ESPN’s Dan Shulman Previews the Yankees-Red Sox Rematch

After an embarrassing sweep in Fenway that was one of the low points of a Yankees’ season that has been full of them, New York will have the opportunity to redeem themselves this weekend with a rematch against the rival Red Sox.

The three game series begins Friday and will culminate in a second consecutive week on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball at 8:05 pm ET.

Dan Shulman of ESPN will be behind the mike providing play by play for Sunday’s contest, along with former Yankee Aaron Boone, Jessica Mendoza, and Buster Olney. Mr. Shulman has been the point man at Sunday Night Baseball since 2011 and a staple of ESPN’s MLB and NCAA basketball coverage since 1995.

He was recently kind enough to discuss the upcoming Yankees- Red Sox matchup with Yanks Go Yard. Here’s what he had to say:

Yanks Go Yard: As of Thursday morning, New York has the second worst record in the American League. They are 9-16 and six games out of the division lead. Do you still see the 2016 Yankees as contenders?

Dan Shulman: It is still very early but there certainly are a lot of issues that they need to sort out if they want to contend. They’ve got to hit better obviously. Their offense has been very poor so far this season and I don’t think they have a lot of options in terms of making changes, so the guys they have just have to do better.

To be honest with you I didn’t think they were a contender before the season. I thought they would be better than this and I still think they will be better than this. They’ve got to hit better. Luis Severino and Michael Pineda have to pitch better. A lot of things have to improve if they’re going to get back into any kind of a race.

Yanks Go Yard: Speaking of Severino, he’s had a very rocky beginning to the season, with an ERA over six in his first five starts. How important is this start Sunday for him? Is it too soon to talk about sending him down to Triple-A?

Dan Shulman: It depends on what kind of options they have. I know the Yankees are very high on him. They spoke not only of his ability but his poise last year a lot and how ready they thought he was to be a big part of the rotation.

I think it’s a little premature to think about sending him down. He’s had a couple of starts that haven’t been great and a couple that have been OK. I think every start is a big start for him and I think every start is a big start for the Yankees because they don’t want to fall too far into the basement, but I still think he deserves a little bit more time to see if he can turn it around.

Yanks Go Yard: With last night’s win over the White Sox, Boston took over first place in the AL East. Are they the division favorites in your mind at this point?

Dan Shulman: I think Toronto and Boston are probably the two best teams. Toronto is the defending division champ and they’ve got pretty much the same team back from last year. I think Boston has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. They’ve still got some question marks especially in their starting rotation. So I think Toronto and Boston would be the top two teams in the division.

Yanks Go Yard: An MRI Wednesday revealed a strained right hamstring for Alex Rodriguez and it’s being reported that he might miss several weeks. How big of an impact do you think this will this have on the Yankees’ offense going forward? Is there any way to replace his production in the lineup?

Dan Shulman: Given that he was hot, that he had hit three home runs in the last week, it is a loss, because they need all the production that they can get right now. I think what they’ll do is probably rotate people through the DH spot, some of the older guys, and try that. Right now they’ve gone with an extra pitcher by calling up James Pazos when A-Rod went on the DL.
The only way to replace him is for other players to do more than they’ve done. For guys to hit the way they’ve hit in their careers, not the way they have so far this season. Just like Teixeira was a loss when he went out last year, I think A-Rod is a loss. He’d been hot and there aren’t many hot bats in that lineup right now.

Yanks Go Yard: The Yankees had the lowest slugging percentage of any American League team going into Wednesday’s game. In 2015, with essentially the same lineup they ranked fourth. What has happened to the power in that lineup and do you think it will return?

Dan Shulman: When you have a number of older players, you don’t know if you can expect the same kind of production from year to year. With A-Rod, Carlos Beltran, and Mark Teixeira, they have a number of older players. I don’t know if it’s realistic to expect that group to produce quite as much as they did last year. It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect it.

Also, of course Chase Headley is off to a dismal start this year, so they’re getting no offense from third base. They’ve got a number of positions where they’re not getting as much offense as they need. I think they can be a decent offensive team. They can certainly be a better offensive team than they’ve been, and I think they will be, but I don’t know if we can expect them to produce like they did last year.

Yanks Go Yard: Many fans are already calling for Joe Girardi and/or Brian Cashman to be fired because of the team’s slow start. Is there a realistic possibility that either guy could lose their job this year?

Dan Shulman: I don’t believe so and I don’t believe they should. I think Joe Girardi is a very good major league manager, and I think he’s had to navigate his way around injuries, and age, and other situations in recent years. I think what the Yankees are going through right now is they’ve got a lot of older players on big contracts, so they didn’t sign any free agents this winter. They’re kind of waiting for those contracts to expire so they can use their money in other areas. That will start happening again in the next couple of years.

Yanks Go Yard: Sunday night’s game will be the last of Aroldis Chapman’s 30 game suspension for violating the league’s domestic abuse policy. Is his return too little, too late for New York? Should they think about flipping him for prospects?

Dan Shulman: On May the 5th I hesitate to say that anything is too little too late. There’s a ton of baseball left to be played. I think it will help them, but it’s not their biggest problem area right now. Offense and starting pitching are their biggest problem areas.

Chapman can be phenomenal, but if they don’t deliver a lead to the bullpen, it’s not going to do any good, and you’re not going to be able to get out of him what you want to get out of him. It’s a long season. People need to wait and see what develops over the next month or six weeks. How quickly does A-Rod come back, does the starting pitching get better, does the offense pick up. The standings will dictate whether or not they’re going to hold onto guys or trade guys.

For more insight about the Yankees-Sox series and consistently excellent analysis of a variety of MLB topics, you can follow Dan Shulman at @DShulman_ESPN. Also, be sure to tune in Sunday night at 8:00 pm ET to ESPN, ESPN Radio,  ESPN Deportes TV, and the WatchESPN app. Coverage of the game begins at 7:00 pm ET with the Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown featuring Karl Ravech, Dallas Braden, and Tim Kurkijan. The Sunday Night Baseball crew is truly one of the most entertaining and knowledgeable broadcast teams in the business. It’s a pleasure to watch any of the games they cover.