Hour 1: Mets Win Subway Series

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg | Hour 1: Mets Win Subway Series (May 18, 2026)

Episode Overview

This lively hour, hosted by Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg on ESPN New York, centers on the aftermath of a thrilling Mets comeback win over the Yankees in the Subway Series. The trio dives deep into the impact of the Mets’ win, the Yankees’ recent struggles, and the larger context for both teams as the MLB season heats up. They also touch upon the Knicks' playoff fortunes, the ongoing LIRR strike affecting New Yorkers’ commutes, and engage with callers about the state of the city's baseball teams. The episode’s tone is classic New York sports talk: passionate, witty, and sometimes a bit exasperated.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Summer in the City

• [00:51] The hosts open with light banter about the strangely hot May weather—an almost comical New York complaint, setting the lively, conversational tone.
  • Quote: “Why is it 50 in May? Well, guess what? It's 95 in May. And yeah. And it's hidden. I like it.” – Rosenberg [00:51]

2. LIRR Strike Woes

• [01:44] Don explains his absence from the studio due to the ongoing Long Island Rail Road strike and gives a real-world update on how it's affecting commuting, including his own work schedule.
  • “MTA leaders said minimal progress, nothing really happening, that the union is still not serious. The latest…is saying that they are meeting again soon, downtown Manhattan…" – Don [02:23]
• The team empathizes with affected listeners and stress the essential nature of the LIRR.
  • Quote: “It's an essential business. Let’s begin with that. It's important to the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people.” – Don [04:14]
• Alan adds: “Pay these guys their money. They work hard.” [04:07]
• There’s an ongoing promise to keep listeners updated, recognizing the event’s personal and citywide significance.

3. Knicks and NBA Playoff Scene

• [05:24] Shift to basketball, as Rosenberg marvels at how every playoff outcome seems to be breaking the Knicks’ way. The Cavaliers’ blowout of Detroit sets up a favorable matchup.
  • Quote: “Every day I come on the air, guys, I've got good news for the Knicks. Everything breaks their way.” – Rosenberg [05:24]
  • Alan: “The universe wants the New York Knicks. That's the only thing that can make sense.” [06:08]
• Discussion about the impact of series scheduling, potential playoff fatigue for the Cavs, and the parity in the league.
  • “The combination of parity and teams not really wanting to kill themselves to be the 1 seed…” – Rosenberg [06:41]
• Talk of Game 1 urgency for the Knicks after a long layoff and lack of prep time for a specific opponent.
  • “Game one at home…must win attitude about it...coming in rested, fully healthy…but need to ramp it back up after a week without playing high intensity.” – Don [08:29]
• Fun observation on New York playoff weather swings: “Last time we were there…Frostbite city, man. And now…we could have an uncomfortable situation the other way.” – Rosenberg [07:34]

4. Mets Win the Subway Series, Yankees Stumble

• [10:12] The hosts jump into the main event: the Mets’ dramatic Subway Series win.
• Alan points out the Mets’ resilience: “All five wins on this homestand all came when trailing.” [10:31]
• The conversation then flips—from lauding the Mets’ comeback spirit to critiquing Yankees’ costly mistakes:
  • Rosenberg: “In any sport, all these come from behind victories can be fool's gold…You keep falling behind. You can't always rely on that.” [11:51]
  • Don notes Yankees closer David Bednar’s struggles: “When you’ve got Elmer Rodriguez on the mound…you don't know what you're going to get…” Bednar’s blown saves and team defensive miscues are dissected. [13:05]
  • “No communication clearly there…that was a collapse that it doesn't send off alarms in me. I just said, of course.” – Don [14:11]

Standout Moment

• Quote: “That game felt over. That game it really felt like when they lost…you immediately now have lost a series. And this goes from…Yankees win game one, Mets come back…This was kind of what we expected…But the way it happened…worst case scenario if you’re someone who’s been worrying about the Yankees.” – Don [10:55]

• The Yankees’ bottom of the order is a particular sore spot: “McMahon’s not hitting again. Wells isn’t hitting. Volpe’s a mess. Jazz isn’t hitting.” – Rosenberg [15:46]

• Discussing positional needs: do the Yankees need a third baseman? A catcher? A new closer? Debate ensues.

The Unique Pressure of the Subway Series

• [20:15] Don observes that losing to the Mets feels extra-annoying “because it’s the Mets, it’s amplified…there’s no winning for the Yankees when they play the Mets. If you win, you’re supposed to. If you lose, oh my God. And that’s no way to live.” – Rosenberg quoting Joe Torre [20:59]
• Quote: “Imagine that, your third straight [World Series win] and it was joyless.” – Don [21:25]

5. Callers Weigh In & Deeper Team Analysis

How Real Is the Mets Turnaround?

• [29:20] Rosenberg, ever skeptical, downplays the Mets’ comeback as a true sign of resurgence: “They didn't play particularly well…they caught some breaks…there’s a lot of work to be done with this Mets team.” [29:32]
• Both hosts note that the Mets’ fighting spirit is encouraging, but big underlying issues remain.

On Yankees’ Early Season Woes

• [31:28] Callers and hosts remind listeners that it’s still early, but Rosenberg throws cold water on “it’s early” excuses: “I get sensitive every year…all of a sudden it’s not early anymore…Why didn’t we address these things?” [34:53]
• Constant theme: Maintaining perspective in a long season, but not ignoring obvious, persistent issues.

The Catcher & Third Base Debate

• [37:00] Caller Vince delivers detailed frustration about the organizational approach at the catcher position: “It’s more an organizational problem than anything else.” – Vince [38:23]
• Don and Rosenberg agree, pointing to stubbornness in Yankees’ front office philosophy and how “everybody knows your need—you’re going to pay a premium for it.” [39:21]

Winning Plays and Bullpen Nerves

• [49:07] A caller stresses the importance of not blowing games—especially against weak teams: “You can’t keep blowing these games against teams below .500…They just don’t make winning plays.”
• Don: “Are you talking about closer? Because again, two games…” The need for bullpen reinforcements is a recurring worry.

6. Player Focus: Volpe, Bichette, and More

• [44:30] Caller Griffin defends Volpe’s patience at the plate, but Don and Rosenberg are only mildly encouraged. “I don’t know, I’m not feeling it.” – Rosenberg [46:32]
• Bichette’s expected impact for the Mets has yet to deliver, and the hosts discuss the adjustment period for new stars in New York [47:20].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Every day I come on the air...I've got good news for the Knicks. Everything breaks their way.” – Rosenberg [05:24]
• “The universe wants the New York Knicks. That’s the only thing that can make sense.” – Alan [06:08]
• “Pay these guys their money. They work hard.” – Alan [04:07]
• “All five wins on this homestand all came when trailing, especially six, three in a night.” – Alan [10:31]
• “Because it's the Mets…the way you gave it away and now it ends up losing the series…it's just annoying because it's louder than it needs to be for a series in Met.” – Don [22:00]
• “I'm not going to overreact now. I'm reacting, but I'm not going to flip out…” – Don [32:23]
• “It's not early anymore…Why didn't we address these things?” – Rosenberg [34:53]
• “Who's out of it? The Giants…It's so obvious your need and then it's obvious that you're going to try to get that and then you're going to, you're going to pay a premium for it.” – Don [39:21]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:51 | Opening banter on NYC heat | | 01:44 | Don explains absence/LIRR strike details | | 04:07 | Alan’s “Pay these guys their money” remark | | 05:24 | Knicks/Cavs playoff scenario discussion | | 08:29 | Knicks preparation discussion after long layoff | | 10:12 | Mets win Subway Series; start of baseball discussion | | 13:05 | Yankees bullpen struggles, focus on Bednar | | 20:15 | The unique annoyance and pressure of losing Subway Series for Yankees | | 29:20 | Are the Mets actually turning things around? | | 34:53 | Rosenberg’s resistance to “it’s still early” excuses | | 37:00 | Caller Vince critiques Yankees’ organizational catcher approach | | 44:30 | Volpe debate; Griffin supports Volpe’s plate discipline | | 49:07 | Importance of not blowing games vs weak teams; bullpen trust |

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Summary & Tone

This episode encapsulates the pulse of New York sports: hot takes, real talk, a mix of hope and frustration, deep dives, and playful ribbing. The hosts balance skepticism (especially regarding the Mets), measured optimism (for the Knicks), and serious concern for Yankees' persistent flaws. The listener gets a thorough, relatable sense of the emotional tenor in NYC's sports scene—making it essential listening for fans eager to know not just what happened, but how New Yorkers actually feel about it all.

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Don Hahn]

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[Rosenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

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[Rosenberg]

Todd, she fell love with the sex.

[Don Hahn]

Han sauce was everywhere. And Rosenberg, if you want to stay

[Alan Hahn]

up, he's got the energy that matters.

[Rosenberg]

This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[Don Hahn]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Rosenberg]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Don Hahn]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Rosenberg]

I knew this day would come. I knew it. I provisioned it that we would complain about the heat walking out. Why is it 50 in May? Well, guess what? It's 95 in May. And yeah. And it's hidden. I like it.

[Alan Hahn]

Wait, hold on.

[Rosenberg]

I dig it.

[Alan Hahn]

Is it literally 95 today?

[Rosenberg]

Well, that's what my display said in the car. And I treat that like the Bible.

[Alan Hahn]

It's. It's currently According to the Google 87, there's a heat advisory.

[Rosenberg]

I love it. Now, I'll complain about it over time, but you know what? I'll take it. I might be complaining about it this time tomorrow. I was gonna say outside the garden.

[Alan Hahn]

Definitely tomorrow, but.

[Rosenberg]

But today I liked it. 300 One of the big city. Don on and Rosenberg on a Monday. Hopefully everybody had a fabulous weekend. How are you, Mr. Hahn?

[Don Hahn]

I'm gone. I'm ready to go. I feel like it's like this break's been too long. Time to get back to work.

[Rosenberg]

We'll get back.

[Don Hahn]

Ready to go.

[Alan Hahn]

Ready to go. But not go anywhere because the lrr.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. So that's. That's the reason why I'm not here with you guys is this morning. This morning the Google Mac told me it was going to take 2 hours and 17 minutes to get to get up.

[Alan Hahn]

What time was this that you checked?

[Don Hahn]

This was about 5. I usually have a 545. I checked at 5:15.

[Alan Hahn]

And you were scheduled for get up today.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

So what'd you do?

[Don Hahn]

They cleared me.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh yeah. Cleared. Okay. But they didn't want to have you jump on like the computer.

[Don Hahn]

No, they already had bad guests.

[Rosenberg]

Anyway.

[Alan Hahn]

Got it.

[Don Hahn]

I'll be there at Wednesday. Wednesday and Friday I'll be on and you know, all that stuff. But this, this was it. Was. It's not great. And there was some hope this afternoon for all of you that are sitting in traffic right now trying to head back to Long island from work today. There was some talks that maybe they were making progress. And the MTA leaders said minimal progress, nothing really happening, that the union is still not serious. There's no urgency from them. The latest that we are hearing from Newsday is saying that they are meeting again soon, downtown Manhattan, meaning like in, you know, later, like, within the hour. And they're going to try to get back to the table and get some discussions going on here. There was. Guys, there was some feeling earlier today that something could be done by end of day, which means we could have at least a. Like, a limited schedule for tomorrow. And the longer this goes, the more tomorrow now is at stake. And tomorrow, as we know, adding to, of course, the Knicks game, one that we finally got to conference finals. Add that on top of everything else going on, that people need to get into the city for. From this area.

[Alan Hahn]

Not what you want.

[Don Hahn]

Mayhem.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, I was looking.

[Don Hahn]

They got to get this done. Something's got to get figured out, because the stories that we're hearing, the stories from different people that have had to try to make the trek today and what even John Winthrop is telling us that he's going to try to do tomorrow, which is take a bus to Howard beach and then take the subway.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, he's doing one of the.

[Alan Hahn]

He's doing that.

[Don Hahn]

That's. I mean, above and beyond, which, again, that's why he's a leader. But, man.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, listen, I know nothing about what's going on, but that being said, pay these guys their money. They work hard. That's me with absolutely zero essential.

[Don Hahn]

It's an essential business. Let's begin with that. It's important to the. Just to the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people. So, yeah, something needs to be done. It needs to be done soon. And the latest I have seen reported is that they will be getting back to the table at some point this afternoon. And I will keep an eye on this because it's personal for me, so I know it'll be personal for a lot of people who will be listening. So we'll keep you up on all that.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, just keep working at it. That's all I ever ask in any of these labor negotiations is that they're at the table trying to get something done. It's when they break off negotiations, don't speak for weeks. That's when you know nothing's gonna get done. And hopefully that won't be the case. Big show today. We're off at 6 so we've got ENN at 5:45. So we've got. Then we've got our weekend headlines coming up at 4:30 as well. But there's a couple of places to start and we're going to get into the Mets and Yankees because a lot happened this weekend, good and bad, that has to be dissected. But the other thing that happened after the Mets come from behind victory on Sunday was the Cavs just dismantling the Pistons. And every day I come on the air, guys, I've got good news for the Knicks. Everything breaks their way.

[Alan Hahn]

Crazy.

[Rosenberg]

When we were out on Friday, Allen, you joined us at five o'.

[Don Hahn]

Clock.

[Rosenberg]

I said don't tempt fate. Just have the Cavs win on Friday, get it over with. Let's start this thing on Sunday. And then we had a caller say it's better if they, if the Cavs went on, on on Sunday forces a game seven and then you play every other day and then you got that. And that'll really hurt the Cavs. And I'm like, don't tempt fate, just. And no, you could tempt fate with this nick team because the Cavs, you know, they lost to the Pistons at home and then they turn around and then the Pistons hand it right back to them. And that, that was over at the tip, guys. That was over as soon as it started. Cavs jumped out quick and it never ended. Kept building.

[Alan Hahn]

Make it make sense. Make that series make sense.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know how anyone.

[Alan Hahn]

This is how much. This is how much the gods are with, are with the Knicks. The fact that Detroit forced a game seven only to get blown out at home in game seven makes no sense. Except the universe wants the New York Knicks. That's the only thing that can make sense. It makes no sense.

[Don Hahn]

That's here.

[Rosenberg]

And I'll tell you another thing to keep an eye on tonight. Because if the spurs were to win game one then you start to wonder, okay, what's happening here?

[Alan Hahn]

Because that's on the table. Like, I don't know, it's on that series.

[Rosenberg]

I'm not saying.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

All I'm saying is you'd rather have the spurs based on the regular season. But if we've learned anything, the regular season means does not matter. And what you've seen in the NBA now is that you've got the combination of parity and you also have what Allen was talking about last week with the Cavs kind of wanting the Pistons because of the matchup situation and also a lot of really good teams not wanting to kill themselves to be the 1 seed. Last year, Cavs 1 seed out early. This year, Detroit 1 seed out early. You're seeing home teams lose game Sevens, which never happened. Upsets galore. But it just feels like the Knicks and the Thunder are on a collision course. The west starts tonight. The east starts tomorrow. We're going to be outside the Garden despite the fact it's going to be 100 degrees. Come out, hang out with us. Isn't it ironic, Alan, last time we were there, which wasn't even a month ago.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

No, it was like frostbite city, man. And now we're going to go there and we could have an uncomfortable situation the other way.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Heat stroke. Frostbite to heat stroke. That's the one.

[Rosenberg]

You got to hydrate yourselves, people.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

The kids don't realize this, especially the heavy drinkers. Gotta drink water.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

So.

[Don Hahn]

But it's what we want. This is the time of year. This is what it feels supposed to feel like. Right. And so that's where we're at right now with this. It is. What you're saying, though, about things breaking a certain way. It does have that feel. And the eight days off that the Knicks didn't know who their opponent was going to be for eight days. Days.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. It's crazy.

[Don Hahn]

So when you talk about a quick turnaround for the Cavs, having one day to prepare, guess who also really only had one day now, I think they probably spent time during the week thinking about things with both teams involved, Right?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

But you really only have one day if you're the Knicks, So it's not as if they had all week to prepare for who they're playing. They did put some things in, I'm sure, for either team. But now you really only have one day to. To lock in on that one matchup you have, and which makes, of course, game one at home. Learn from last year. This has got to have that urgency and must, must win attitude about it, because do you have a team coming in on momentum versus a team that's coming in rested, fully healthy, not, you know, not going to be tired, but is still going to need to kind of ramp it back up again after it's been over a week without playing high intensity.

[Rosenberg]

It's a lot of time not to play. But not just the physical exhaustion the Cavaliers had to go through of basically taking their one day off traveling. I guess they went from Detroit right.

[Don Hahn]

To New York came right here.

[Rosenberg]

So not even getting a chance to be home, not really getting a chance to do anything but just go get, you know, get prepared for the next round. But the mental exhaustion too of facing elimination, back to back games and all that, like of just the back and forth of a game seven and then having to deal with what they have to deal with. Very, very interesting as it's going to be the Cavs for the Knicks. And we'll be all over it again. All the games can be heard right here on 880 ESPN New York and streamed as well. The Mets were very kind to move their games to 1050 when there are conflicts. So now down to the final four. Spurs and the Thunder out west, Knicks and the Cavs out east. So the weather might tell you that it's summer, but it's still spring and it should be a lot of fun. So that spring hope's eternal. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You're saying, speaking of spring hoping eternal,

[Rosenberg]

I don't think you had that right. Spring hoping eternal, Spring, I think that's hope springs. That was your penalty as a helmet.

[Caller Vince]

I don't know.

[Rosenberg]

Spring hope eternal. What I was gonna say is how

[Alan Hahn]

about them nine Mets?

[Rosenberg]

Well, I don't know how to look at it. I do. Well, listen, you win another series, right? And two more wins in which the Mets were trailing. They trailed in every game in the Tiger series. And the two wins that they had, they won come from behind fashion. So the five wins on this homestand all came when trailing, especially six, three in a night.

[Alan Hahn]

That game felt over. That game it really felt like when they lost. And you go, wow, you immediately now have lost a series. And this goes from, you know, obviously Yankees win game one, Mets come back and win on Saturday. This was kind of what we expected, right, that Sunday would be a rubber match to see who really gets to come over some momentum. Now there are certain ways, guys, I think the Yankees could have lost on Sunday and you really wouldn't. And Alan, you could tell me if you disagree. I think this series could have played out different ways where even if the Yankees had lost on Sunday, you don't feel that bad. It's an annoying series loss to it, you know, the Mets and an out of league slash division opponent, who cares? But the way it happened, Allen kind of turned out to be worst case scenario if you're someone who's been worrying about the Yankees. And on the flip side, Don, if you're a Met fan, the way it happened was perfectly a way for you to go do we have a little mojo. Well, like a team that's doing something.

[Rosenberg]

See, that's, that's where I'm kind of stuck betwixt and between. And I want to hear from you at 1-800-919-3776 because it's not like the Mets played particularly well. I mean, in any sport, all these come from behind. Victories can be fool's gold because you keep falling behind. You can't always rely on that. You lose Holmes in game one and it doesn't look like it's going to be season ending, but he's going to be out a while. So you lose your best pitcher, that's never good. And you're dropping pop ups and it's really, it was ugly baseball, but I'll take it. And they win another series. And now you got the Nationals and the Marlins coming up on this road trip. And if you really are a better baseball team, keep winning series and maybe by the time you get to the end of May, you're back to.500. And then son. But the Yankees, Allen, not good. I mean, this, this one win on the road trip gets swept by the Brewers. They just looked ugly against the Yankees. Against the Mets, the bottom of their order can't hit Wells. Wells is just awful right now.

[Don Hahn]

He's, you know, and he's in one,

[Rosenberg]

you know, Volpe's a mess. And right now, do you have a legitimate closer? I mean, he's a setup guy and they thought they found their closer, but do you have a closer right now? Is David Bednar a guy you have faith in moving forward to close games?

[Don Hahn]

Again, that, that was not a question I had coming into this season. That was not a question I had even in the first month of the season. I thought that was a resolved issue for sure. Right after moving on from Devin Williams, getting him at the trade deadline, I felt like, okay, well, Williams wasn't the answer, but I think this guy is. And then in his last two outings, he has not been great or his last three. And that, that look, when you've got Elmer Rodriguez on the mound in this game, you, you don't know what you're going to get right? Because he has not been. He's had control issues to start out with. He's, you know, he's young, but when he gives you, you know, four and a third that he gave you, you're like, okay, this should be a win. Like, that was the only question mark that I had was, I don't know how he's going to do because he does have control issues and this could be a mess. You might have to score a lot of runs. Well, they scored six. That should be enough. That what happened with Bednar was alarming to say the least. Hanging a curveball in that moment, like, it just obviously can't happen. I mean, I'm giving you Captain Obvious here, right? But it goes beyond that. To me, it's. It's not just hanging the curveball there. It's having five infielders and they run into each other and not be able to make a play. No communication clearly there, as somebody's got to say, it's mine and get the hell out of the way. But you have two guys going for the ball. It just that that was a collapse that it doesn't send off, like, alarms in me. It was more of, like, I watched and I just said, of course. Because when the Yankees tend to give you losses like this, it just keeps reminding you of those things that have come up the last couple of years about them and how they just don't play sound baseball at times. So that was like. I don't look at it as a. Like, I'm not mad. I wasn't mad after that loss. I was almost, like, annoyed by it. It was annoying. But I don't. I don't know if this, like, no, the season's a loss and all that stuff. We all know what Brian Cashman does every year once we get to the middle of the season, he'll look for the weaknesses and try to correct them. He doesn't always get it right. But one thing you do know, they're not just going to sit there with a bottom third of the order that can't hit. They're not going to sit there and let that happen.

[Rosenberg]

It's so.

[Don Hahn]

I know that's going to get fixed at some point. It's just when and how and living through it right now. But, I mean, come on. 28, 19. Yes, he lost two out of three to the Mets, but, you know, Radon's got to be better. He'll be better and Bednar's got to be better. And I want to believe he's going to. He'll be better.

[Rosenberg]

I think you're right. But at the same time, all right, McMahon's not hitting again. Wells isn't hitting. Volpe's a mess. Jazz isn't hitting.

[Don Hahn]

Volpe's not your. He's not your long term anymore.

[Rosenberg]

Understood?

[Don Hahn]

It's six more days.

[Rosenberg]

All right. Every day.

[Don Hahn]

How many more days?

[Alan Hahn]

Sure.

[Don Hahn]

Again, Volpe is A fill in. Now he's not your everyday. You got to let it go, Wells. Yeah, you got to get a right handed bat at catcher and you got to figure something out with him. So that's, that's for sure. And McMahon, did you really think he was going to keep hitting at the clip he was hitting at? Which is nice that he found it for a minute, but I never believed it.

[Rosenberg]

So do you think, do you need a third baseman?

[Don Hahn]

Yes. All right.

[Rosenberg]

Do you need a right handed hitter?

[Don Hahn]

You need a right hand catcher?

[Rosenberg]

Do you need a catcher? You know, and are you going to need a closer?

[Don Hahn]

You know, I don't want to believe that. I don't want to believe that. Don. He hadn't given up two, what is it, two horns in his last three appearances. And before that I was like only two home runs allowed in the last like ton true.

[Rosenberg]

Like it's this, it's something to keep an eye on. All I'm saying is, but I am

[Don Hahn]

not panicking on, on this weekend and remember what we said going into the weekend, that was the thing that was asked. If you lose, would you, would you give up losing to the Mets this week? If you can get six out of seven against two divisional opponents? 100%. Give me that.

[Rosenberg]

Well, just, just, just the idea of

[Don Hahn]

the Mets doesn't matter.

[Rosenberg]

Well, just the idea that who pitched yesterday and who's pitching today. If that game mattered more than today, Weathers would have pitched like yesterday. Weathers is pitching today because the game against the Blue Jays is more important than the game against the Mets. I am not trying to devalue the subway series, but I mentioned it on Friday. It's a distraction. Aaron Boone said it. In a long season, it's nice to have something to get the players up and the fans excited because it is a long season. But it's still. The divisional games are more important now the Mets and the Yankees get back to business. The Mets have a divisional opponent against Washington, Obviously not a great team, but still a team in their division. And the Yankees embark on a series against the Blue Jays. A team off to a slow start but owned the Yankees last year. This is where the money's made people, you know. Now we get rid of the clown show and we get back to business. Yeah, but those games still mean something. They still mean something in the standings. And now The Mets are 6 under. They win another series. So let's see if they can keep that going against Washington. Four game series against a team not very good. Same thing with Florida. You go down to Miami. Bunch of Met fans will probably be down there. Let's get, let's, let's get going. Let's see.

[Alan Hahn]

I hate the four game set, though, because you have to win minimum three for it to be worth anything, which is tough. Like three or four is tough.

[Rosenberg]

It shouldn't be tough if you've really mostly turned it around or whether it's just a blip on the radar screen. Do you realize if the Mets win the rest of their series in the month of May, because I guess they've got four against Washington, then they got the three against Miami, and then they play Cincinnati, if they win there, then they'll finally get back to 500. But it just shows you how much it's a big hole. Winning you have to do just to get back to five. Now we're talking about, best case scenario, you're not 500 until June and now it's not early anymore. And that's if they win these series. I gotta tell you, if you're any kind of Met fan, you've got, you know, chapter and verse, how the Marlins have stuck it to you, how many times you looked at a schedule and go, oh, we got the Marlins coming up. This should be easy. Next thing you know, you get swept.

[Don Hahn]

That's like the Rays for the Yankees.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. Except now the Rays are good.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, by the way, the Rays weren't doing much losing while the Yankees were losing. Now you have three back again. Is it? No.

[Don Hahn]

Didn't they lose? Did they lose yesterday or Saturday? What was the day they did?

[Caller Vince]

Give one away.

[Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Gave one back.

[Rosenberg]

But still you went seven and two.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Just to go two and seven.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rosenberg]

You know what I'm saying? So, like, you gave back that hot streak by going two and seven, like so. And again, the Yankees are. The Yankees are very fortunate to be in the American League, I'm telling you, because right now, I don't know if you looked at the standings, because I get so early, but the third wild card in the American League, the Texas Rangers, are two games under.500. Think about that. Like so. You've got losing teams. This sounds like the NBA now with the playing teams, Right? Like, that's how bad the American League is. So the Yankees are not in any kind of threat of missing the playoffs. They might be in a bit of a struggle to win the division. So it's a, it's a different problem. But they're, they're very fortunate. If they were in the National League, this might be a different story.

[Don Hahn]

But this was an annoying. And don't take this the wrong way.

[Alan Hahn]

I know where he's going.

[Don Hahn]

A series with the Mets can be annoying because of all the stuff that comes with it and that we make them out. Like you were just saying, like they're such important games, but in reality, are they really. And so that's the part of it. And then losing a game like that, that could be a game. If you lose a game like that and give a game away. Because now you gave a game away. If you did that against the Diamondbacks in an inter. Like nobody or whatever, like that was a bad game and you just move on. But because it's the Mets, it's amplified the fact that it's Devin Williams. That's the part that I can't stand there. It's annoying.

[Rosenberg]

And it's always been this way forever.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Is the fact that there's no winning for the Yankees when they play the Mets. If you win, you're supposed to. If you lose, oh, my God. And that's no way to live. Joe Torre said it in 2000 when they played in the World Series. That was the most stressful World Series for him. Because there's no winning. You're supposed to win.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

Especially since they had won the previous two World Series, of course. Supposed to squash him, which you did. You won in five.

[Don Hahn]

Imagine that, your third straight. And it was joyless.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

You were just happy when it was over.

[Rosenberg]

Because you're supposed. Because you're supposed to do that.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

And that's what it's always going to be as long as the Yankees are the Yankees and the Mets of the Mets. Now, maybe that would have been different back in the 80s when the Mets were winning and the Yankees weren't. But taking a look what's happened over the last 30 years, that's the way it is, is that you are not going to get. You're not going to catch a break. So just got to live with it. That's why I'm not. I'm not insulted when you said that you were annoyed by this. Because it is annoying.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Any other series, any other. Any team you're playing, you're just kind of grumbling about Bednar and the hanging curve and grumbling about, you know, Wells not coming through in that big spot. And Volpe had a good day, by the way, at the plate. He did. He had a good day at the plate. Volpe. But like, you're grumbling about it, but you're not, you know, you're like, all right, let's go. Like, like this Toronto series is more important. Let's get locked in. But because it's the Mets and the way you gave it away and now it ends up losing the series. That's. It's just annoying because it's louder than it needs to be for a series in Met.

[Rosenberg]

Now, how do you. How did you look at the last play? Because there is this whole kind of center field mentality when you're the short.

[Don Hahn]

Isn't it the shorties. That's Volpe's ball, right? Not showing.

[Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but, but see, to me, shimmers being aggressive what you want, but Volpe's got to say something, right? Doesn't somebody have to say something? I don't know what. Obviously we're not on the field, so you don't know exactly what's going on there. But there's. There's only one person that should be making that play.

[Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

And it's a matter of voicing that aggressively while you're doing it. Not just assuming. But these things happen. I don't know. I, I'm sorry. I'm not rattled at all about this. I'm feeling like I, in all, in all seriousness, you can ask Anthony because I texted him. I kind of laughed at the way they lost the game because you just knew once the home run, I mean, it barely got, you know, got fair. But once he. Once Taylor hit the home run, it was like, oh, my God, look at that. They're going to, they're going to win this. The Mets are going to win this game. And that's how I felt. And I just kind of shrugged. They needed it more than the Yankees did. Really. And I just thought this is one of those typical games where the Yankees regress to that team that just keep. It won't go away. You know, they, that team that annoys you because, you know, like, like when the Giants had that offensive line that every, every snap they were taking a penalty, it drove you crazy.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Don Hahn]

And it just was in their DNA. Yeah. And they like to get away from being that team. It's. You sometimes have to change out the parts, but sometimes it doesn't do it either. So the. That's what it felt like. It's like, here we go again.

[Rosenberg]

And that's what's so frustrating. You're not as good. You're not, you know, you're better, right?

[Don Hahn]

Oh, yeah.

[Rosenberg]

You got to clean this stuff up.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

1-800-919-3776 we got this to Talk about. We got the Knicks to talk about. We have got the weekend headlines at 4:30. We've got ENN at 5:45. Why? Because the Mets start at 6:45 in Washington against the Nationals. So 6:00 clock coverage will begin. Bet your ace. So the show's gonna be a little shorter, but don't worry, tomorrow we got a full vehicle outside Madison Square Garden. So let's hear from you. 1-800-919-3776. Just getting started on a hot Monday. Donna Rosenberg ESPN New York hey, by

[Don Hahn]

the way guys, what we just did today is order officially now order the door. It's coming. It's gonna be a couple of weeks to order this door for the project we're doing at the house. This is big stuff because I can't wait for this project to start, but it's going to have to wait until after the NBA Finals because I can't have the house a mess while the Knicks are playing in the NBA Finals. Right. Because that's. We're all anticipating. So that's why we're going to wait a couple of weeks. But my guy Andrew at rings end set this thing up for me. He's got it all set up. He's like, don't worry about it. We know Nick's going on a run. We don't want to have your house a mess while you're dealing with that. So we have it all set up, all planned out. And that's why I love working with Ring's End. Why? Because they work with pro contractors like my guy Michael and they build and remodel for a living. So pros trust them. So I trust them. And I'm letting you know right now that you should trust them too. If you're doing a project around your house involving windows, doors, decking, paint, lumber, you want to redo your kitchen, all that stuff, this is the place you want to go to get all your high end product lines that all the contractors rely on. So Ring's End, by the way, not a national chain. They're local. They have eight full service lumber yards in Connecticut and Westchester county and 12 freestanding paint centers. And, and if you can't make it to a store, everybody just shop online. Go check them out. Ringsend.com that's ringsend.com.

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[Rosenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rosenberg]

All right, so the Mets kind of turning it around and win another series 5 and 1 homestand Yankees. Not a great road trip as they go 1 and 5 and now they return home to take on the Blue Jays. Mets will be in Washington to take on the Nationals like you dream, so it is A very, very, very long season. I get that. But it does take a lot of games sometimes to make up for. Was a really poor start. So as great as the Mets have been, still six games under.500, still a lot of work to do. And the Yankees don't want the Rays to disappear on him three games back.

[Don Hahn]

What do you want to see from the Mets, though, Don? Don? And did you see something this weekend that at least, that at least said to you, all right, I could see this thing starting to turn?

[Rosenberg]

No, I, I, I honestly. Well, because again, they didn't play particularly well. This is a pop up. Beatty misses a fly ball. Yeah, like they caught some breaks on that. Geez, I was, I think the Yankees

[Don Hahn]

let him off the hook.

[Rosenberg]

The Rodon play on Saturday, I thought I was watching one of Marco's, you know, baseball games.

[Don Hahn]

Have you ever seen that?

[Rosenberg]

Oh, my God. Just throwing the ball over the field. Like, what am I watching here? Like, Marco felt really good watching that. Just like, oh, I just saw that earlier today.

[Don Hahn]

I can, I can make it, I can make it to the pros. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Like, so, again, I'm not trying to, like, throw cold water. I'm just saying there's a lot of work to be done with this Mets team and then you lose, homes. So you know what I saw? Not just here, but in the Tiger series, a team that hasn't given up because in all five of these wins on the home stand, they trailed at some point. Down 2 nothing, 2 nothing and 3 nothing. The three respective games against Detroit, they had to fight back in Saturday and Sunday's game, obviously down six, three in the ninth inning. So they've showed some gumption here. Like they're, they're playing for their manager, they're trying to win some games. It looks like here they haven't given up, so that's a good sign. Right. But as far as how they're playing,

[Don Hahn]

I would hope they wouldn't give up in May.

[Rosenberg]

No. But you know how it is. I know every, everything's falling apart and you give up a couple of that, that, that, that really showed me something. The day game against the Tigers, your best pitchers on the mountain gives her three runs in the first inning. You'd be like, all right, it's not our day. We won the first two games. All right, not that you give up, but you're like, okay, content that you took two out of three. No, they fought back. They won the game. So. And that I think that shows a sign of not giving up, but also not being Content with, oh, you're down. It's not our day. We'll just live the fight another day. And that's not their mentality, which is a good thing. 1-800-919-3776 let's get to the busy phones and let's talk to Justin in Massapequa. You get us started here on Don Hunter Rosenberg.

[Caller Griffin]

I was at the game yesterday with my family and that was terrible loss. But we're only 47 games into the season and people that are getting like all worried, if they want to do that, that's fine. But we're only 47 games in and there's 162 games to play. And like they're going through this bad stretch right now, but I think they'll turn it around and you have to play 162 games and they've played only 47.

[Rosenberg]

So that's a big difference. I get it, Justin. But you know what, we do the show every day and baseball is a really popular subject. So we just can't say, all right, we'll see you Memorial Day. We'll check in on them on Memorial Day. We'll do a whole show where they are. Then we'll check in around, you know what, Mid July at the Beach Bash. We'll check back in. How they doing?

[Don Hahn]

That's what we do. I think for Justin, he's telling you as a fan, like, and I felt this way too. Like, I'm not, I'm not going to overreact now. I'm reacting, but I'm not going to like flip out about, like I said, like Bednar, like how many closers go through it sometime? He hung a curve. Was that the right pitch to throw in that moment? Of course not. But you're also going up against the guy who's not really known to be a big power hitter. He probably tried to sneak on in and he hung it.

[Rosenberg]

Hey, you know what I look at honestly, because K was talking about this earlier, is that, you know, they pre scout that he throws a curveball to get things started. You know, get a first pitch strike, throw a curveball. The Mets knew it and he jumped on it and it was a bad curveball and he jumped on it. Good for the Mets. You know, they pre scouted Bednar and they knew what was coming and they took advantage of it. But just adjusting and everybody else, we always have this conversation, it's early, it's early. I'm not going to panic. Nobody's telling you to panic, but there are issues that have been ongoing. I'm sorry, the bottom of this order is not good. And it has to be addressed. Wells has to be addressed. He's got five RBIs, he's your catcher. He's got five RBIs. We're in the second half of May.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rosenberg]

It's only 47 games. But to have five RBIs in 47 games, not good.

[Don Hahn]

Well, remember to Scar started the game, you know, you went pinch runner and so Wells had to come in. So that's why he was in that spot.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, but it always finds it was God awful.

[Don Hahn]

But, but, but like I think they're starting to see like we, we got to give it not ex. You know, not that a Scar is like a gonna mash the ball either, but I think they're kind of letting Wells know, you know, like we can't just keep going to you if you're not gonna come through, you're not gonna get out of it. He's bad though. Right now it's bad. You see the look on his face when he, when he's walking back to the dugout. He's got a bit of a glassy eyed look on him, which is, that's alarming. But like, they've got to figure that out. We already know they're too lefty. Lefty anyway, they got to figure that out. I think Caballero is your long term at short, but I do think that at third, you've got to figure that out as well. I don't know what more you really have to worry about with this team.

[Rosenberg]

Well, Scara is starting tonight, so that tells you something right there.

[Alan Hahn]

Right?

[Rosenberg]

So, yeah, but, but, but just the job. I'm not jumping Justin. I'm just saying I get sensitive every year. Well, it's too early. It's too early and all of a sudden it's not early anymore.

[Don Hahn]

I don't believe in that.

[Rosenberg]

Why didn't we address these things? Well, you didn't address them because, oh well, we're going to be fine and then all of a sudden you're not fine anymore. I mean, the trade deadline is not the last day of the season. The trade deadline is on July 31st. So, you know, we're still two months away. But you got to start looking. All right, guys, get on notice.

[Don Hahn]

Guess what?

[Rosenberg]

Wells probably starts today. If he's hitting now, he's not. I'm not saying he lost his job, but now it's become a thing, you know, so Brian Cashman, believe me, Brian Cashman's not Looking at it going, it's early. He's probably already trying to see, all right, third baseman out there, Is there a right handed catcher that maybe I could swoop in? All right, I'm not panicking about Bednar, but at some point if I have to address the closer position, I want to know if there's anybody out there I can.

[Alan Hahn]

But the hard part about baseball, to Alan's point, is that if a curve ball doesn't get hung up there yesterday,

[Don Hahn]

today we're not talking conversation, we're talking completely different. It's so true.

[Alan Hahn]

So that's the hard part about this game. And that's Justin's point too is like over an extended period of time you see what happens. But to jump in every other day and change your take about where a team is, kind of got to look at this thing in big chunks.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, I just don't think. I just get sensitive about the early stuff. But he's right. It's still a lot can happen, a lot can change. But you just got to watch the bed.

[Don Hahn]

Like you made the point, Don, that there's a lot of bad teams in baseball. And I think that's when you start. If you're the Yankees. I think the easy thing to do is keep an eye on some of the bad teams and try to figure out who's a team that we can kind of poach from.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. And, and also I was thinking about it. Tomorrow will be three weeks that I asked you the question, is the Yankees great record a product of being in a bad league? That was three weeks ago. That question has aged very well.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, right. It's true.

[Rosenberg]

And that's three weeks. Like it goes by quick here, guys. Like all of a sudden we're gonna blink and it's gonna be July because baseball's every single day. So in a way you can look at and go it's early but boy, it gets late quick. It just gets crazy that way. Let's go to Vince in Jersey City. You're on espn, New York.

[Caller Vince]

Hey guys. So here's my, my take on Austin Wells and the frustration with it is that, you know, going into the season they had a plan at third base with Rosario, they had a plan at first with Goldschmidt. They had a plan as a lefty alternative at that the DH position. Everybody really knew that having two lefty catchers, especially two lefty catchers that are not prototypical stars in the mlb. I mean the Scara is barely an MLB bat. Well, it had a, had a fine power season last year. But he was, you know, a ghost everywhere else. He was a ghost in the playoffs as well. Coming into the season, they once again went with two lefty catchers, which is really not the norm to do. And when the problem that you really face is that they really cleared a lot of their farm system for Austin Wells and last two years they traded away four of their top catcher prospects, three of them last year. So they put a lot of stock into Austin Wells and after two or three seasons to have to basically do a big pivot and have to make a major trade if it's Jeffers or whoever else, and have to basically say that their plan of having, you know, building around this guy, a catcher is not the guy. It's a major, major misses. I mean it's a volpe size miss when you look about what's happening. And that's my biggest thing when it comes to Wells.

[Commercial Announcer]

Why?

[Caller Vince]

You know that that's where my, my main frustration with this team is because it's not just about the player or the two players. Wells and the catching position being this bad for this team right now is more an organizational problem than anything else.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, I agree. And again, like the guy who, the guy who started for you yesterday, you traded a righty, a young righty catcher forum who's pretty good in Navarros, right?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Like you, you, you had somebody in the system but you know, you traded him for a pitcher. So these are things that you, you know, it's always cause and effect and we do know that that is a problem. But that's also when Brian kind of gets stubborn on things. We've always said about the go back to Gary Sanchez.

[Rosenberg]

Same position, same stubbornness, right?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. And also just, just lefty heavy. I think that's also a big part of it too. But I mean, is Minnesota trading Jeffers to you? Like, are you really doing that?

[Rosenberg]

I mean, the way the American League is now, how can any of those teams feel like they're out of it when. When the third wild card is two games under? Right. So yeah, I think we get to the deadline, things are going to clear up a lot more. But right now, why would anybody do anything?

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Rosenberg]

Who's out of it? The Giants.

[Don Hahn]

It also forces you and that's when everybody knows you need something. I hate that because it's so obvious your need and then it's obvious that you're going to try to get that and then you're going to, you're going to pay a premium for it.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Don Hahn]

I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo pre filled syringe which contains fgartigamide alpha and hyaluronidase qvfc. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment my way. Visit vivgardmyway.com that's V Y V G A R T myway.com and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo brought to you by Argenics thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rosenberg]

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[Caller Griffin]

Hey guys, first off, you talk about urgency. The Yankees apparently know this bullpen's an issue. They're calling up a young 26 year old who but he's not who everyone thinks he is. Cruz some I don't know how to pronounce the first name. Cruz, who's going to come in the bullpen. He throws over 100 miles an hour. His fastball goes up too. So the urgency they already, they're deciding to call someone up to see if help do good into this bullpen. That wasn't my point. My point is I think third base is a problem right now. But when caviar comes back, maybe that could be a solution. And my, my, my thing is Michael said this earlier is because rupee is not really as bad as what is. What is last year. So far he's been pretty good. Yes, he doesn't have the hits, but at least he's walking everyone else in this. Striking out or not putting the ball in play at all or getting out. He's working walks, he's not chasing. He's getting on base. He has seven walks and three strikeouts. So he's doing a great job getting on base and you want to get on base to use his speed and stuff. He hasn't been able to use it yet, but he's been able to get on base with walks. Yesterday he had a great walk when Devin Williams was lost in the 10. And he gets on base and then Wells, you know how much Wells is lost. He's swinging at the first pitch. If this is now, if Wells wasn't lost, he, he won't swing at the first pitch. So I'm not saying Volpe's been phenomenal, but I think is if he continues to do a good job getting on base, working walks, not not being a joke defensively, maybe you could put Caballero at third and you can have Volpe be at short to just help this offense a little bit because the Volpe's not been bad. He's been able to get on Base. He's been able to do things, but. Yes, I think the hits have to come, but at least he's not chasing. That's what I've been proud about.

[Rosenberg]

Right, but where are you going to do. What is it? Is that going to matter once Caballero comes back?

[Don Hahn]

No. Yeah, he had a good game. I. I don't. I don't think you'll see a scenario like that. I think that's why Rosario is here.

[Caller Griffin]

I'm just trying to.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I get it.

[Caller Griffin]

I'm just trying to look at things that can help us figure things out and turn things around. Because, yes, we have a problem at third base right now, and I'm just trying to figure out how we could get. Get better and not have a problem at third, not up. I'm just trying to think of solutions, but it's hard.

[Don Hahn]

We all do. We all do. As we're sitting there watching and trying to figure it out as well. I just don't. I don't think you're gonna move people out of position, but I'm with you again. Volpe had a good game and. And this. This what? A lot fell right on Wells there in that moment, and it was an absolute. Just. It's a car wreck. Right? Of course he was due up. Right. Of course. And, you know, he was feeling it. I mean, after the game, he's like, there's no words to describe how bad I am right now. Like, even he. That's why you look in his eyes and he knows it. I'm letting everyone down. And. And the fear is, is that this was a guy that, you know, a couple of years ago, it was hitting home runs. He was hitting for power. He was fine. It's just fallen off. And it's fallen off so dramatically right now that you can't play him. And Askara, who is. He's a soft hitter. You're playing him because you don't need a guy who can frame anymore when all you got to do is tap your head and. And check a pitch that you know isn't right. So I, like, I just. I think his values falling off, they got to get him right, but they're running out of time to get him right. If they can find a replacement, they're going to do it.

[Rosenberg]

I was curious, Anthony. He said he had a bone to pick with me. I don't know whether he got disconnected or he hung up or I did not hang up on him. What was the bone he had to pick with me?

[Commercial Announcer]

You said something about Volpe Being bad over the weekend.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, yeah.

[Rosenberg]

And he wanted to say he wasn't bad over the weekend.

[Commercial Announcer]

He was, he was very base every.

[Don Hahn]

Did you hear him? He's very protective of Volpe. He was very protective.

[Rosenberg]

I don't know if I was specific to this weekend. He's just not.

[Don Hahn]

It's just.

[Rosenberg]

I don't know, I'm not feeling it.

[Don Hahn]

Hey, listen, he's got seven. What do you have?

[Alan Hahn]

Seven.

[Commercial Announcer]

No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO.

[Don Hahn]

And 16. 16 plate appearances. It's.

[Rosenberg]

It's kind of where their offense came from. Like errors and walks. Like they just. Everybody. Nobody hit.

[Don Hahn]

The Mets walked everybody.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, these games long. Don't. Because now you notice when it's over three hours. Yeah, because they do such a great job now. That's what I'm saying. Like, I, again, I feel like the naysayer. I don't think the Mets play particularly well. I think the Yankees were hot garbage this weekend. They really were. And the Mets took advantage of it. I, I don't have any faith the Mets are really, they're going to turn it around because I don't think anybody had them the worst team in baseball. So they were going to play better and not be a basement dweller, but good enough to make the playoffs. We'll see.

[Don Hahn]

You're going to need Bichette to get.

[Rosenberg]

Well, there's that.

[Don Hahn]

You know, listen, going to need him to get it. I mean, he did give you, he did give you a big, a big hit. But like you, that's a guy that's supposed to be a catalyst for your offense, right?

[Rosenberg]

He's supposed to be the guy that Alan Hahn is a Yankee fan, watches this weekend and hates when Bichette gets up. Like he's supposed to be a pain in the butt.

[Don Hahn]

And he was in Toronto.

[Rosenberg]

He was always, you know what it

[Don Hahn]

was, he cut his hair. If he had that long. Remember, every time he would always find a reason, take the hat off and flow the hair and all that. So you're like, man, put the hat back on. Stop it. We know what you're doing.

[Rosenberg]

But you got the flow, right? You want to flow.

[Don Hahn]

I'm working on it. But, but like that, that. You're right about that, though. He was always that dude up there. And I don't, I don't have that same feeling about him. And I don't know if he's miscast as a Met, you know, like.

[Rosenberg]

Well, that's where, See, that's where I, I always said with all of the Mets issues and as Irritating as it's early, I look at a guy like Bichette, you know, as a Yankee fan, when that new guy comes over, there's always that little period of adjustment. So from a team standpoint, it's getting late, early, but there's some players. I'm like, you know what? Give it time. We may fast forward a couple of months from now. He'll find it. He'll get in a groove.

[Don Hahn]

Just gets in a groove.

[Rosenberg]

I just think I'm willing from an individual standpoint to say, give him a break. It's early, but from a team standpoint, I'm not willing always to give that break.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Let's go down south. Justin in Tom's River. You're on espn, New York. Hello, Justin,

[Caller Vince]

thank you, as always, for

[Commercial Announcer]

taking my phone call. You know, Don, I really appreciate your sentiment. You know, yes, the baseball season is long, but these games are important, regardless of division or not. The Yankees last year tied the Blue Jays and ended up losing the tiebreaker. Losing, you know, because of the division record.

[Caller Griffin]

These.

[Commercial Announcer]

You can't keep blowing these games against teams that are below.500. They went down to Baltimore, they did not play well. Weathers went six hitless innings, and you end up blowing that. Yeah, they blew that game out in Milwaukee. You.

[Caller Griffin]

You should have at least took two

[Commercial Announcer]

out of three from the Mets. This bullpen. And a lot of people were blaming Boone over the weekend. Boone got the game to the closer. And that Michael K. Was saying, he did his.

[Caller Griffin]

He did his job.

[Commercial Announcer]

Nobody right now in that bullpen that he can trust to get three outs. And it's been a problem for the last couple years.

[Don Hahn]

Right? I mean, Deval, they're. They're not giving him much time at all.

[Commercial Announcer]

Cruz is like, even Cruz is inconsistent right now. And I mean, it's been a problem. And also, too, unfortunately, they just don't make winning plays. And that's my biggest problem. And I know I grew up in a time where it was fantastic with the Yankees. You went to the seventh inning, the game was over.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Commercial Announcer]

And that was it. And I know that's not realistic, but it's got to be addressed, and I think it's got to be addressed before the trade deadline.

[Don Hahn]

Are you talking about closer? Because again, like, two games, I think

[Commercial Announcer]

they need at least one, if not two arms in that bullpen outside of Hill. They have nobody. They have nobody that they can trust to get three outs.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, no, you definitely need that. You definitely got to reconsider what you've got there. Guys are up and down. It's so funny. The one guy I do trust is Hill. I don't know why. Like, I just. I trust him. I had been trusting Bednar, but Bednar gave away two games in the last week. You take you, you. If he closes those two out, you're thinking different, right. About your record, even though it's still changes everything. But that's still two games. And I understand you're not used to that happening. He doesn't do that. I. I looked it up. So it's two home runs in the last 39 situations versus two in the last week. So, like, this doesn't normally happen with him and you hope it's not a trend.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, but it is bullpen, right.

[Don Hahn]

Who do you trust?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. Well, then you had that problem last year too, at times. Like, you had that circle of trust, remember? With the rotation, too. But the rotation, I think has been. Is less of an issue than has been in years past. Yeah. And listen, he's. He's coming back from. From the injury, so it might take a little time, but really, it's the bottom of that order. The bullpen and the fundies have just been a major issue. The last.

[Don Hahn]

That was a great point that Justin made.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Is they. They don't like when you say, do they make winning plays?

[Rosenberg]

They need to be better at that.

[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the

[Don Hahn]

sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.