Jomboy talks New York Yankees, hiring MLB podcast host Chris Rose

As Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien and Jake Storiale prepare for their first full MLB season operating out of their new office in the Bronx, the duo has an array of exciting plans and new shows set to launch on their popular and rapidly expanding baseball outlet, Jomboy Media.

It all started with O’Brien spending his days hustling and building up his network and merchandise store over the years. One video that he produced in particular, however, jettisoned his name and brand into stardom almost overnight.

This famous video, of course, is the “savages in the box” clip. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was caught on a hot mic from MLB field cameras cursing at an umpire over a call that went against Brett Gardner. The outfielder was then spotted banging his bat against the top of the dugout in the background.

Now, fast forward almost four years later and O’Brien—alongside his partner Storiale—have received $1 million dollars in funding from several big-name investors to continue to expand their popular media company.

This funding allowed them to go out and sign one of the top free-agent broadcasters in all of sports media: longtime MLB host Chris Rose. MLB Network elected not to renew the host’s contract last December and Jomboy Media pounced.

“We thought there was no way we could add Chris given our budget,” O’Brien and Storiale told Inside the Pinstripes in an exclusive interview. “Then a couple months later, we heard he was trying to do something in baseball. We wanted to raise our funding to get more talent and properties on the network. Once we found out he was available, we went out and got him.”

Rose hosted the popular MLB Network program Intentional Talk for 11 years with former big leaguer Kevin Millar. Rose now brings his talents to Jomboy Media with a new and unique show called “The Chris Rose Rotation,” featuring a number of rotating co-hosts and current MLB players like Archie Bradley, Steven Brault, Lucas Giolito, Tyler Glasnow, Trevor May and Miguel Rojas.

“We think this will be one of the premier destinations for baseball fans seeking a peak behind the curtain,” said O’Brien.
“There are a lot of people out here that want to relate to these guys. They want to hear about the party in the clubhouse after the game.”

Adding Rose was a big step, but O’Brien’s company is far from done.

“We have some more shows that we are announcing soon,” he added. “Once the season starts, we are looking forward to getting to work. We are doing a big opening day live stream with the Yankees game during the day and the Mets game at night.”

Speaking of the Yankees, O’Brien and Storiale also chopped it up about New York’s starting rotation, a unit that heads into this season with several question marks.

“There are still question marks,” O’Brien said. “I’m getting a little more positive on some of the guys like [Jameson] Taillon. We will see about [Corey] Kluber once he gets out there. Fingers crossed, but they have a lot of options. Their offense should give their pitching staff the flexibility to have four guys and then a rotating fifth starter.”

O’Brien and Storiale believe we could even see the Yankees begin the season with a six-man rotation in order to try to preserve innings for their starters.

“I think teams are going to come in expecting the worst. So, I think they are going to baby some guys,” said Storiale. “The second half of the season is going to be interesting. Are guys going to get gassed when they start hitting the 100 innings mark? Are guys coming off injury going to be more fresh throwing less innings?”

New York has a few options competing for the No. 5 spot in their rotation and while talented youngster Deivi García was initially seen as the favorite, O’Brien has another prediction.

“I think it’s going to be Domingo Germán and maybe Jhoulys Chacín to start the season. You can give Garcia some innings in Triple-A. I actually think they’ll go with a six-man rotation early on. I think Deivi will be involved, but I wouldn’t say he’s a lock. If García is more likely to be a part of the postseason roster, you have to keep him fresh by giving Germán and Chacín the innings to start the year.”

It’s still unclear how New York will line up at the back end of the rotation come Opening Day, but two things are for certain as April approaches. The Yankees are poised to contend for an AL East division title and Jomboy Media will be right there to cover this team—and the entire league—every step of the way.