MLB.com's Bryan Hoch joins The Bronx Pinstripes Show to discuss the Yankees' stretch run

On the most recent episode of The Bronx Pinstripes Show, Andrew and Scott were joined by MLB.com's Bryan Hoch to discuss the current state of the Yankees as they head into September.

Hoch has covered the Yankees for MLB.com since 2007, and also authored the book The Baby Bombers, (which is now available at your favorite books store -- shameless plug for our guy, Bryan).

Hoch and the guys discussed some of the biggest storylines around the team, including the current first-base dilemma with Greg Bird and new addition, Luke Voit.

"Voit's been a nice little surprise to this team. I think that his first impression wasn't great, he went down there to Triple-A to straighten things out, came back on a mission and really tried to not do too much... he's obviously done that, had a big series down in Baltimore, impacted the ball a lot," said Hoch. "In Bird's case... I think a lot of what you've seen is fatigue. Having an aborted spring training there, missing a lot of the season, coming back after not playing a full season last year, I think there's definitely something to that."

Hoch also discussed Luis Severino's most recent start and why he has struggled during the second half of the season. Hoch pointed out some of Severino's strengths from the game, talking about the life on his fastball and that he was mixing up his locations by pitching up and down in the zone well. Hoch also emphasized, however, that he doesn't read too much into a decent start against the Orioles after you take into consideration who they're trotting out there.

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Additional Topics Discussed with Hoch

• The chase of the Red Sox and whether or not a division title is possible

• Aaron Judge's injury and when the Yankees can expect him back

• Clint Frazier and an update on his recent baseball activities

• Whether or not Severino should be the starter if the Yankees reach the Wild Card

• If anything negative happened inside the clubhouse after Gary Sanchez's "HustleGate"

• What September call-ups will make an immediate impact

To hear what Hoch had to say about all of this and more, be sure to check out today's full episode of The Bronx Pinstripes Show on your favorite podcast platform.