 Hi everyone, welcome to field three in Tampa, Florida as you can see it is a beautiful day here. We are sorry We know you are freezing in the Northeast. I'm Meredith Moracovitz. That is Jack Curry Jack a little bit of a slow day here in Tampa a Raldis Chapman the only pitcher to throw a bullpen There are no crazy news as far as that's concerned, but there was a pitching development It was a pitching development in our world, which could be the s-network world That's what I'm referring to talk to Garrett Cole this morning And my mission this spring has been to get Garrett Cole and David Cohn to sit down for an interview I want to moderate it for selfish reasons because I want to hear what they have to say about the art of pitching and Cole said I'll do it. He said sure when David gets here. Let's try and work out a day He said that he is aware when he was with the Astros that O'Neill and Cohn were broadcasters for us And I said I just really want to pick both of your brains and talk as much pitching as possible And if I may throw out a plug to Meredith I I gave him a copy of our book. I said here Coney is a genius There's there's a lot of pitching wisdom in this book And so he took the book he was happy to get it the interview needs to come next. Okay, here's my question I am excited for the interview That's gonna be great stuff because I can listen to David Cohn talk about pitching all day long And I imagine Garrett Cole is about the same way just based on what we've seen from him here So far the way he goes about his business the bullpens the way he discusses it with Aaron Boone Matt Blake the catchers everybody thereafter, but what was his initial reaction when you hand it in the book? Did it go right in the locker? Did it go right in the bag? I know it didn't go in the garbage. It's too good a book for that Well here if I'm going to tell the truth here I put it in a manila envelope because I really wanted to be discreet and I handed it to him in the envelope He took it out of the envelope and he said did you sign it? Come on you get a little you get a little excited I was flabbergasted because I've never had a major league player essentially ask me for my autograph So again trying to walk along that road of discretion I said when David gets here, we'll both sign it and he repeated. Yeah, man. You've got to sign it So that was actually a very cool moment I also think it shows Just what kind of guy Garrett Cole is and we're both getting the chance to know him better and Just a really good dude who I gave him something that was of interest to him And he thanked me for it and one of the one of the John Hancock there pretty cool now You're not gonna like me for this. All right. I'm already I feel bad before it even comes out Do you think that he's seen the pitch and could we maybe get him to break down the pitch? Yes, with you and Cody. I guess a is no he didn't see my pitch Yes, if someone showed it to him because he's a kind guy I think he would be kind and say well that wasn't probably your best first pitch But I'm clinging to the idea that I just had a lot of late movement on that pitch I that and you I mean you were you were on the you were on the Mound so I was having such a good day and you had to bring that. I'm sorry. Do you hate me? Usually it's Paul O'Neill or Michael K who do that to me now. It's double M doing that to me. All right Sorry last time last time. I swear as far as other pitchers are concerned I know you asked Erin Boone a little bit about Chad Green and his role on the team this year Green was an opener so many times for the Yankees last year Meredith And it was needed and he did well in that role I just wonder if this year if his role is going to be different now Aaron Boone didn't come right out and say yes Absolutely different, but he did talk about his versatility. I see him more as that that middle innings Terminator guy. I think that's the need that the Yankees are going to have for him or late inning guy Then the opener I don't know that they're going to need him if they stay healthy right to be the guy in that role as much as he Was last season. I'm sure their hope is ideally they do stay healthy and they don't have to put him in that role But when you talk about being that middle innings guy, will it be multiple innings or will he be a one inning guy? I think that is probably still to be determined But he was that one guy that they could really lean on if they had to to give them more than three outs And especially even though he didn't really pitch much last year in Delin botances He was that other guy that would be able to give them multiple outs You wonder how many guys are in that back end of the bullpen that they'd feel comfortable doing that with on a consistent basis Right green in a perfect world is absolutely the multi inning guy and you and I both know it's about how efficient Can he be this is a guy who gets so many swings and misses and is a high strikeout guy that if he's out there for six batters He probably is throwing 40 pitches still So I think it's about him being as efficient as he can be but I absolutely see him Four four game five innings at Fenway Park. You're trying to keep the game right there You you go to green for the next two innings You hope your offense does something and then you have Audivino Britain Chapman to kind of close that game out. We saw the opener for the first time I believe two years ago when the Tampa Bay race started doing it in last year It seemed like more teams than ever adopted that policy There is a little bit of a change to the injured list this year Position players will remain at 10 days if they have to go on the IL however pitchers are back to 15 Because of that and maybe there's not as much movement in shuffling guys back and forth getting fresh arms from AAA Do you think we'll see less openers in general this season? I do and I think that's a factor what you just brought up because when it was 10 days Think about a starting pitcher you could put cc sabatheon the dl as the Yankees did a few times last year He could essentially miss one start because you could bring him right back on the day that he is activated and eligible and ready to pitch So I think it remains an option for all teams and boon talked about that the opener But I do think the 15 day dl does limit your flexibility and and moving people up and down Especially the way you're going to have to use the bullpen thereafter That opener potentially depending on what your situation is with your starting staff I spoke a little bit to louise sessa today. He's a guy that's still vying for the fifth spot in the rotation And he said business as usual this happens He's almost like the adam warren Updated adam warren because it would happen to adam warren every time he came into camp Are you going to be a bullpen guy? Are you going to be a starter come in prepare like a starter? And then we'll kind of go from there to see where you fit And I think sessa has shown this guy's a major league pitcher He is a guy major league pitcher with with four pitches last year He didn't have any options left so it was clear that he was going to be a guy who was going to be on the team And I think he has value coming out of that bullpen. He challenges hitters He's he's got a durability side to him So I think that's a pitcher that you can look to contribute to the Yankees in 2020 And because he has started a little bit and he will be a little bit more stretched out Probably more as the long man He would be able to give you multiple innings if you needed to but one thing he only did once last year Was go back to back you wonder if the Yankees considered doing that at all With him either end of this spring or throughout the course of the season Right, I think they they know their pitchers well and they know the ones that can and can't do that They shied away from that as you said last season, but any Way of making himself more versatile and being able to do that is only going to help his chances of being a bigger contributor And that certainly depends on how many innings he pitches in a game You're not going to pitch somebody back to back if he goes three or even four innings something crazy like that The catchers were out there today. They took batting practice They're doing a new thing this year where they're having him take batting practice first And then go through the rest of their catching drills. Do you agree with it? Do you think it helps? Sweeney Murdy with a great eye yesterday. He's the one who asked Aaron Boone about that I look at that schedule every day and I hadn't noticed that difference But yes, it makes sense that When you it's a hot day here today, it's in the 80s They didn't want the catchers to put their gear on once early in the day Take it off to go do other drills put the gear back on Now they know that at the time of the day where they put their gear on It's staying on for the rest of the day and they're doing their defense. They're doing their drills They're catching their bullpens. I think it makes a lot of sense Meredith. Have you noticed any differences? With a new catching instructor in the fold This is where I wish we had John Flaherty standing right here because I'm searching for differences and We've asked about it and Aaron Boone has talked about how they want their catchers to have their Right knee Just a little bit lower to the ground a little more flexibility crouched a little bit more Boone has said it should help all aspects of their catching game But you and I off air before we started the tape this we're talking about that There's also has to be something to do with Croyed muscles lower leg and that that was an injury that sanchez has had a lot a couple of times last season And perhaps they feel that that puts him in a better position to avoid those kinds of injuries They're hoping it helps with not only that but perhaps some lower pitches as well and Aaron Boone commented During the press conference that this is probably the most catching depth that they've had in a while It looks like Kyle Higashioka with no options left as we've said throughout all of our hot stove shows He is the guy the analytics staff loves him to be the backup catcher But they've also brought in some veteran guys that could potentially should there be an injury which the Yankees Hope there is not could come into the fold right Eric Kratz Chris. Ionetta. Josh. Totally all have major league time Totally, it's been a couple of years since he's played in the major leagues but you look at Kratz and Ionetta and I'm almost a little surprised that those guys don't have major league jobs I I think they're they're steady backup catchers. They don't have one now But to your point Higashioka needs to perform that they like his defensive ability and his framing They like his power especially against left-handed pitchers, but now you stash a couple of those AAA those other catchers at AAA And they're a phone call away If there is an injury if there are some struggles Sanchez is the guy and he'll catch probably 110 games or so But you want to steady backup catcher and Meredith I'm going to watch this closely because I thought Roman provided that stability in a very difficult role I thought Roman did a very good job of playing sporadically and yet still performing We'll have to see if Higashioka can do the same. It's not an easy thing to do I spoke with Chris Ionetta a little bit and he's a guy that has played a lot of years in the league He said it feels like I'm 21 again. I haven't had to do this in so long He said he actually started working out about a month earlier than he normally does knowing That he is going to need to hit the ground running day one and come Not getting ready for the season at spring training, but be ready To perform as soon as he gets here before we get going here. I need to make one comment jack Fresh out the box. They look great. Check out those white shoes. I know. I'm I'm finally competing with you miss Nike These are stan smiths cloud foam. They might be the most comfortable sneakers I have ever owned But I've been wearing these since my Fordham days. Wow, so 30 plus years of wearing these sneakers. I'm a big believer in clean White sneakers. Love it the warning track dirt will ruin them shortly All right, that is going to do it from george and steinbrenner field. I should say field three next to gms But before we get going, do you uh, you want to race? Did you work out yesterday? Race you to the hill. Oh, come on. No, I don't want to do that. Just kidding. I'm not running for jack curry I'm meredith maroccovis. We will see you tomorrow