chicago as well as the success of some of these young players such as first baseman Mike Olt (nine home runs) and closer Hector Rondon (five for five in saves) Here are some of the topics that we discussed on the show:

• Why the Cubs’ 15-27 record isn’t indicative of their play this season
• Rick Renteria‘s approach with Starlin Castro this season
• The re-match on Tuesday between Jason Hammel and Masahiro Tanaka
• Will Samardjiza be a Chicago Cub by the time the trade deadline is up?
• Would Hammel be a good fit in pinstripes?
• Cubs’ Players To Watch (Olt and Luis Valbuena)
• How does Rondon differ at the closer spot from when Carlos Marmol was in Chicago?
• Jacob’s thoughts on the NL Central the rest of the way

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE YANKEES-CUBS SERIES PREVIEW SHOW!!!