Fantasy Baseball Today - Bonus ⚾️ Talk: Jameson Taillon talks Yankees, Rehab Plus Players Who Missed 2020! (2/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: February 3, 2021

Danny Vietti and Will Middlebrooks are back and will be joined by Yankees starting pitcher Jameson Taillon later in the podcast! First up, Dustin Pedroia is retiring from baseball (1:45). Will has some funny stories about Pedroia! ... Which players who missed 2020 will make an impact in 2021 (8:27)? The guys start with Luis Severino. ... When should we expect Noah Syndergaard (11:45)? ... What can Yordan Alvarez do when healthy (15:46)? .... How good can Shohei Ohtani be (18:00)? ... Jameson Taillon joins the show (25:40)! ... Taillon talks about his new mechanics, adding spin to his breaking ball, and where his velocity is at (27:54). ... How does it feel going from the Pirates to the Yankees (30:39)? ... How has his rehab been coming off his second Tommy John surgery (34:40)? ... What has he heard about a potential delay to the MLB season (36:25)? How does Taillon feel about expanded playoffs? ... Given everything he's been through, did Taillon ever consider retirement (40:45)? ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank, @AdamAizer Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, and swing. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Howdy people, what's? Good. Welcome back to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. It is Wednesday, February. Third, my stealth, Danny Vietti. My co-host, he's so smiley today. Will Middlebrooks, he's in a good mood. How are we doing, Will?

I'm all right. I can't ever really truly complain. I'm living the dream over here, man. I got a beautiful family. I got to play golf last weekend. He shot under 80, too. I played well. I played really well.

It was really windy, so I'm convinced that it just helped me somehow because I haven't been playing that much, and a fire 76. I felt pretty good about that. Yeah, pretty impressive. Well, we got a good show for you guys today. We're not going to be talking about much golf

because Will, as much as he likes to hype himself up, he's not that good. But I got my golf hat on today because there was a farmer's insurance open in San Diego. I don't know if he caught that. So I got my golf spirit. We're going to have Jameson, the newest New York Yankee starting pitcher,

joining us on today's show. He's been through a lot. And so I'm really looking forward to just talking about his story. And man, two Tommy Johns, he had the sports hernia. He beat testicular cancer. I mean, this guy's great incredible. So I'm super pumped for him. And then another story that recently came out, of course, is Dustin Bidroyo, one of your old teammates.

Retiring. Kind of sad for a baseball fan like myself, he was really at the peak of his career when I was really starting to grow up and love baseball. So seeing him, you know, right off into the sunset, it's good for him because what a hell of a career, Dustin McRoy had. But you being one of his teammates, I'm sure, it kind of hits you in a different spot. It does, man. It was actually when the news broke about that, which we knew it was coming. I've talked to him. I knew his knee was torn up.

I knew he wasn't really. I had a good idea. He wasn't coming back, but it wasn't for me to publicly say that, you know? That's for him. After a career like that, I think. he was my favorite player man like he was so fun and and big poppy said it best like if i had to buy a ticket to see one player play it would be dos and bedroia because every pitch he's so locked in and and so he could do something crazy you know it's for what he did with the body that god gave him he overachieved in every capacity uh mentally he was 6-7, like 3-20 with an 8-back. Like he was so, he was the most confident human being that I've ever met my life.

But at the same time, like his just genuine love for baseball is unmatched. And it rubbed off on me, on our teammates. And he was just the ultimate competitor. It didn't matter if it was ping pong, darts, golf, baseball, football. eating like whatever it was he was going to beat you he was going to bury you and he was going to talk crap to your face after he did it it just I have so many dust and pejoria stories I don't know if you're ready for him yeah I'm ready that's one I don't know if I have a best one I have like you're one of your favorite I'll give you two I give you two I'll give you one like in the clubhouse

and I give you one there's like on the field so we're playing in New York and those fans hated us because the rivalry, right? And we were in a shift. I don't remember. This was like my rookie year. So I don't know if it was to Chera or who it was. It was a big lefty. So the second baseman was playing at shallow right field.

I was playing like at second base. So Dustin was kind of close to the stands because the stands and right field and Yankee Stadium go right next to the foul line. So. Sorry. This is so funny. Dude.

So he was out there. like the first or second inning. And this guy is giving it to him, Hey, midget! Like, just calling him a midget and talking about his height and how he shouldn't. You don't deserve to be in the big league. You need to be a little like just the worst jokes ever. But just making fun of his height, yelling midget.

Dustin doesn't even blink. When I tell you, this guy is like so focused all the time. It's baseball 258. Like he is all about baseball all the time. He didn't even flinch. And I'm like laughing. I'm like, I hope he doesn't see me laughing because this is really funny.

So we go back, it's like the third or fourth inning. We're in the shift again for the lefty. Same guy. But, Drea, you midget, blah, blah, just all over him and pitch crosses the zone. You know, he does his like big like pre-pitched jump and lands. He hits the ground ball crosses the plate and he snaps his head around and goes, hey, fat ass. I'm not a midget when I stand on my wallet. and the whole section goes

and the whole infield I think I don't remember who was pitching I don't remember but the pitcher was even turned around like laughing I don't I don't even think I've ever seen video footage of it because it was right after the pitch they probably didn't know what was going on to the booth but yeah it was just the whole section like applauded him after the comeback and even the guy was like

all right and sat down that's Yankee fans that Yankee fans don't razz you but once they get it They want you to give it back right So and then the other thing he would do That I thought was really funny

We would be sitting in the clubhouse And we always had the same media members Like the same like 20 reporters Beat writers whatever every day Every once in a while there'd be some like new intern Or new reporter from out of town or whatever Every time there was a new guy I hope we can edit this

a new guy would walk in and Padraio would be sitting there in his chair. New guy'd walk in and he'd go, hey man, who the fuck are you? I hope you can bleep that out. But he would make it so uncomfortable and he would have like a full on like, he would like interview the new guy,

the intern and make him so uncomfortable. Like, think you're good at your job? Are you good at what? And he'd be like your confidence is terrible. He would just crush this guy. or girl, he did not care. He would yell at whoever was in there and talk trash to him. And then it would end with him being like, I'm just messing with you.

And they probably made so many memories for like this kid. There's like a senior at Boston College or whatever. And he's like shadowing Pete Abraham or someone, you know, one of the writers. And he just gets crushed by Padroia, which probably scares the crap out of him. And then after the fact when he's like, I'm just messing with you, that has to be such a cool story. So I can tell stories about Padraea all day. and I hope you can bleat that out, but I had to tell it authentically.

That's good, dude. That would rattle the hell on me. I'm walking into the Boston Red Sox the clubhouse of the first time. They see David Ortiz, that's in Padraia. And all of a sudden, Pejoria yells over me. Who the FRAU? Oh, dude, Padraea just swims in people's that.

He's like Michael Phelps doing laughs in people. Oh, dude. He can rattle. He can get under your skins. He just is the best trash talker, man, that I have ever seen. On the field, off the field. I mean, life is a game to him because he's so competitive.

So it was like nonstop trash talk. And I just, the game is going to miss Dustin Bidroyo. The game needs more guys like him. He made me a better player, a better human. He made me work harder. And hell of a career. Hell of a career. Yeah, MVP, multiple time all-star.

And fun fact, Woodland High School grad, my dad coaches and teaches at Woodland High School. So, very cool. Let's switch gears. We're going to be talking about players, kind of like Desper Troyes, that didn't play in 2020, but could be making an impact in 2021. And dude,

well, this list is lengthy. You could create just pitching-wise, especially with all the pitching injuries. It's mainly pitchers, I feel like the, there's a ton of pitchers, tons of injuries,

tons. I mean, we have some opt-outs too, but there's some studs on there. There's some studs on here. So let's get right into it. Players that didn't play in 20, 2020, but could make an impact in 2021.

Let's start it off here. Luis Severina of the New York game. He was their ace two seasons ago before they got Garrett Cole. He was up for the Sight Young at one point. Back in before he had these injury concerns, he had shoulder issues, then he ended up having Tommy John surgery. He is expected to come back in the middle of this 2021 season, hopefully. And with the Yankees rotation, there's a lot of question marks.

We're going to be talking with one of the, They need them. They need Tionne. They need Severino. They're going to need Corey Kluber to be at his best. A lot of question marks with New York, but Severino is going to be a big reason for why they succeed or why they don't this year. Huge. Yeah. I mean, you know what you're going to get out of Cole.

I think losing Sonaka Hurts, especially once you get to the postseason because he was always so good in the postseason. And you got to have some rotational death once you get into the playoffs. But, dude, I face Severino a few times. And I think the last time I faced him was 2007. I was with Texas. Man, the ball gets on you so fast. It just such a live electric arm. You have to gear up for 98.

And it's like it plays up. I don't know if it's a spin rate thing or what, but it feels it feels like he's thrown over 100, which he can, which he can. But he'll sit 97, 98 like comfortably and dot you like on the black, on the corner, wherever he wants. And you have to gear up for that because it plays up. And all of a sudden the hard slider,

you have no chance because you already started your swing. So I think he, I don't know how he's going to be, but I really would love him to be successful this year because he can be just as effective as Garrett Cole in that rotation. I really think that if he's healthy and he's on, he's got just as good stuff as Garrett Cole. And two, so he's played two full seasons. It's at two seasons where he started more than 20 games.

He's only had two seasons where he started more than 11. And those two seasons finish top 10 in Tsayung voting each of those years. He's an all-star in both of those years. So it goes without saying he's a stud of when he's healthy. Hopefully he can return and get his arm back in shape because, like you mentioned, if the Yankees want to have any success this year, their pitching staff is going to have to come through and be healthy. Another thing that helps with that staff is that offense is so good.

It's got to take some type of pressure off you as a pitcher to know you have those boppers. you have LaMayhew, you have Judge, you have Stan, you have all these studs that should put up some runs. So that could help them too. It's not for a lack of talent. Never is with you. No. Line up pitching rotation-wise, bullpen-wise.

It's just about staying healthy. No doubt. Another pitcher, of course, this is going to be a lengthy list of pitchers coming back. Noah Cindergarde. We're going to stay in New York. Thor is trying to come back from Tommy John. Tommy John? Yeah, T.J.

Yeah, that's why. Tommy John coming back with New York Mets, and he, similar in the New York Mets, I don't want to say they're the New York Yankees, but their pitching rotation has some question marks too, because Strowman did not pitch in 2020. And then we don't know if Bauer is going to be in New York. They're reportedly in on Bauer. If they could land Bauer, that would certainly share up that rotation. But there's some question marks too when it comes to New York and know a Cindergarde, if we don't know exactly what we're going to get at a syndigart. Because he actually struggled before he had his surgery. he wasn't himself.

It's probably because he wasn't. He was pitching her is what it was happening. Exactly. But look, I think they, if Cindergards back and healthy, which I've seen his bullpins that he's posted, he's training right at the street for me in Palm Beach Gardens at Eric Cressy's place, who is actually the head of like strength and conditioning for the Yankees,

by the way. So that's, I probably asked Tion about that because he'll probably get to know Cressie pretty well. But he throws his bullpen shirtless, which is kind of odd to me, but I guess if you're built like a Greek God, you can pull it off. I wear two shirts when I practice.

But anyways, look, they don't need Bauer. I don't think they need Bauer if I think Stroman has a good year. I enjoyed when we talked with him, and he explained what he's doing going into this season. It feels really good about that. If Thor is back, which I think he will be. His bullpins look like he's getting after it. Like he looks like he's ready.

He's always in. Yeah. We know what you're, you know what you're going to get from DeGrom. I just, I really, another guy in that bullpen I like is David Peterson, the lefty.

That's not getting a lot of attention. Who's probably going to be their number five. I know how much he lost that Lugo, too, because that's like your guy. Yeah, but put him in the pin, dude. I'm telling you, don't make him a starter. He's not that good as a starter.

He can spot start if you needed if someone goes down. Keep him in the pin. That's where he thrives. He can be that long guy, come in and the though you five, six, seven inning, and then you can go on to the, the back end of the bullpen, but they need to leave him in the bullpen.

But I think Thor's back. I think Thor has a good year. I really do. He's going to be fresh. He's going to be hungry. And he's going to be surrounded by some of the best pitchers in the game, which is always an advantage. I like to be brought up that Lugo's best in a pen because being healthy and not getting

injured, it stretches further than just that individual player. It's really, it affects the entire team in that if Cindergard gets hurt, then you have to bring logo in as a starter. And then that creates a hole in your bullpen. So it's snowballs. And so it's not just individual, oh, man, Cindergards down. We're going to have to fill that spot. It leaks into and it creates holes in the rest of your team. So I think that's what a lot of people miss. It's not just the individual player. It can completely handcuff a team because your teams succeed most when they know what their role is. You succeeded when you were a young player. You knew exactly what was expected of you. Every single day.

he went to the ballpark. You knew where you were going to hit in the order. You knew you weren't going to be the three, four hitter, but you knew you were going to be hitting in that five, six hole. And you're going to be protecting Poppy and Manning and these guys. Teams succeed best when they know their individual roles. Look at Daniel Bard. All right. He was one of the best set up men in baseball in Boston. They tried to make him a starter. All of a sudden, he couldn't throw strikes. He got the yips. It was out of the game until he came back with Colorado last year.

He put him back in the bullpen and he's lights out again. He found it, but it screwed him up, going a starter, and maybe changing his arm slot, not throwing as hard to, you know, get him through, you know, six innings in a game instead of coming in and throwing 15 pitches. So, yeah, you're spot on with that. If you know your role and you can perfect that role, stay in that role. So Seth Lugo needs to stay that, like, Swiss Army and I don't make him a starter. Let's switch gears a little bit and let's attack some hitters here.

Jordan Alvarez, who's coming off season-ending surgery with Houston Astros. The raining, well, not really raining anymore rookie in the year because he didn't play last year. But he won the rookie of the year in 2019, where they just fell short of winning the World Series against the Washington Nationals. After losing George Springer, the Houston Astros are going to very much welcome a bat like Gordon Alvarez back in the wild. No doubt. This is, I mean, the guy can hit for average, too. I honestly believe he's like an all around really, really good hitter. I mean, we see the pop.

That's right. I mean, that's right in front of us. He's massive. He's a huge guy. He's another guy like Thori's built like a Greek god. He's just jacked. It's crazy. Like people are born like this.

Maybe he works hard. Who knows? Wait, let me interject. Okay. You said people are born like that? Is it just me or is it really difficult to get like forearms and cabs? at the gym because I swear I do cap raises almost every day. Aren't you 6-6?

Yeah. And I got like cancals here. Like I can't get calves no matter how hard. I can do calves every single day, 150 reps for the next 30 days. They will not grow. All right. You mean to tell you how to get calves? I found out.

And they came with my dad bod. So when I was 215, 220 when I was playing, I didn't have big calves. Average at best. All right. Now dad bought, I was like 240. I'm carrying 240 around all day every day. I'm carrying a 30-pound kid, 15-pound kid, do the math, carrying around a plate all day.

I'm not talking about food. I'm talking about 45 pounds. But I never know. I have constant weight with me all the time. The extra dad-baud weight, that's how you get calves. So you're saying I have to have a kid in order to have calves? Yeah. I'm not sold then.

I think you'd rather. not have cats. That's true. There's nothing wrong. Another guy that's, he, he of course played last year, but he didn't pitch. He pitched two games, I think it was,

before he left with injury, with Shoahatani. And when he said it, I felt a couple of times in the show. Justin up and told us he's the most talented player he's ever seen. He throws up in 90s with his fastball, he's got a devastating splitter, he's got a solid breaking ball

when he's able to locate. Shehotani, the Angels, it's funny. They just brought over Alex Cobb a couple of days ago, or they're still in the works of bringing in Alex Cobb from the Baltimore Orioles. The Angels supposedly saying they might be out on the Bauer sweepstakes, which is interesting because I don't know why they would be out. They got plenty of money. I know Pools, handcuffs them a little bit,

but if they're out on Bauer, that certainly hurts the rotation. They're able to add Jose Cantana. They were able to add Chris Suzuki behind the backstop. Raisal Iglesis in the bullpen. Sheho Atani, if they're not able to, if they really are out on these big name for agents, Otani is going to have to,

unfortunately, be the guy. I think he should be the guy. The guy is, I agree with Justin. He's one of the most talented baseball players I've seen too. The guy can throw 100 and he can hit the ball 450 feet. That doesn't happen very often. But there's a lot of rumblings

about maybe he won't pitch as much this year. So I don't know where those rumblings are coming from, but I don't agree with him. I feel like you need you need him. And I think, why would you waste that offense? Like go get pitching and be a World Series contender. Yeah. Like go get two arms starting pit.

Like just spend the money and you're going to reap the benefit. from it because I talk about how high the ceiling is on their offense. Their lineup is really, really good. But they're wasting it. And I feel like they're okay being mediocre. Yeah. And it's you're wasting the probably going to end up being the best player of all time. You're wasting his peak.

You're wasting Justin Upton, Albert Pouls, end of his career, Rendon. Like you have all these, I mean, Otani, like he could be a really good hit her too. Like, you're wasting this offense because you don't want to spend the money to go get good pitching. It's just, oh, man, I don't know. But back to Otney, you've got to have him in the mix. He's too good to not be on the mound. He's too good to not hit a couple days in between it starts. You got to ride that horse as long as you can. And then eventually the decision will make itself, which, you know, if he ends up being a better pitcher, then you can maybe let him focus on pitching more. If he, if he isn't pitching well, like we saw last year, like he,

I think he just, maybe he wasn't trusting that he was all the way healthy yet because a V-Loh wasn't there, the location wasn't there, and he got hit around when he pitched. So just, you can't give up on him yet. He's too talented. So give him a chance, see what happens. Let him do the two-way thing. You got to, I think you let him be a two-way player. The problem with Atani is they're putting too much. They're relying on him too much. They're relying on him to be their ace and be their four-hitter,

or three-hitter or wherever they have him in the line. That's too much to put on. He's good enough for that. He's good enough for that. But, yeah, it could be a lot for the kid. I mean, not. It's a lot of pressure.

You can apply on a guy to pitch 30 times a year and then also be your four-hater. I think it's too much. I think if you really want him to be a two-way player, you expect 10 to 15 starts a year. You have to get 10. around him so that he's not shoving it all out there every single time he takes them out. And then he's blowing his arm out. Yeah.

And they haven't provided that. I agree. I fully agree with you. So we got Jamison Tyone coming up just a second. Let me ramble off a couple names here that are coming back, either from injury or opted out. David Price, who you love talking about, of course. Go ahead and hit David Price before we move on because he's going to be a big factor coming up for the Dodgers. He opted out last season because of COVID-19.

he's been coming back and it's already a stacked, obviously, World Series roster. They won a World Series in 2020, David Price. Yeah, they're stacked, but they have a lot of question marks. They have a lot of question, like, more offensively, I think, than on the pitching side. But you add him with Kirchaw and Bueller, all of a sudden you have three really good arms. I think Gosling's going to be good.

You add David Price in that mix last postseason, And you don't have to worry about, like, oh, is Dustin May. You just going to be the, you go throw the first inning. And then, you know, it's like, there were so many questions in the postseason. If David Price was there, none of those questions, it would have even existed. That's why they were in a buying because they didn't have him. And now he's going to add to that. And their rotation is going to be really good because I really like Gonsland.

I really like Dustin May to the probably, those will probably be your four and five. Like, that's nasty. I mean, the meat of their lineup is, it's. Still going to be pretty good with Seeger right there in the three hole probably. He was ridiculous in the postseason. But they definitely have some question marks and some holes, some voids to fill losing Jock, Kiki. No, another kid I really like Will Smith, man.

That catcher, I think he's going to be a stud. He's so mature for his age. Like, is it bats in the postseason? That's what people don't understand. They didn't have a ton of fans. maybe that played into it, but postseason baseball and postseason at bats or World Series at bats,

it's a different beast, man. Like, you feel that at the plate when you're like, oh, my God, this is a World Series. Like, every pitch is so important, and he handled it like you've been there seven times. So I think he's going to be really good. But back to David Price,

he's going to be huge for that, that rotation to just kind of bridge the, you know, not have a void, not to have an open spot or, I guess a void's a word I'm looking for. Without him, they have a hole. So they're going to be really good pitching ones. There's so many guys in this list we unfortunately weren't able to get to

and we could spend so much more time on this subject. But Chris Sale, Brennan McKay for the raise, Tommy Canley is going to be coming back to the Dodgers in that bullpen, Nate Pearson with the Blue Jays, Stephen Strauss, or Michael Kulpeg. The list goes on. Unfortunately, we're out of time. We've got to get to Jamson Tyone coming up next on Fancy Baseball Today podcast. Bartender, give me a shot of Jameson, Jameson, the newest New York Yankees starting pitcher,

joining us on the Fantasy Baseball today podcast. Thanks very much for joining this, Jameson. Yeah, thanks for that sick intro. I was, dude, I've been practicing that for the last week. I'm so glad, like, pulled it off. But, hey, let me ask you this. Has it really sunk in that you're going to be pitching for the New York Yankees? It's definitely settled in more than it had originally.

I've talked to everybody within the organization that I need to talk to, talk to Boone, talk to the pitching coach, Matt Blake, talk to some of the teammates. I'll be joining there in Tampa in a few weeks. So that part settled in, but I don't think it'll really hit until I put on the uniform, like first day pitchers and catchers down in Florida. How much contact you have with Garrett Cole? I mean, obviously ex-teammates, everybody's going to want to talk about that.

We obviously want to talk about that because he's arguably one of the best pitchers in the game right now. if not just the richest. So how close are you guys is? Was this something that you guys are pretty fired up about or what? Yeah. So, you know, with the Pirates organization, we live together, probably for three spring trainings, two or three spring trainings. You know, we'd cook dinners together, hang out all the time. And then once I got called up to Pittsburgh, he beat me there by a few years. So I really kind of leaned on him for just showing me how to go about my business, you know, you know how that goes. Being a young guy, what time should I get treatment?

What time should I take the bus? Should I Uber early? All the small things that turn into big things if you do them wrong. Garrett was my guy for literally all of that. And I also felt safe with Garrett. Like if I'm with him, I can't get in too much trouble. So he was my dude in Pittsburgh. I'd go out early, play catch with him, watch his bullpins.

And, you know, if you watch the Yankees game or, you know, you watched him with Houston, he's always talking about pitching, always talking about his craft. I'm really fired up to get to work with them again because I've just kind of redefined who I am as a pitcher. I've changed my mechanics a lot. So being around a guy like that's going to be huge. But we're definitely boys off the field and we're really good working teammates at the field. You mentioned you retooled your mechanics.

So I heard you're going to be doing a little bit shorter arm slot kind of Lucas Fiolitis, right? And a little bit more spin rate on your fastball and slider. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So I really changed the way my lowered body was moving. I found some things. When I got hurt, I think it was a early May game in Texas when I finally, it was like,

I can't keep pitching through this anymore. I need to get some help. And right when that happened, I was like, okay, regardless of whether I get surgery or what my path back is going to be, I have to change some stuff about the way I throw because my elbows always freaking hurting, like talking on the phone hurt. So I knew I had to go back to the drawing board. So I got into my legs more, got into my glutes a little more, less quad dominant, more heel connection and then in turn that's like really shorted up my arm. I'm moving way quicker. So I do

see myself being a little bit more of a four seam top of the zone, big breaking ball guy. The Velo's staying consistent, even though you changed up the mechanics, is it about, because you were averaging around 95 mid-90s on your basketball before. Yeah. So I threw some sim games at the end of the year. I was up to like three or four innings facing our hitters. I was like 92, 95. So, you know, with no fans in the stand. hands, no defenders behind you. I was pretty happy with that. I was always a guy before my injury. Like, I had a really hard time throwing like full speed bullpins. I would throw like 85 and I'd have some effort on it. And so far this January, my pens, I've been in like 91 to 94 just in, you know,

batting cage throwing bullpens and I'm really not trying to produce that velocity. So number one, I feel healthy and two, I think the VLO will be right where it needs to be. Just casually, 91, 94. Yeah, no big deal in January. Right out of bed. February, I guess now. So let's talk about a little bit the going from Pittsburgh to New York. Obviously, two organizations that are two different speeds right now in 2021 for what their goal is this season. We know Pittsburgh is rebuilding. We know what's going on over there. And then New York is a win now, win now place, which you have to be fired up about.

And I know how special Pittsburgh was to you. You were there for so long. and you went through a lot there, you know, with the double surgeries, beat cancer, a ton of stuff that people probably, you know, people know, people know about you, but once you get to New York and you scan New York Post and the New York media, all these, a lot more people are going to find out about your story, which is super inspiring to a ton of people to me. And I just, I mean, just talk about that a little bit,

that the going from Pittsburgh to New York and then just a little bit of everything you went through. I thought you were in Pittsburgh. Yeah, so just from the baseball perspective, you know, I'm going over to the Yankees organization. And I've already talked to like the performance team over there. I mean, they just have it running like a well-oiled machine. Like that fires me up. I've already been on conference calls with some of the guys. So that side of it, I've been super impressed already.

And that's one of the first things Garrett said to me is like, dude, you're going to be blown away by how well they treat the players, which is what you'd expect out of the Yankees, I guess. but like I've gotten to see it firsthand now. And then, I mean, I'm going to have a pretty, pretty badass offense behind me when I go out there every fifth day. I mean, they've got some mashers. You know, the lineup doesn't really take a break one through nine. So that's really exciting. That'll be a bit different. You know, that's going to translate some good defense too.

You know, that lineup they play some really good defense. I mean, I've been a fan of watching him play defense for a while now. They can pick it kind of all over the field. So I'm excited to get there and get in that locker room. You know, I've heard it's a great group of guys. So that fires me up. And then just, you know, the difference in the cities, I'll always feel super connected to Pittsburgh. I mean, you know, how it goes.

It's first organization, gave me my first job. I went through a lot, like you said there. I got to know people in the community. I got to do community work. I got to know people at restaurants, coffee shops, neighbors in my building, all the good stuff like that. So I'll miss all of that. But so far, the welcome from Yankees fans have been pretty overwhelming.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to sharing my story, getting involved in the community there and seeing where I fit in. What do you think Pittsburgh's doing exactly? Because within the past few years, obviously you could call to rebuild. They've gotten rid of yourself, Garrett Cole, Andrew McCutcheon, Josh Bell, a lot of really good, Starly Marte. A lot of real, I mean, you guys were staffed. a few years back. Now, not so much. What do you think they're going in Pittsburgh? Because a lot of fans are confused. Yeah, it's, I mean, if I had stayed healthy, I've always, I have this question in my mind. It's like, if I stayed healthy in 2019, we were coming off a year where a lot of our

young guys took a step forward. We were above 500 in 2018. If, you know, we all played our, our abilities in 2019, we might not be, or the Pirates organization might not be in this, in this situation. So it falls on the player. Like when a rebuild like this happens, it's because we proved that we couldn't win together. And that sucks. That's just the cold hard truth. That's the reality of it. But, you know, we weren't winning.

And I felt like for a while there in Pittsburgh, we were kind of in the middle. We knew we had some talent on the team. We weren't surrounding that team that we were putting out there with, you know, the players that would push us over the edge. So, you know, I know it sucks to be a Pirates fan right now, but I'd actually look on the bright side. I think they've got the right people in place to do this, you know, from the staff we hired last year, the front office we're bringing in. I really enjoyed my time working with them. So I'm sure like Pirates fans are getting sick of being told to be patient and they've waited long enough for a good team. They deserve a winning team.

But I don't know. I think we weren't winning. So this is where they are. Yeah. I mean, that's plain and simple to talk. It's a business. That's what people. Yeah.

It is a game. and it's we're playing a kid's game for a living, but at the end of the day, there's a lot of money involved, and you need to win. That's just how it is. So changing speeds a little bit with you. So senior videos,

we've talked a little bit, you know, you're throwing, you're feeling good, you're looking, it's coming out well. I mean, you're definitely going to be ready

for spring training, right? Yeah, yeah, I'm right on track. I need to talk to them about, like, what kind of schedule they want me on, but I'm ready to roll for anything they throw my way.

Okay. And then obviously you had the first Tommy John. And then the second one was it actually, it was flexor tendon. But then they did they revisit the UCL? Yeah. So I went into surgery not knowing exactly what they were going to do. In the back of my mind, I knew that I probably needed my UCL fixed again. Like something just never quite took for my first surgery.

And so they went in there. I thought flexor for sure. They went in the flexor was better than they anticipated. UCL was worse than they anticipated. So I went in thinking Flexor came out with the new UCL, but this one feels like completely different than my first surgery. What pitches, so when you're coming about, obviously I was a position player. I pitched in high school, but I didn't have Tommy John, for one.

Obviously, control is your big thing coming back. Is there like certain pitches or feel for maybe a breaking ball, like turning over a changeup? Like what's the hardest thing to overcome post Tommy John? I mean, the thing for me that was the hardest, probably just trusting it, like getting out of that rehab protection mode, being able to say, hey, I'm healthy, I can compete, I can let it fly. That's not a concern anymore, but I don't know. It's always funny for me. Like, I actually have a pretty easy time spinning the ball just has always made sense to me. Like, I'm probably throwing my slider easier for a strike right now than any other pitch. Curr ball is always like just felt good in my hand.

I've always had good command of my fastball to change up. I don't know if it's a Tommy John thing or not, but it's still just a work in progress. It's been a work in progress since I got into Pro Bowl. So I'd say maybe turning over a change up for me. Okay. How tough it is it? Is it because MLBPA, I'm usually baseball,

they don't really, somebody's asking for a delay to the season, somebody's asking for no delay. For a guy like you, you're coming back from injury, and you're on your own schedule, but how tough is it for you right now, not really knowing when the season is going to start?

Yeah, I mean, it was in the back of my mind all offseason wondering what was going to happen. And I know from the player perspective, like we anticipated and expected the league to come to us with something back in, you know, October, November, December even. Some guys were playing it safe with delaying. They're throwing, delaying they're hitting. But at a certain point as a player, you have to get ready to compete.

And for them to come to us now this late into the offseason, while guys have, I mean, the human aspect of it, guys have started shipping cars, booking Airbnbs for spring training, all that. But then from like the big league ballplayer side of it, guys are ramped up, guys are facing hitters. I was watching Tyler Glass now, I'll pump 97 against hitters the other day. Like now you're going to ask him to ramp it back down and take a break.

I just don't think that's, I don't think that's right. And then for me, just like selfishly, I got the edge to play. Like I want to go. I want to play. I want to be there already. So I'm full speed ahead to a regular spring training. anything. I'm ready to roll. What are they telling you? Have they told you guys anything recently? I mean, just that MLB proposal. So I was our player rep in Pittsburgh. So I was on all these calls.

I got all the information. And now going to New York and it was Zach Brittons. I think the player rep in Garrett's on the executive council. So they have us covered. But all I'm hearing is that we don't have to accept any sort of deal. Like just be ready to go on time. Let's get the health protocols nailed down. But besides that, we should be a full go. Yeah, even if you don't accept a deal with the league, there's still going to be a season. That's what a lot of people don't understand, I think. And a lot of the reasons the PA isn't really moving or giving into this is because

it comes down to bargaining agreement after the season. Bargaining chips, which Danny and I talk about a lot on here, do you like the idea of expanded playoffs? I like asking current players this because I know personally I don't like it I don't like it being watered down I want the best teams I want you to have to spend money on good players and want to win and need to be above a 500 club to make the playoffs I just I hate the watered down playoffs yeah I think so I got to ask this question like last spring training my answer is like you know the more teams in the playoffs the more interest we get maybe the more teams that think they have a chance so they might go sign that. that player, the more I think about it, it definitely waters it down. And then it's going to incentivize teams to just get in. You know, it's, if you can be the 14 seed or be, you know, under 500 team and get in, why would you go spend that extra money on, I don't know, a big three agent? Why would you go get Trevor Bauer if you could get in without them? So I like the idea now of making the playoffs

exclusive. You know, I don't think half the league should get into the playoffs. But, you know, clearly the league isn't letting it go easy. They really want it. So it's something I, that I guess will have to continue talking about and seeing their numbers and why they want it so badly. But yeah, from the from the player side, I mean, you get it. Like, I've never even been to the playoffs in the big leagues. I've maybe been to the playoffs once in the minor leagues. But, you know, and saying that, I wouldn't want to get in as a team that doesn't deserve to be there. But then you have like Astros last year who limped in and almost went to the World Series. You know, they got hot at the right time.

And then there's those teams that have that case. But yeah, I'm with you. I'm not. It needs to be more exclusive. You have to play well. You have to win games. It's just that's got to be number one. And we know, we know owners.

We know why the owners want it. There's more revenue there. exactly and they're all crying poor right now which is a joke to me but that's that's for a whole other podcast let me ask you let me ask you one more and then brooks he's got some rapid fire for you and we'll speed things up dude you've been through a lot to tommy johns you had the sports hernia you've had you've beaten cancer you've had injury after injury you're in number to pick you've had pressure you've been through it all really and you're not even 30 years old yet and you ever think about hanging them up and saying look

maybe this just isn't for me. So I had never thought about it until this most recent elbow injury. Like I was not having fun throwing a baseball. My elbow hurt all the time. I was trying to just make sure no one knew that I was hurting. So I was trying to cover it up. That's not a good way to live. It's not good for your mental health.

You know, I would go into the training room and be like, hey, just hypothetically, if my elbow hurt in this area, what should I do for it? Like I felt very alone trying to not let anyone know. that I was hurting and I didn't want to be known as the hurt guy. So I was trying to cover it up. But I told myself like, man, I don't know if I can go through another Tommy John rehab. And then once I had the surgery,

I mean, from literally the first day after surgery, I felt fixed. I felt healthy. And that's what drove me through this rehab. And then like the curiosity of changing my mechanics this time through is like just reignited my passion for baseball and for pitching. Throwing is so fun for me again.

I love talking about the game, talking about pitching again. But, you know, each rehab is like its own little entity. It's all separate in my mind. So each injury I have, you know, you might sulk on it for a day and then you get over to the point where it's like, okay, I need to find a way to get better and get healthy. So it doesn't feel like all those injuries got me down at once. They were all separate.

And I was trying to rehab them all separately and become the guy that I know I can be. So I guess that's a long way of saying, like, through each injury, I know. I can still be a really good big leaguer, and that's why I'm still going. Yeah, just know your story, man. You've become one of my favorite players for that exact reason. Just the way you've been able to persevere through it all is pretty inspiring. And thank you for doing that. Yeah, thanks.

I wish I didn't have to be that guy. But yeah, it's been a wild ride. And hopefully, you know, with everything and all the work I've put in, hopefully that's all part of my past. And now I can be the healthy guy that, you know, a team can count on seeing out there every fifth day. all right that was deep now we got to get into the fun questions all right let's do it i'm getting emotional over here hey i was the hurt guy a lot i understand where you're coming from in rehab i mean i'll say it's it's a it's tough it's tough mentally more than physically

a lot of times so yeah let's get into these rapid fires i guess of a few fun questions it just our viewers will definitely enjoy hearing so first first things first can you give me your top three pitchers in baseball right now. Garrett and DeGrom, no-brainer. Number three, like I'm a huge fan of Shane Bieber. Love the way he throws. Love what he brings to the table.

But I'm actually going to still give that third spot to, it's hard to pick between Kirchaw and Scherzer, but like I'd say I still enjoy watching Kirchah a lot. So I'll go Garrett DeGrom, Kershaw. Yeah. The longevity of his peak has been really, really cool to see. I actually looked up his numbers the other day

and they're insane. Even when you feel like Kirta has a down year, they're still nuts. That's why so many people get caught up on his postseason, you know, tough outings he had in the postseason, which he did better last year, but he's unbelievable.

He's a Hall of Famer. What hitter do you hate to face? This is easy because you can look up numbers. Off the top of my head, I'll say number one would be Hobby Baez. He just does everything to me. He hits for power. bunt hits. He's hit a ball that bounced for a single. I've broken his bat for hits.

He sliced the cover off the baseball and gotten a hit. He's that guy. He's done it all off of me. He just, just some guys, you just have no chance to get out. It's just not meant to be. Yeah, it's bias and another random one is Jose Paraza. He kind of owns me too. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So in that same breath, like who's someone that you feel like you just always own? you got to have your guys you're like oh thank God he's in the box I need this right now

if you say me I really I really truly don't know like I don't know I know I know I know I've done pretty well against like Adam Duval maybe but I know he has a homer off of me so man I really don't know the answer that question okay okay you know what I'll say Scott Shebler you I did pretty well against him

I figured a few things out facing him a few years ago. Okay. Cool. All right. What's your favorite road stadium to pitch it? St. Louis. Love the mound there. Love the fans.

It's a cool. It's a place to play. Super nice locker room. Great pregame bullpen. Solid. Awesome. Okay. So, all right.

Your parents are Canadian. Got the whole dual citizenship thing going. Do you think you can sing like the first three lines of the song for me? the Canadian anthem. Oh, man, this is embarrassing. Don't put this, but all I know is the O Canada part. Oh, you're not a real Canadian. Then, okay, that's fair.

That's all I know, too. I was born in Florida, moved to Texas when I was three. Still have a lot of family in Canada, though. So proud to have that background. So Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love, and all of us command. You're reading that. No, that's on top of my head. Sure it is, Danny.

Okay, but we didn't even talk about your high school, the Woodlands, home of Paul Goldsmith, Caldrabeck, Brett Eidner. You guys just spit out baseball players down there. Yeah, so I missed that 06 team was stacked. I came in right after them. I was in eighth grade when Paul was a senior. I played with his little brothers. You know, I got drafted in 10.

Brian Brickhouse got drafted in 11 by the Royals really high. I mean, like my senior year, and you know, it's crazy is I never went deep into the Texas state playoffs. We always lost. But our team, like, the worst player you'd find on our starting nine in high school was going to like Weatherford or Cisco Junior College, like really solid junior colleges. So we were back. It was a lot of fun. But I was telling Danny about this. Caldrabic was the best high school baseball player I ever saw and played again.

He would play shortstop and hit like three homers in a game, like 10 or, like, 10 or, RBIs and then he'd come in and throw like 96 off the bump in high school. I think that high school team might have been better when he played shortstop. Like he was so good at shortstop. Yeah, he was nasty. I mean, I saw him just toy around with hitters in high school. My dad would take me to every one of his games to watch. And I mean, he was throwing like knuckle balls out there, just goofing around, punching guys out.

He was nasty. And then here's like 95 with sync. Who was the best high school player you played against? Do you remember? I'm trying to think. You know who's nasty? It was Matt Perk. Do you remember him?

The lefty. The PCU. Yeah, I played with him in the Fall League. He was one of the most impressive arms I've ever seen. I didn't hit in high school, but like just watching from afar, he was absolutely. His delivery was different, man. The ball came out weird. Yeah.

He was really good. Yeah. He was with the Nationals, right? I think. Yeah, Nationals, maybe White Sox. TCU. Awesome, man. He was like 95 from the left side.

This was a lot of fun, man. We appreciate you coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, I've been I'm going to enjoy watching your story, man. I'm really excited to see what you guys are. I'm excited for you to really be a part of a winning team and hopefully you guys have a lot of success year.

Best of luck you, Jameson. James and Tyone's going to be at the forefront of it all this year with the New York Yankees. And I have concerns, not just with Tyone, but the rest of the rotation, you have Garrett Cole, who's arguably the best pitcher in the game. After that, you have Cory Klobber, who's going off injury, Jameson Tion's going off injury, Jordan Montgomery had Tommy John a couple of years ago.

Debbie Garcia could possibly be in the rotation. He had six career starts. Louis Severino, we talked about already coming off injury. That's the Yankees in a nutshell. It seems like there's always somebody coming off injury, and we always talk about their potential. They could be the best team in baseball, but they're just not out there on the field. So now you're spot on

I think the past two years That's been the story for them as being hurt I mean they had their offensive studs It's a ton of time Two years ago And then and then last year they had all the pitching Injuries so Was that because of the 60 game season

They ramp up slow down ramp up Probably that's tough on an arm You know better than me you were pitcher They have a lot of good options though They have like seven solid options For their rotation and we've talked about this before. Their offense is so good if they're healthy and on the field.

But they have a lot of depth. I think they're going to score runs. And they have a really good bullpen who for the most part has been pretty healthy. I mean, they're down out of Vino, but they're still are solid. So I think that takes some pressure off of these starters and they don't have to go out of those seven shuddy. They can just have a quality start. Even if it's five innings, you can probably bridge six, seven inning. and then you get the jab man with the lead.

I mean, he's still pretty good. So I think they're going to be fine. I think Severino, his health, is going to make or break this rotation, in my opinion. Call me crazy, but I think he could be their number two. He has the stuff to be their number two. So I think his health is going to be key to backing up coal in that rotation. I just don't like how Cashman constructed it. When you have so many question marks with your lineup,

because Aaron Judge has been hurt. Giancarlo Stanton has been hurt. Gary Sanchez is not even sick. Hicks, yeah. They get injured a lot. And then now you're constructing your starting rotation with injury prone players. I don't know.

And again, I love Tyone. He's one of my favorite pitchers in baseball. But it's not just Tyone. It's everyone within that rotation. They have injury history. The ceiling is very high, but the floor is very low. Yes, exactly. And I'm going to go out there and say it right now, I think Aaron Boone is absolutely on the hot seat.

If they don't make the World Series this year, if they don't win the World Series, he might be done. But if they don't make the World Series, I think he's seeing his final days in the Bronx. Okay. Heard it here first, guys. I don't disagree with you. I don't disagree. I don't even know what his contract looks like, but it's New York's New York Yankees, the money they're spending. You got to, period.

And that's what sucks about it, though. is only so much is on the manager. Like it really comes down to like when he decides to change the pitcher. Like that's the biggest decision he'll make. Like maybe put on a hit and run, which are a bunt, which we never see that anymore anyway, especially in the American League.

We might not see it in the National League anymore to be with the DH if we get it. But it's on the players. I'll talk about this all. Like he'll have to wear it because it's easier to replace a manager than a player making $30 million a year. So he'll have to wear it if they don't win.

But ultimately, it's a player's fault. Come on. Who got this weekend? Bucks or Chiefs in the Super Bowl? I love Tom Brady, but I'm going Chiefs. I think this is a passing of the torch from Tom Brady, the goat to the baby goat. And Patrick Mahomes, I think this is passing of the torch right here.

And I think it's going to be a great game, though. There's so many weapons on the field. for both teams. It's going to be really fun to watch. Chiefs, over the bucks, 3527. 3527. I'm going to go 38, 31. So it's going to be a good game.

Yeah, I think. I hope so. Give me on CBS too. Good for the company. Get for the brands. All right, guys. We will see you next week, next Wednesday on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Wilhelmina Brooks, Danny Vetti. Adios, people.