5-4-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Seriously, I can't figure it out. David Shepherd is still behind the double pane glass. I need you to step over to a microphone.

Will you do me a favor, please? I know most people know you as Shep. I go back and forth between David and Shep. Girls are not big on nicknames for guys based on their last names.

We don't call each other by last names. But I have a question for David Shepherd, aka Shep, because he is an experienced veteran runner. Sometimes he comes to work on the heels of a 15 mile run or something else.

Some such craziness. David Shepherd, how many marathons have you run in your lifetime? First of all, great to be with you.

Yes, you too, sir. I have run three New York City marathons in my lifetime. Amazing.

And do you routinely do long runs still? I feel like we've talked about this. Amy, what I'll do. I love how in earnest you are. I don't know how you do this. I take six months off. What?

I hibernate. You know this. The human body is not meant to run a marathon. It's not meant to go 26.2 miles.

Because of that, I want to hedge my bet. And so I don't put any pressure on my patella. I don't put any pressure on my hips. And so I take six months off completely. After running a marathon? After running a marathon. And then I will slightly work my way up by the week. So I'll start with two miles, then go to three, five, seven, nine. Eventually get to 21 two weeks before November 2nd.

There's a special kind of insanity reserved for people like you. However, this is why I do not commit to a marathon because this body, mine, is not made to run a marathon. But I am getting ready for a half, which comes up on Sunday.

Here's the crazy thing. I just did an 11 plus mile run on Tuesday evening. I was supposed to run over the weekend. I know it's a little bit close to the half, but I was going to run over the weekend.

And as you know, here in the New York City area, we had a total washout over the weekend. And so I am not as hardy as some people. I don't run in torrential downpours. So I didn't run until Tuesday evening. I thought when I got out of bed on Wednesday afternoon that I would be sore. It's the longest distance I've run since last May's half marathon. For some reason, I'm not sore. And so now I'm trying to figure, I can feel my hips, I can feel my quads a little bit with the calves, but I'm not sore at all. So I'm trying to figure out what happened.

Was it a mirage? It was a figment of my imagination I actually didn't run two hours because for some reason, David Shepherd, I am not sore. I was far sore when I hiked the Grand Canyon. I'm walking around today like I didn't run at all.

What is going on with me? So if I had to guess a couple of things, one, you are taking really good care of your body and how you are eating. That goes a long way. How tone and lean you are is making your joints a lot more grateful. And so because of that, your body is not having to exert as much energy as in the past. I think you're in very good shape, Amy. And the third thing I will say is, are you doing foam rolling? No. Although I have done it before in yoga, but I don't do it on a regular basis. So that's huge for long distance runners. All right.

I'm going to get a foam roller. And if I can push back on you for one second. I believe it is total hogwash that you are saying you cannot do a full marathon. First of all, when was the last time another human being around to use the word hogwash? Well, you keep it clean on your show. I'm only following suit. Hogwash?

Yeah. You keep it so clean on your show. Now it's going to be my favorite word for the rest of this week.

I'm going to use hogwash whenever I can. Amy, there were seven people last year that were over the age of 88 years old. What? That ran the New York City Marathon. No. Come on.

That's amazing. Listen, I'm not saying they were Flo-Jo or out there, you know, going with that kind of speed. But if they can sustain their body for that long, so can you. Think about it. All right.

That's hogwash. Just kidding. I appreciate that.

Thank you. So you think it's because I'm taking better care of myself. I'm not carrying as much weight as the last time, which is absolutely true.

And the fact that, what was the last one? Well, you might be foam rolling. Oh, foam rolling. Okay. There's something you're doing that is working your joints and your muscle groups.

Stretching a lot. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. All right.

And sleep matters a lot too, Amy. Well, I slept like a rock today. Good for you. So that's good news. It was the first time in a long time.

Okay, I feel better now. I thought maybe it was my imagination that I actually ran yesterday, but I did. Nice. By the way, the schedule you have to commit to doing what you do for a living.

Oh, overnight? On top of now being a professor as well. Oh, yes. That was fun. And then you're also doing a half marathon.

You can do a full marathon. We all need a David Shepherd in our lives. He's very encouraging. Thank you. Thank you, David Shepherd. You've got a pretty encouraging executive producer right here, by the way. I love bots. But he's sedentary.

If he runs like five minutes, it's too much for him. I heard you have a good hockey guy tonight, by the way. We do.

We do. I'm excited. Thank you. It's nice to talk to you, David.

All right. I feel much more encouraged about this. There's not something actually wrong with me. No, it could be things that are right with me.

Let's hope Sunday's half marathon goes well. But yes, very strange that I'm actually not sore. I can feel the muscles.

But after running 11 plus miles, I'm not in pain. Well, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, should I? I shouldn't look a hog wash in the mouth. Thank you, David. And yes, producer Jay is on the other side of the double pane glass. But I mean, to be fair, Jay, I didn't think it was right to ask you about running because it's not really your forte. No, I would not have been able to provide that insight.

No. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio inside our CBS Sports Radio headquarters in lower Manhattan. And David Shepherd, he is a great runner. He's in with the New York City Marathon. As much as I appreciate his encouragement, I just can't imagine how in the world I would have time to train for a marathon. That's the part. It's not so much the 26 miles, which is extremely daunting, but the training part. That's the hard part of working overnight is especially during certain stretches of the year, fall, winter. Obviously, it's the early spring.

I just don't have a lot of daylight around my work schedule. I don't have a chance to train. So it scares the crap out of me if I'm being perfectly honest. But I feel better now.

We all need a David Shepherd. On Twitter, ALawRadio, many of you are reaching out and encouraging me about Sunday. Thank you. It'll be my first half marathon in a year. A little over a year, actually, but I am really looking forward to it. It's a new one on the Upper West Side along the Hudson River that I have not done before. Should be super enjoyable to look at the river and to see the bustle around us.

And then we'll see. We'll see whether or not I can commit to one later in the year. I do try to do a couple each year. It's a different kind of a year, though, since I'll be doing a little more traveling back and forth with Bob. Actually, someone reached out to me on Facebook and asked me, who's Bob? It's a big, big day for Bob coming up. It is a big day for Bob. We'll see if he passed the test when we get to Thursday, May the 4th.

We'll see whether or not he passed the test. Some of you, you know me well. You're already reaching out on social media. I've seen a couple different posts, one of them from Brian, who was on it. He was on it more on our show Twitter after our CBS or on my Twitter and then our Facebook page, too. Always good to hear from those of you who understand the significance of Thursday, May 4th. Our phone number, 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. David did give you a bit of a tease about our guest on this edition of the show. Jack Michaels, who is in Las Vegas with the Edmonton Oilers. He's right now doing their radio play-by-play.

He does both TV and radio during the season. But coming off game one, in which Leon Drysidel had four goals and the Oilers lost. I don't know if this has ever happened before. I need to look it up, maybe check out NHL Twitter. Back-to-back nights in which two different players net four goals each and their teams lose in both cases.

Wow. Why are you so pissy, Leon? Probably because the team lost after he scored four goals.

I'd be that, too. I'd be pissy, too. Because it's the Cup. So two hockey games on this night and then also one basketball game. I suppose it's a nice consolation for Boston sports fans that the Celtics are still alive even though the Bruins are not.

Hosting game number two already in a hole, though. Really not wanting to fall into an 0-2 deficit against the Sixers in the Eastern Conference semis. The return of Joelle Embiid on this night.

The new, the brand new reigning NBA MVP. So we have a lot of playoffs to get to. Plus, get this, it may in fact be the first week in May, but we have a QB news because of course we do. It's the NFL, duh. Do you know a week from Thursday we get the schedule release?

And this time I'm actually looking forward to it for a bunch of reasons. Number one, I'm going to count the number of Jets games that are on national TV. You know that the NFL was just waiting.

Could not release the schedule until after the Aaron Rodgers trade was done so that they would know for sure that they'd be putting. I'm going to go with, what's the over-under, Jay? Let's do an over-under. I'll set the line at... Nine. Nine? Nine. Are you going under or over nationally televised Jets games? Over or under nine?

I think I'll go under nine, but not by much. Okay, I'm going over because I remember how many freaking Broncos games were set to be on national TV last year when Russell Wilson joined them. And to be fair, Aaron Rodgers is a better quarterback and I would say more universally a lightning rod. I'm not going to say he's more universally beloved. I think people are yappy, yappy, yapping about Russell Wilson in the wake of what was his worst ever year in a football uniform.

But Rodgers is a lightning rod. People either love him or hate him now. They either love him or they misunderstand him. Stop talking about me. You don't know me. You don't have my number. You're not going to have my number. He's loved already in New York. Adored. Worshipped. Don't have your number.

You're not going to have my number. He's such a snot sometimes though, but not anymore. Now he's happy. He has a new love and New York loves him back.

It's love at first sight. Pretty nice. For Aaron Rodgers. So I'm thinking that because the NFL and because its NFL broadcast partners are such total shills when it comes to the most high profile quarterbacks that we're going to get.

I'll go double figures. Double figure Jets games on national TV. That's between CBS, which would be Sunday afternoons. And there's actually a little more crossover this year between AFC, NFC on CBS and Fox. I don't exactly know all the rules.

I just know that it's kind of opening up a little bit. But between CBS. NBC Sunday Night Football.

Thursday, Amazon Prime counts. That is a nationally televised game. And then if you think about holiday games, right where we might have, I don't know about Thanksgiving, not sure exactly. Maybe it's an NFL Network game from do they play overseas this year?

Probably. Okay, so accounting all of those and knowing that the schedule release had to wait. It was delayed until Aaron Rodgers was officially a Jet.

Oh, yeah, I'm going double figures. Well, just an early look. I mean, we know the Jets play the AFC East plays the NFC East this year. So Giants, Jets, Jets, Cowboys, Jets, Eagles. I mean, those are three probable. I'm telling you, it's happening. It's going to be 10, 10 or more. 10 out of 17 isn't outrageous, but it's very much the NFL's formula.

They make no secret of the fact that they are going to blast us with the storyline, the team that they think is high profile right now. People are coming here to play with me. And it just keeps happening, too. I was listening on my drive into work and one of the New York news stations was listing the number of former Packers who are now Jets. Yeah, the list has grown. It's not just a couple of receivers. Nope, the list is growing. It's going to be Green Bay East. I'm sure that Green Bay will appreciate that. And that's fine. It really is.

It's totally fine. Let's do a poll, Wanna. Who finishes with a better record this season? Next season?

The Jets or the Packers? Just tell me that's not a great question. Go ahead. I'll wait until you tell me that's not a great question.

That's a great question. Who do you think? I'll say the Jets just got right away. Yeah, Jets.

I think just right now they got the better roster. But I mean, I'm telling you. But no one votes for the Jets in these situations. That's very true. One first bad quarter.

First bad possession at NetLife Stadium. It's going to be Mayhem, though. So I don't know how they're going to handle it.

We'll see. I love Mayhem. Mayhem is one of my favorites. Sports Mayhem is one of my favorites. Alright, that's the question.

Seems like an intriguing idea. Because the Packers, until last season, dominated the NFC North. And while the Pack has given Jordan Love a one-year extension to pay him $22.5 million dollars. Not, by the way, his fifth-year option.

He's actually getting a raise over that. Before he ever becomes the full-time starter, they've locked him in for year five with the Packers. So not this season.

This season is number four. They've declined his fifth-year option, but they've added a year onto his contract at $22.5 million. They want to give him time.

They want to give him a little bit of job security. They don't believe that they're going to take a major step back. And honestly, I do think that the NFC North is fairly wide open. The AFC East, I don't know if it's fairly wide open. Bills to lose. But that's a great poll. I love, love, love this poll. I cannot wait to see the results. Who finishes the 2023 season with a better record?

The New York Jets or the Green Bay Packers? Have at it, peeps. All right, coming up, we're going to dive into game two. Sixers, Celtics, Eastern Conference Semis, rematch of last year.

Not a rematch of the opener, though. Glad to have you with us. Excited for tonight's show as well as tomorrow's. It'll be a Hall of Flame induction on the last show of the work week. Of course, Thursday is a very important day for a large segment of the population.

I'm going to have to find a way to work it into my life on Thursday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Boston ball, again, Brown with it on the left wing. Give and go, he goes into the lane, and B blocked his dunk. What a play by Joel. Give and go by Brown, but he couldn't get it. Mark, deep on the left side, tries to melt it, tries, forces it up, blocked by a B. Smart has it back.

Final two seconds. Fall away from 16, and he hit it. Oh, Mark has hit some crazy shots here in this first quarter. And B with the ball against Horford. Ice on the left side, Joel holding the ball, making the move left to right, down the lane, he hammers it in. He's back, a two-hand slam by a B. Beautiful drive and a ferocious slam as he blows by Horford. Mark is smart, moves for Jalen, attacks the paint, over the shoulder pass, out, open corner three, rims out, offensive rebound, Derek White taps it out to Horford, who's put back three is good. Spectacular. Timeout, Doc Rivers.

Active hands. This is After Hours with Amy Lauren. The voices of Tom McGinnis on Sixers radio and Sean Grandy, along with Cedric Maxwell on Celtics radio. Initially it was a good back and forth, but I think right off the top, what was so evident in this game two of the East semis is the defense of the Celtics really clamped down. And of course, Joel Embiid was back on the court, and he had a handful of blocks already in that first period. First period, haha. I was just thinking about hockey.

In that first quarter, first half of game number two, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. There was definitely some rust that Embiid needed to shake off. He'd been out for quite a while, so there was that element to it. But not just that, the way that the Celtics shot from deep was such a huge disparity from the opener. Tatum lobs on the inside, Al Horford finds the cutter, Jalen attacks right hand slam. That's what happened. Embiid works for 20 seconds and then can't get back in position.

Well, he got back. He got back timing up to see it, getting dunked in the space. Jalen going to go right at Embiid, punk fake turns, throws it back out of the wing for a Brogdon three. That was sweet.

Sweet! Steel in the backcourt, Jalen Brown finds Derek White as groups it up and in. The Celtics score five points in two seconds and they lead by 21 time out, Doc River. What I say about them five minutes, you got two more right now if you want to solidify this doggone game. Celtics do, Jalen Brown for Brogdon, going to try the three for the right side, got it. And the route is on.

Sandwich time, please. A 13-0 Boston run, they lead by 26. Rob Williams and Lewis Paul lead to Brogdon, Sixers almost done here. Brogdon pull up three, goodnight. They pouring the mustard, the ketchup, the peanut butter on these dudes now. A 31-9 bludgeoning here in the third quarter of game two and the Celtics have a 29 point lead.

Cook em! An overwhelming third quarter, the Celtics outscored the Sixers 35-16 in that quarter alone and it was the defense to offense. This is the defense that the Celtics are capable of playing but we really hadn't seen it against the Hawks in the first series and we definitely didn't see it in the opener against the Sixers going back a couple nights ago. But they also shot a lot better from three, which opened up the interior. When they weren't pushing the tempo, they were able to dial up a bunch of deep shots. 51 triples attempted, 20 of them made, so they shoot better than 39 percent from beyond the arc. But what if I told you Jason Tatum would only play 19 minutes, would be in foul trouble most of the game, and manage a mere seven points, five of them coming from the free throw line. Jason goes one of seven from the floor, he misses all three shots from downtown. Seven points, yes seven rebounds, three assists, but only 19 minutes of play.

And yet the Celtics overwhelm the Sixers with Joel Embiid. All right. This is Flea for This Little Light, a podcast about falling in love with music. I started a non-profit music school about 20 years ago called the Silver Lake Conservatory of Music. The reason that I started doing this podcast was music education.

I'll be speaking with Rick Rubin, Thundercat, Stewart Copeland, Margo Price, Corey Henry, Cynthia Erivo, Sheila E, and Patti Smith. Please listen and follow This Little Light, a presentation of Cadence 13 on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing, help save lives, and so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know. Do the amazing, help save lives.

Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. So Coach Missoula, what went so swimmingly for the team tonight? I thought our defense led to our, you know, energetic offense and I thought we did a great job of not passing up open ones and we still got good looks at the rim and so we just have to continue to find that balance of creating two-on-ones, finding the right time to shoot it and you know, I thought the game was connected. We also only turned it over seven times for five points and so usually when you shoot open ones, you have less tendency to turn it over because defenses get better later in the shot clock and so we just managed the game well. Our defensive presence led to our offense, our good offense led to our defense. Joe, what have the last 48 hours been like for your team?

Angry, pissed. And did you like that? Did you like what was going on the last couple of days? Yes.

Ask a yes-no question, get a yes-no answer. Alright, the Celtics found their defensive prowess yet again and protect the home court in Boston but they also get a massive performance from Malcolm Brogdon off the bench, really filling up the stat sheet in the void of Jason Tatum, 23 points and then six boards off the bench. We responded, you know, we were resilient, I thought it started with JB, he set the tone and you know, it's about setting the tone for the next game. You know, this is one game, they came out and played a great game, the first one, James played great.

I thought tonight we, you know, flipped the script, I thought we did a great job on him and a great job overall but that's one game and it doesn't mean anything if there's no carryover. I'm sorry, did someone say James Harden? Coming off a playoff career high of 45 points, he's essentially MIA in this game. We love you James.

Uh-huh. Can I go back to poking fun at James Harden and playoff James? It's the opposite of playoff Jimmy, as in playoff Jimmy Butler, nah, this is the opposite. James Harden, two of 14, 0 for 6 from downtown. I knew it was too good to be true. You know how much I love to pile on Harden when I have the opportunity, at least I am consistent.

I do not hold back. I don't know him as a person, I know he does some really good things, charity work, some gestures of kindness, yes for sure. As a basketball player, I don't love his game, might be an understatement, I don't love his game and he was, as I say, MIA in this one. Joel Embiid, 15 points, 5 blocked shots in his 27 minutes of play, so at least he's back on the court. Rusty, you know, early on I thought he got a rhythm a couple of times and I thought we were out of rhythm as well, but we expected that. We knew there was going to have to be some kind of growing pains bringing him back and you know, so I'm glad we got it out of the way today. Okay, felt pretty good to go up and down a little bit and you know, it was pretty good. It was the first time I really did something going up and down, you know, since, you know, in two weeks, so pretty surprised. But then again, said it earlier, you know, I've grown a lot and I found ways to take care of myself.

Obviously, there's nothing like actually playing a game and finding your rhythm and going up and down. So at times you kind of feel, you know, tired, but I thought tonight was fine, but you know, should be better as every day goes on. I guess if you are going to shake the rust off and you have to find your footing again and get back into basketball shape, well then having won the first one, you can bring him back in game number two so that he's even more comfortable in game three back on your own court. The way that the Sixers, I felt like the way the Sixers played in the third quarter, there was a lack of energy, a lack of stepping up to match what the Celtics came out of halftime with themselves. And I get it, every team can have an off quarter, an off half, but if you're the Sixers or you're the Sixers fans, maybe not the Sixers specifically, but if you are a Sixers fan, there's gotta be a little concern about the fact that you won the opener and it took 45 points from James Harden and also the go ahead three with eight seconds remaining of what was a career performance from him, but then Joel Embiid comes back, Harden's non-existent and you get run out of the building, there's gotta be a little bit of concern there.

Doc Rivers certainly understands the Fuhrer in Boston, he coached the Celtics to a title back in 09, I guess it was, now trying to figure out a way to beat him. You know, it's funny, we talked about it this morning, talked about it before the game, but you can talk about intensity and force all you want, but when you get on the court and it's actually being applied to you, you have to be able to handle it. We didn't handle it very well tonight, well, we'll be better. Joel Embiid is going to have a couple of huge games because that's what he does. They have to have more than just Joel, whether it's Harden, whether it's Tyrese Maxey, whether it's Tobias Harris, nobody scored more than 16 points for the Sixers in this game.

They have a lot of options, but nothing really worked for them consistently. And when I look at the disparity in made three-pointers, 20 for Boston, only six for Philadelphia. Right there, you're giving up so many points, plus the points off turnovers, of course. Jaylen Brown thinks this is actually the Celtics' MO.

This is who they are. I think we just gotta take more pride in ourselves, you know, and that's it, you know, we just feel like, you know, we underperformed last game and we wanted to come out and play to the best of our ability and that's what we did. Coming in here, you know, to Boston, we wanted to win both games, but it's not easy. When you beat a team like that, they're a really good team and now you know they're going to respond at home with their fans, so it's our turn to make sure we're locked in. Yeah, they have to take advantage of the fact that they did win a game in Boston.

They were able to do it without Joel. He's got the one game under his belt. He says, actually, he's glad that he shook off the rust and at least got back out there.

He feels good. So now they need the fans to respond, but they are also going to have to take advantage of being back at home and the comforts of that and not give the home court advantage right back to the Celtics. If they want to win this series, because the deeper they go in this series, if the Sixers don't match up, what happens? The demons, the ghosts of second rounds passed.

That becomes a major issue. Our poll is already rocking on Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too. Who finishes the 2023 season with a better record? Is it the New York Jets? Is it the Green Bay Packers? Also if you'd like to weigh in on the over under that we have going right now.

This one actually makes me laugh and we're still just over a week away from the Jets schedule release. I'm saying the line is nine games on national TV. Jay goes under.

I went over. I'm going 10. I'm saying the Jets are on national TV at least 10 times during the regular season. What say you?

Whether it's Twitter or Facebook, glad to have you with us. Top of the hour, Jack Michaels from Edmonton, no, well, from Edmonton, the Oilers radio network, but in Vegas is what I meant to say. And we'll talk about this heavyweight matchup between the two best teams in the West. Leon Draisaitl with four goals and they lose. How does that happen on back to back nights? Joe Bawelski and then Leon Draisaitl.

I would be pissy too is all I heard. Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing help save lives.

And so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know, do the amazing help save lives.

Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. You're so pissy, Leon. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Swing on a liner in the air to left center.

That's pretty deep. Canna going back, way back and one hops the wall. Stays in place. So here's Green around third. He's being waved home. There will not be a relay throw from Guilherme and standing at second with a double and a rut batted in is Spencer Torkelson and the Tigers have a two to nothing first inning lead.

The 0-1 to the right hand better. Hit high in the air to deep left field. Back goes Canna. This ball's on the way and it is gone. Verling gets a high fly ball left center.

This one's got some carry to it. Way back, gone. Verling second of the year. He crushed it into the visiting bullpen and deep is left center. Two run shot and the Tigers take a 5-1 lead here in the fourth.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. There's good news and there's bad news. Max Scherzer, former Cy Young winner, former Detroit Tiger was on the mound as he returned to the Mets starting rotation against his former team the Tigers. Second game of a double header on Wednesday night and yet it was not good news for Mad Max as he really struggled to get through three and a third innings. He gave up six runs on eight hits and this is how he reintroduces himself to Mets fans as part of a sweep by the Tigers of this double header. Now remember Max Scherzer was suspended for the ten games because he had the sticky substance on his hands, right?

So that was the whole mess going back, gosh, mid-April now. And of course we talked about it at the time, we had his agitated comments, I washed my hands with soap in front of the MLB rep, all I was using was sweat and rosin and then the umpire is countering with, well they didn't like how he was jawing at them so they chucked him. Well he chucked him for the sticky substance, also didn't like how he was jawing at them.

But he says that all he was using were legal substances and the umpires were indicating that it was the stickiest of all the sticky checks they've done in baseball since this whole process started, that in fact their hands and fingers were sticking together because of what they had touched on Max's glove and his hands. It was clumpy. It was so clumpy. It was a little clumpy. It was a little sweaty and clumpy. It was just rosin though because I washed my hands in front of them. So as he gets back to the starting lineup, I suppose if you are cynical, if you're the cynical type, you might think, oh well okay, he doesn't have his sticky substance, that's why he got roughed up.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, okay Mad Max, fess up. Is it because you didn't have a sticky substance on your hands and glove? Didn't do a good job of locating. I kind of was spraying the ball in the first and then I didn't pitch well out of the stretch. That's kind of symptomatic of when you have a long layoff, that's kind of one of the first things that goes pitching out of the stretch.

So I feel like that's where some of the mistakes were and where I got beat and that's the seat adjustment I got to make. The number one thing is getting through this start healthy, back, good, check mark. Okay, now we can get going again and increase the pitch count and get back in the rhythm, get back in the flow of things. Just command, command a little bit, but that happens with a lot of pitchers, same thing with Lucchese. So now his, I think he'll get better each time out.

You do something, sit there for 13 days, I think that's more the case than anything else, but we knew there was going to be a process there, we were hoping that it would be a little bit quicker. But he's not, he's going to get better and we need to get better. Which team's predicament would you rather face right now? If you're a general manager or a manager like Buxia Walter, would you rather be in a situation where Mad Max is returning from a suspension?

So you don't have Mad Max or you didn't for 10 days. Now he's back, he gets rocked. You also don't have Justin Verlander, though I believe he's supposed to be making rehab starts this week. And should, theoretically, be rejoining the rotation in the next couple weeks. But meanwhile, the New York Mets are treading water. They're already five games back of the Braves, in fact, same record as the Marlins, but five games back in the NL East. Standings don't really matter at this point, we have a long, long, long way to go.

But their top two guns, not helpful. In the early stages of the season, they're paying them a lot of money. And here they are, losers of eight in their last 10. Okay, so that's the Mets. The Yankees are about to empty their entire farm system because it seems like every single one of their starters is either injured or heading that direction.

So much so, that longtime general manager Brian Cashman is actually asking them to exercise some caution. He's saying to them, don't give up, don't give up just yet. Don't give up on us.

That's all I can tell you. Don't count us out. Don't give up on us. We got a good group of people, player wise, staff wise, support staff wise, it's a championship Kyle River operation from that perspective. We're missing some really important pieces, which I think anybody would even acknowledge. But in the meantime, it's also part of it and you got to withstand it. So we're going to find a way to continue to tread some water at the very least and not slide too far out of it while we're waiting on some important pieces to come back. It just so happens that a month into the season, the AL East is shaping up to have some of the toughest teams in baseball. And here are the Yankees, who right now are only one win better than the Mets.

This is a short list. There's a longer version out there, but a short list of who they're missing right now because of injuries. Aaron Judge just hit the IL. He's got a hip issue, which is scary. Giancarlo Stanton, his perennial hammy problems.

Those happen every year. Carlos Rodon, he's got arm and back issues. Josh Donaldson. Frankie Montas.

Jonathan Loizaca, it's not even a complete list. They have so many injuries. And they do have a lot of players on their roster who have injury histories, which is where I think the criticism of the front office comes in. Hey, you know, these guys can be injury prone or at least have shown you that you can't rely on them to play an entire season. We know that's the case with Stanton. Aaron Judge, last year was the aberration. This is more like what we've seen from Aaron Judge since his rookie year, is that he does miss time with injuries. But for Brian Cashman, the issue, of course, is that here you are a month into the season and you don't have a ton of options.

If you ask me a question of, you know, in the wintertime or even March, what's your biggest fear coming out in the early portion of the season? On behalf of all general managers, I would say you don't want to get wrecked with injuries early because trying to go outside the organization to deal with that is pretty difficult. Trying to get players or acquire players elsewhere to fill your needs. It's not like the NBA with the G League where, you know, you can just pick and choose whatever you want, playing anywhere in the G League and pop them in if you have a rash of injuries.

You just obviously have to have what you're dealing with internally here. It's not even injuries alone. Nestor Cortez, he's had strep throat.

Poor guy's been pushed back. Also, worst pain I've ever felt in my adult life is strep throat. I couldn't eat or drink. I couldn't swallow for more than 36 hours. It was brutal. I thought I was going to die. And then I go to the doctor and he tests me and diagnoses me with a mild case of strep throat.

Mild! And I could barely get the medicine down my throat. It hurts so bad. Get me some oxygen.

No, forget oxygen. It was like knives whenever I tried to swallow. I was swallowing razor blades. That's how badly it hurt. And now every time I get a sore throat, which isn't very often, I start to freak out that it might be strep throat.

No. I don't know how children deal with strep throat on a regular basis. What I've heard is that it's actually not quite as severe with them, but it's my biggest fear.

I'd rather have... I've worked through a month of pneumonia. I'd rather have pneumonia than have strep throat. That's how bad it was when I had it. And yes, the doctor was like, oh, it's just a mild case of strep throat.

Oh, easy for you to say, big jerk. So no strep throat. I'm sorry for Nestor Cortez, but I do not want to be in his position. Yet a collision in the outfield, a couple of guys going for the same ball. Right now, they're like the bad news bears in the Bronx. The Bronx news bears.

It's right in front of us. The bad news bombers. Pretty good.

Two pretty good ones. So I'm not sure. Would you rather be the Mets or the Yankees right now? That's more of a rhetorical question.

And I don't think most teams would rather be either. We love rhetorical questions, though. But we also love ones that come in poll form and need an answer.

Like this one. Who finishes the 2023 season with a better record, the Jets or the Packers? The poll is up. It's on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or on our Facebook page. I'm anxious to see how this goes. Jack Michael's in Vegas to talk hockey next here, After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Thank you.