There were quite a few controversies in the Yankees’ four-game series in Baltimore, which they split with the Orioles by losing the opener and finale – and in his weekly appearance on Carton & Roberts, manager Aaron Boone answered to a few of them in-depth.
Starting with the non-challenge in Monday’s game that got Boone ejected, the skipper explained that he should’ve been quicker on the draw, but it’s not as easy as it seems.
“It’s a tough challenge because you’re looking at two plays, and in a 20-second window, our replay guy doesn’t even know there’s the second play until after Judge is out,” Boone said. “You can challenge both plays, but you have to be specific about it. In the end, we knew it wasn’t going to be overturned, but that’s a situation where, in the eighth inning, if there’s any gray area, I have to challenge those.”
Evan then asked about the clock, which Boone confirmed is the same one inside every stadium that is used to time warm-ups, inning breaks, and the like – but it doesn’t always run, so that clock has to be running in the manager’s head, too.
“In that 20-second snapshot, he doesn’t even know the run was waved off, so when he was starting to look, I should’ve said we would challenge the play,” Boone said. “There is a clock in the stadium typically, but sometimes it doesn’t run. I did make a motion with a second left on the clock, but in reality, I should have done it earlier.”
Craig then joked that Boone challenged the final play of Thursday’s finale just to make the umpiring crew “earn their money” – but while the skipper said he did so simply because it was the final play and he had nothing to lose, he did acknowledge Craig & Evan’s thoughts that replay hasn’t exactly been as much of a help as it should be.
“I will acknowledge the Braves/Phillies play, and the Tampa/Oakland play, and one of ours early in the year…you have to have a good imagination to say there’s nothing to overturn, so I think that’s a bit of an issue, and been a bad look a few times,” Boone said.
Onto bad looks later in the series, Clint Frazier made a base running blunder in Wednesday’s win, which drew a stare from Boone at the time, and a conversation with the skipper and first base coach/baserunning coordinator Reggie Willits later.
“Reggie talked to him just to make sure he knew the process and why it happened,” Boone said. “Clint’s been struggling to get going, and it doesn’t stop once you’re a baserunner; with the way teams shift in games and within at-bats, you have to be hyper aware of situations and know your techniques and reads and remain locked in.”
And now, the coup de grace: as promised, Craig & Evan asked Aaron Boone about his managerial decisions late in Thursday’s loss, starting with the decision to pinch-hit Aaron Judge for Rougned Odor in the eighth – which was, indeed, the matchup the Yankees wanted.
“It’s the 8th inning, and once Gio (Urshela) got on ahead of him, we’re in a high enough leverage mode where it was the time,” Boone said. “I had Hicks turned around, who is much better from the right side, behind him, and that was, in my mind, the time to shoot the bullet – if you keep holding on, you might not get the right spot. I definitely like Odor up there and think he’s gotten big hits for us there, and had Gio made an out, maybe I hold off, but I thought we had an elite matchup in the situation.”
And two innings later, with the winning run on third and one out in the tenth, Boone didn’t choose to walk Cedric Mullins – an idea Craig was adamant about in the moment – for two reasons: now and later.
“You wouldn’t be in a double play situation there, because Mullins will try to steal on the first pitch, and you won’t be in a throw through situation,” Boone said. “That was a no-walk situation all the way, not even debatable, because they’re going to take second because we have to have the infield in.”
Boone did talk it through with Phil Nevin and Carlos Mendoza just in case – but even thinking about, say, second and third right away, the skipper knew there were more excellent hitters behind Mullins.
“We respect Mullins and the hitter he’s turning into, but there’s also Hays and Mancini behind him,” Boone said, “and a Loaisiga element here where you’re not just going to put guys on when you’re up against it.”
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