Josh Donaldson simply has not been good this month, so the weekend benching and meeting with Aaron Boone probably shouldn't be all that surprising.
Days after general manager Brian Cashman said the struggling third baseman would get consistent at-bats, manager Aaron Boone responded by benching him for every game this weekend against the Rangers.
Donaldson pinch hit during Friday’s loss, striking out in what was his only plate appearance of the last three games. That culminated with an hour-long meeting Sunday between Boone and Donaldson, adding further intrigue to the situation.
Both Boone and Donaldson downplayed the meeting. The manager said Donaldson will get consistent at-bats, and the third baseman noted that while he was “obviously” upset to not be playing, “that’s not why we were talking.”
In 16 games since returning from the injured list June 2, Donaldson has hit a woeful .125. Audacy MLB Insider and New York Post columnist Jon Heyman told The Mully & Haugh Show that Donaldson getting stapled to the bench makes sense.
“He’s hitting .125, I know they had an hour-long meeting and Aaron Boone was half an hour late to his press conference -- which he’s never late. Buck Showalter is late every day, Aaron Boone is never late," Heyman said. "So something was going on there, I’m not sure if Brian Cashman was in the meeting as well, but they played it down and suggested they’re all on the same page and everything is great.
“But an hour-long meeting and Donaldson hasn’t played for three straight games, which really shouldn’t be shocking. I mean, the guy is hitting .125. At this point (Boone is) trying to win games, and he’s going to go with (D.J.) LeMahieu. I don’t know if it’s anything to do with (playing) at home because he’s getting booed like crazy at home. I doubt it, it’s probably just the .125, that should be enough to probably put someone on the bench.
“It does sound like he’s going to play in Oakland, and maybe he’ll come back a little bit, but last year he did not have a good year and this year he’s been not even half as good as he was last year.”
Tha Yankees begin a three-game series against Oakland on Tuesday. Even if Boone wasn’t sitting Donaldson to avoid him getting booed mercilessly by the Yankee Stadium crowd, the timing does work out somewhat well. He avoided one of the best teams in the league, and playing against the A’s in Oakland right now is probably the closest thing Donaldson will ever get to anonymity while in pinstripes.
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