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Blair & Barker

Yankees Iced by Trey + Pitch Mix Data with Tom Verducci

21 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What happened in the Blue Jays vs. Yankees game recap?

8.266 - 31.05 Kevin Barker

all right welcome to blair and barker brought to you by capital one capital one giving credit to over four million canadians and counting well they had a two hour and 11 minute rain delay last night they finally got it in and uh i mean didn't look like cam schlittler or trey savage were bothered at all by the rain delay that uh

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31.452 - 51.141 Kevin Barker

forecasted to be a pitching duel, Kevin Barker, and it certainly turned into that. The Jays winning 2-1. So all three games in the Bronx have been one-run games so far. The Jays have Lost 2-1-1, and Braden Fisher gets the start tonight in the series finale. Ah, Trey Savage, man. What, eight strikeouts.

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Chapter 2: How did Trey Savage perform in his first start at Yankee Stadium?

51.201 - 70.223 Kevin Barker

His fastball was almost a mile and a half more than the last time out. We talked in his last game about how he got a lot of whiffs on his different pitches. Last game, seven foreseams, seven in a splitter, four in a slider. Last night, five of his 13 whiffs came in the slider. Pretty good outing.

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70.243 - 85.207 Jeff Blair

Yeah, 65% strike one. That's the difference for me. We talk about the best pitch in baseball. It is throwing strike one. It allows you to do what you want. Like you mentioned with the fastball, he's starting to throw the slider to both sides of the play. If you're left or you're right, it doesn't matter.

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Chapter 3: What are the signs of improvement in the Jays' bullpen performance?

85.247 - 101.016 Jeff Blair

He's throwing it. It gives him a different wrinkle. Something else to think about, the top of the zone with the extra gear and velocity with the fastball is a big deal. You know, you have that, get you in a little swing mode, get you open up the front side. Now you can do what you want with, you know, the split finger. It looks like it's got a little run.

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Chapter 4: What insights does Tom Verducci provide on Trey Savage's rise?

101.056 - 109.534 Jeff Blair

Split finger's got a little 12-6 bite to it. Like, you know, he was doing certain things. He was throwing the slider that had a little different look to it. One was looking like a cutter.

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Chapter 5: What was significant about Vlad Jr.'s at-bat during the game?

110.196 - 129.352 Jeff Blair

One was looking like a slider. Like, he was doing some things... And when you can release the baseball where he releases it from, that just makes you a little bit more unpredictable. That's why we said a couple of starts ago when John was on the show, and I said, what's the next step for Trey? And he said, throw the slider. No matter what the outcome of the slider is, throw it.

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130.053 - 143.634 Jeff Blair

Because why they want him to throw it is it makes the other two pitches that much better. And now all of a sudden that he's throwing a little bit harder, And you're releasing it from there, and he's doing it with a little confidence. And Yankee Stadium, his first start there didn't seem to bother him either.

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Chapter 6: How did Brandon Valenzuela's bunting impact the game?

143.674 - 160.17 Jeff Blair

So, yeah, I mean, he's, you know, he kind of got lucky there a little bit with Judge being, you know, going through what Judge is going through. It just looks like he's a little in between, which is very odd for him to look like he's in between. It's been a while since you've seen it that way. But, yeah, kudos to him. You mentioned the rain delay. It's not the easiest thing to do.

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160.19 - 173.388 Jeff Blair

I would think that's harder for an offensive player than it is for a pitcher, but it disrupts routines. I'll ask Caleb that when he comes in it. 5.30 today, just about how you sort of get it ramped up, you slow it down, you ramp it up again. How hard is that to do?

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Chapter 7: How does the Jays' performance compare to other AL East teams?

173.408 - 190.215 Jeff Blair

It didn't look like either one of those guys were having trouble doing it. So, you know, and they got a little lucky, too. Defensively, they stunk. You know, it's like a couple of those fly balls in the outfield. Dalton Varshow, bad jump, didn't catch one ball. Sanchez, just not a very good outfielder. I mean, let's be real about it. I mean, it's not being negative. It's not.

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190.195 - 202.571 Kevin Barker

He's not very good at it. And you, just to jump in there, I mean, remember, you had a conversation with Mark Budzinski, and one of the things they talked about was going in and coming back. Was it going in on balls? Going back. Sorry, going back on balls. So, yeah, he's a work in progress.

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202.591 - 215.448 Jeff Blair

It is, but, you know, also that little short porch in right field in Yankee Stadium, they want him to play a little bit more in there. You should be catching those kind of balls. And, you know, hopefully he's okay. That's the thing. Hopefully he's not, you know, injured with the dive kind of thing.

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Chapter 8: What are the implications of pitch mix data for hitters and pitchers?

215.708 - 236.734 Jeff Blair

The Varlin in the ninth inning not catching that ball. Second inning, the ball not being caught down the left field line from Pinango. So they got lucky in some certain spots. Pitchers bailed them out. My boy, Jeff Hoffman, got out of a big spot in the seventh inning. And you come in pounding strikes on. Boy, all of a sudden. Absolutely. You know, you get out, so I'm on the bandwagon.

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236.774 - 250.965 Jeff Blair

You don't get out. You walk people. You give up runs. Somebody back legs you. I don't like you anymore. I mean, that's basically where we're at with this. So, you know, last night, man, can't wait to see that again. It's that kind of thing. And the bullpen, to be fair, in this series has been really good.

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250.945 - 252.368 Kevin Barker

It has been good.

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252.608 - 266.153 Jeff Blair

Yes, it has been really good. So there's some positive things there. Vlad, he got to the big finish. I've been yelling and screaming this forever. We saw that, right? How about it? You got to get it in the air with a runner on third and less than two outs. He did that. What was that, the seventh inning? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

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266.133 - 285.799 Jeff Blair

You know, it looks to me like the last couple of days, in certain at-bats, certain situations, he's sitting heater, you get the foot down, there's something to it. Every once in a while, you can simplify things enough. If I get athletic really quick, I can get to a big finish, ball in air, ball not the third base, shortstop, I'm not rolling over things.

285.819 - 289.183 Jeff Blair

Everybody that's watching on TV is throwing their hands in the air. So, it's kind of nice.

289.203 - 314.249 Kevin Barker

He's starting to... I also want to... Touched a little bit on Brandon Valenzuela. The two bunts, the two sacrifice bunts. This is a guy who had done it once in his minor league career, once in his professional career. We saw him a couple of days ago. Not very good at it. It looked to me, Kevin... somebody must have sat down with him or they must have done some work with him on it.

314.369 - 334.919 Kevin Barker

I mean, the sacrifice was important in that one inning. I mean, that was just kind of an old 2025 Blue Jays inning, right? Jimenez working an 11-pitch walk, fouling off some tough – I mean, he was fouled off pitches that were 97-99. And then, you know, Valenzuela does the – Drops the bunt.

334.939 - 342.507 Kevin Barker

I just, that was impressive considering the fact the guy didn't look very good the last time he tried it. Yeah. And here he comes out and does it twice.

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