Gardner's Injuries and Eovaldi's Potential - The Bronx Pinstripes Show #59
BP Show 59 topics include Brett Gardner's lingering wrist injury and how it will affect his season, Nathan Eovaldi's setback to start spring training and what he needs to do to take his game to the next level, Refsnyder taking drills at third base and if there is a place for him on the major league roster, David Ortiz's comments that he'd like a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium and how farewell tours have run their course, and we preview the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics. We also answer two mailbag questions; one about the night life of players and the other about Aaron Judge. Get involved with the show by submitting a mailbag question, story, or rant here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Call the voicemail line: 646-480-0342.
Brett Gardner suffered a wrist injury in the playoff game vs Houston last October, and apparently has been dealing with it ever since. Gardner is one of these guys who seems to get a lot of bumps and bruises, and they drastically affect his performance. We have routinely seen him drop off the face of a cliff in the second half due to small injuries and general fatigue. On one hand it is not a good sign that his wrist injury is still affecting him almost five months later, but on the other a late start to spring training activities will potentially allow him to stay healthier late in the season.
On Monday's featured column, Adam Weinrib broke down Eovaldi's struggles early last season and how his pitch arsenal allowed him to improve throughout the season. If you listen to our podcast you know that Scott is the president of the Eovaldi fan club while I take a more realistic (negative) approach. Eovaldi has the talent to average at least 6 innings pitched, which he failed to do in 2015. If he can locate his fastball early in counts and continue to develop his splitter as a secondary pitch then 6 innings should be a routine outing for Nasty Nate. Thank you to James from Australia and Pauley D for submitting mailbag questions this week. To get involved with the show: Submit mailbag questions here. Call the voicemail line: 646-480-0342. Hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Check us out in iTunes. If you like the show, please give us a rating and review. Follow @ScottReinen and @Yankees_talk.