 A Meredith Marokovitz alongside Jack Curry. Jack, some things went on today here in Tampa and we will start with Garrett Cole throwing his second simulated game of the spring. Right, he was on field two right behind us and the things that have stood out for me about Cole Meredith, just how detail oriented he is. He runs out to the mound first of all to start a simulated game because he really does want to simulate that this is a regular season game. This could be May, June, July or August. After he finished his warm ups, he had Higashioka Pantamima throw through to second to act like, okay, that's what we're really going to be doing. He did his little walk around the mound. He crouched behind the mound. He kicked at the rubber. So this is a guy who wants everything to feel as if he really is making a start during the season. Oh, and then by the way, he starts throwing 98, 99 mile per hour fastballs. I think he worked in the breaking pitcher too today, at least that's what it looked like for my vantage point. And he continues to impress me with his pitching acumen. There is a certain level of competitiveness to him, even just throwing simulated games. He definitely goes about his business 110% every time. You can tell he is leaving it all out there, making sure he gets the most out of every throwing session. You mentioned the fact that he did incorporate some breaking pitches. The first time he was out there through just the fastball and the changeup this time, he threw four different pitches. He said he felt pretty good about all those pitches afterward, but he did pick out two in particular. They weren't quite right for him. He was not happy with the way that he threw them, but he said they weren't terrible misses. They were okay misses, but still he feels as though there's some room for improvement. But in the second simulated game of spring, you know, it's gonna be a bit of a process, but for him, it seems as though he wants everything perfect right away. I continue to say this, Meredith, he is going to be a treat for you to interview in the clubhouse after games. And then Bob Lorenz and I will be back in the studio and we're just going to say, yeah, there's not much analysis because Gary Cole just said everything that he wanted to do and didn't do. I love that you picked up that point about him being unhappy with a few pitches. He did his pre-simulated game session right behind our cameraman, AJ, over there. On the way from the bullpen to the mound, Higashioka didn't say a word. He walked with Higashioka. I just happened to be walking behind them and was telling him everything that he wanted to do. So imagine when the stakes really are a game against the Red Sox in July. I just think this guy is going to be so amped up, so ready to go. When they signed him, yes, they knew they were getting a great pitcher, but the Yankees talked about the intangibles that he brings. I think you and I are hitting on some of those intangibles right now. Now, Jack, did you know this? This is not the first time, although it's the first time this spring in a simulated game that Garrett Cole has thrown to Kyle Higashioka. Did you know that they've thrown, he's thrown to him in the past? They have a history. Tell us about it. They both played on a scout team together back when they were about 17 years old in Southern California, and it wasn't only Cole, it wasn't only Higashioka. Aaron Hicks was on that team as well. A ton of talent on that team. Now, I haven't been on social media for the last half hour or so. We were getting ready for this shoot. Has anybody found a picture of this team yet? That there's got to be a team photo of that team, especially when three of those 20, well, I know Hicks is injured right now, but eventually that will be 325ths of the Yankee roster. We got to dig up some teammates from that team and find out where they thought all of these players were going. Well, if Garrett Cole saved the sign, you wonder if there's a picture somewhere that he might have saved from the scout team days and Kyle Higashioka was speaking in the clubhouse, and he was kind of joking around a little bit. Yeah, you have to try out to get on this elite team. Unless you're somebody like Aaron Hicks, who probably just got on, he was that good. Did you know he was pitching at that time? I'm not surprised because I know he's got that cannon of an arm. I know that his throws from the outfield have been high 90s, so that's pretty interesting. You got a full notebook today. Think about this. 92, 93, 94, according to Kyle Higashioka, they actually face each other in high school as well. But when he stepped up to the plate, he started throwing 96, 97, and he was like, what is this? It's a 17-year-old in high school. That's pretty darn impressive. Those are some elite teams, some elite players, and like I said, an interesting theme to follow this year with these guys on this team. I think it's interesting. We've seen Sanchez matched with Cole in most of his bullpen sessions in his last simulated game. Smart that Higashioka, even though you're mentioning the history that they have that goes back, however many years it goes back, you want to get him involved with Cole too. He is obviously going to have to catch him at some point this year. And while we're still talking about Cole, Jack, no time like the present to let people know that we will have the first game right here on. Yes, it will be the 22nd of February. The Yankees are taking on the Blue Jays. As of now, it looks as though it'll be former Blue Jay, Jay Hap on the mound, but I'm expected to talk to Garrett Cole at some point in time during that game. So you will hear, hopefully, from Garrett Cole in the broadcast. And a couple of days later, he pitches the 24th. And we know he's going to be the season opener, Meredith. The boon hasn't said it officially, but we know he's pitching an opening day in March 26th in Baltimore as well. There were some other guys that also threw today, Adam Adovino, Luis Sessa, some others on the other field. Also, position players were working out again as a full squad for the second straight day. Aaron Judge was out there. He played a little bit of catch, but pretty much stopped thereafter. Right, and Aaron Boone said that he asked Judge, give me a report on how you feel. And Judge said, game ready, which of course caused Boone to smile for multiple reasons. That's what you would expect Judge to say. And also because Boone knows he's going to still make him wait a little bit a few days away from swinging a bat. But as we said yesterday, Boone said not a major issue. Judge said nothing alarming. So they're moving along at the pace they feel is necessary to get them ready for games. Another guy that spoke in the clubhouse early today was John Carlos Stanton. And I bet everyone at home will be surprised. He was asked about the Houston Astros. He was, and first he was asked about himself and DH versus left field and how he feels health wise. But the questions about the Astros came and he becomes the latest marquee, elite, use whatever word you want, premier player, he's a former MVP to excoriate the Astros. Like Judge, he says he doesn't believe they should have the 2017 World Series. It's clear cut, he said that they cheated so they should not have that trophy. And like Labor Torres, he doesn't believe that the Astros were a non-cheating team in 2019. You do it and it works. It's hard to imagine that a team would just stop doing it cold turkey. Now you were busy just a short while ago with Yankees manager Aaron Boone for an upcoming Yankees access. You wanna give the people at home a little bit of a team? March 15th will be our Yankee access show and we have a lot of content in there. One of the elements that we will have is anyone who remembers Aaron Boone who is an ESPN broadcaster, he would do impersonations of player batting stances. So we had the good fortune of standing with him in the batting area and getting him to do a couple of impersonations. Now I'm not gonna give away any of the people that he impersonates Meredith, but I will say this, it is uncanny the mannerisms and the quirks and the ticks that he has of all the players that we were able to have him impersonate. Three of them, I will say, former Yankees. That'll be fun to watch anything else on your mind today before we get going. No, just another day where you see the team sort of getting ready. The position players have been here a couple of days now. You mentioned it, our first game on Saturday. And I think people started to get in that game mode, getting ready to see some actual action on the field. Well, that's gonna do it. From Tampa for Jack Curry, I'm Meredith Morakovitz. We will see you tomorrow.