By WFAN.com
So far, the Yankees have held their own in their penultimate series against the Boston Red Sox. The Sox only needed to win one of the three games to clinch the AL East title at Yankee Stadium, but Aaron Boone's team have held them at bay.
The Sox and Yankees meet Thursday evening for the final game of the series, but with so little time left in the season it's tough to avoid looking forward to the AL Wild Card game on October 3rd.
That winner-take-all scenario is fast approaching, and with it comes a massive decision. Who will get the start for the Yankees with their entire season on the line?
Boone joined "Mike's On" Thursday to discuss the series with the Red Sox, the rest of the season, and, of course, the looming Wild Card contest.
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If Boone has already made his decision about who he'll give the ball to in the do-or-die postseason opener, he didn't reveal it in his interview with Mike Francesa.
"We just kinda started to have those conversations as an organization a couple days ago," said Boone. "There's too much that can unfold in that final week. How meaningful are the games we're playing that final weekend in Boston? Do we need to pitch anyone in those games that could affect the wild card game? That all has to play out. Obviously these conversations will start happening with more and more urgency. The good news, especially with Sevy throwing the way he did last night, I believe that we'll have a really good choice to make."
There are actually quite a few examples of these "good choices" that the Yankees have to make in the final games of the season. Luke Voit's recent play is fueling one of those decisions. Voit has nine home runs, 20 RBIs, and an impressive 1.034 OPS in just 29 games for the Bronx Bombers. According to Boone, this has essentially established the 27-year-old as the team's everyday first basemen.
"I gave him the day off the other day for Walker, but for the most part it has been Luke Voit at first base," said Boone before the team's game against the Red Sox. "I would say that situation can be fluid ... but Luke right now is getting the bulk of the at-bats at first base and that allows us to move Walker around ... right now Luke Voit has really earned the bulk of those at-bats, and as you've seen over the last few weeks has pretty much played everyday."
The last week has also seen two key Yankees make their returns from injury. Aaron Judge returned on Tuesday from a wrist injury that had kept him out since July 26th, and Aroldis Chapman came back after a brief stint on the disabled list due to tendonitis in his left knee.
"We want to get him regular work now," said Boone about Chapman. "And that's obviously a little bit different than normal, and we've had that conversation with Chappy that ... we need to get you pitching and get you regular work so that you can kind of get into your groove and into your rhythm and hopefully slot back into that closer's role after a couple times out there."
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Francesa also asked the Yankees' manager if he had any concerns about Judge's injury re-occurring.
"I think what we've seen from the first two days have been really encouraging. I think his timing's been good. He clearly looks like he's seeing the ball well. He's only got the one hit but he's had really good at-bats overall. He doesn't look like he's really missed a beat. We'll continue to just see how he bounces back. He's a little sore after last night's game, but woke up feeling good today ... He'll get a day here, maybe two, down the stretch just to make sure he's good because we got to look at it not only from the wrist standpoint, but not playing for eight weeks or whatever, you gotta get back in that baseball shape, even though he was able to keep his conditioning in such a good place. It is something we gotta stay on top of and monitor."
While Judge and Chapman have returned from injuries, the hope is that a few other Yankees can return from the slumps they have found themselves in. Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez have hit poorly as of late. Sanchez' struggles are getting more attention because they've really gone on for the entire season, but Boone still has faith that he can turn it around before the postseason.
"It’s been a puzzler," said Boone about Sanchez. "Because I really feel like he’s so special from a talent standpoint as a hitter. This guy can fall out of bed and hit. This guy is born to hit and his swing lends itself that he should kind of always hit ... and again being a young player, and even for great hitters, hitting can be hard and as a young player that's gone through some struggles here for the first time, has missed a lot of time with injury, all of a sudden things can snowball on you and it can get a little bit between the ears. I think at times throughout this he has chased results, meaning 'I'm gonna go up there and make it happen or go get a hit' instead of kind of taking what the game gives to you and allow your patience and your ability to kind of carry the day. Now, we've seen him walk a couple times the last couple days which I think is encouraging ... so I believe at my core that he is one good swing, one good game from really getting it going."
Boone also spoke about numerous other Yankees who are looking to make an impact in the postseason, including Miguel Andujar, Andrew McCutchen, and Dellin Betances.
Once again though the conversation shifted back to the huge game in 13 days. Francesa asked the Yankees' manager when his attention would start to really be dominated by that Wild Card Game.
"It's kind of a fluid situation," said Boone. "You see where you are. The reality is you may be fighting tooth-and-nail to win games middle of next week, late next week. Hopefully we're in a position where we have things wrapped up where we're going into those final weekend so we can kind of set things exactly how we want at that point."
The Yankees' season continues towards its end point on Thursday night when Boone's team finishes their series in the Bronx with the Red Sox.