Yanks Go Yard Radio Show: Giants-Yankees (7/22-7/24)

During last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, we look ahead to the Yankees finishing up their homestand against the Giants

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off by talking about the New York Yankees (48-47) taking three out of four games by the Baltimore Orioles and going over the latest trade rumors. Even though the Yankees are 4-3 on this homestand, they are still seven games back in the AL East and 5.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot.

Tonight, the Yankees begin their final series of this homestand against the San Francisco Giants (57-38). Now, it is an even year, which usually means good things for Bruce Bochy’s club (World Series titles in 2012 and 2014). However, the Giants come into the Bronx on a five game losing streak and their lead in the NL West is down to four games over the Dodgers.

When you look at the Giants, their offense has currently been hurt by injuries. They are without outfielder Hunter Pence (hamstring), second baseman Joe Panik (concussion), and third baseman Matt Duffy (achillies). Due to those injuries, the Giants have scored the third fewest runs of any National League team this month (58).

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Of course, the Giants still have catcher Buster Posey, who leads the team in home runs (12) and batting average (.208) and shortstop Brandon Crawford (61). But, one player who has been struggling mightily this month is first baseman Brandon Belt. Belt is hitting .208 in July with five RBI’s and 20 strikeouts.

In terms of pitching, the Giants will send their top three starters (Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samardzija) to the mound against the Yankees this weekend. Bumgarner is second in the NL in ERA (2.12) and Cueto is tied for the league lead in wins (13).

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If there is one weakness that the Giants have, it’s their bullpen. Their relievers have a 4.00 ERA (ninth in the NL). Closer Santiago Casilla is 21-for-26 in saves and has a 3.38 ERA, which is high for a closer.

To talk more about the Giants, my guest for this show was Sean O’Leary, who is a writer at Call To The Pen and Around The Foghorn. Sean gave his take on whether the Yankees and Giants are good trade partners and whether or not the Giants lead is safe in the NL West after the latest injury setback to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. Here are the other topics we discussed:

• Reasons for Giants recent struggles
• Injury updates on Pence and Panik
• Any buzz among Giants fans for this Yankees series?
• Pitching Matchup Breakdown
• Bumgarner (Tonight’s Giants starter) has a 1.71 ERA in three starts this month
• How will Masahiro Tanaka (Tonight’s Yankees starter) do on regular rest?
• Samardjiza (Tomorrow’s Giants starter) has given up four or more runs in four of his last five starts
• Ivan Nova (Tomorrow’s Yankees starter) held the Orioles to one run in his last start
• Johnny Cueto (Sunday’s Giants starter) is undefeated in night games this season
• Nathan Eovaldi (Sunday’s Yankees starter) couldn’t get out of the sixth in his last outing
• Yankees hitters to watch: Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury
• Giants hitters to watch: Mac Williamson and Brandon Belt
• What are the Giants biggest needs at the trade deadline?

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