“We would like to have a better record at this point, sure, because we have high expectations and expect to get a W every day.”
Those are the words of Yankees manager Aaron Boone, talking Thursday about the team’s sluggish start during his weekly appearance on Carton & Roberts. The Yankees are 5-7 as they get set to begin a homestand on Friday, but Boone isn’t seeing any pressure, or anyone pressing, despite the slow start.
“The mindset and focus of these guys, and the belief we’ll turn this thing around and get going, is always imminent,” Boone said. “I don’t think there’s any overwhelming pressing going on or anything – the guys have the right frame of mind knowing it’s a long season that will have ups and downs, but I think they expect to show up tomorrow and play well to kick off a homestand.”
Evan did ask why, on the day before an off-day, Boone left DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton out of Wednesday’s lineup, to which the skipper had a plausible response.
They needed an off day, and with DJ going on the turf like he did early in the season, I felt like it was the right time for that,” Boone said. “I made more of a last minute decision on Giancarlo, but with DJ, that was a little more planned. I thought about it earlier, but he had to go with Gleyber jamming his finger, so he got yesterday. But hopefully, with the day off today, it’s a big reset for both guys.”
Boone wouldn’t have hesitated to use either in a big spot yesterday, which led to a discussion of roster machinations and in-game mechanics, but the skipper is confident anyone can get the job done – seeing a lot of improvements despite the numbers not matching up.
“I have a ton of confidence in our team and our depth that we’ll get this rolling, and I see a lot of guys who are starting to look like who they are – I don’t even feel like Judge is locked in yet, despite his numbers,” Boone said. “A lot of our guys trying to find their way are guys with serious track records, and eventually, there will be some pitchers paying for their struggles the first couple weeks.”
Of course, pitching has also been an issue early on, and Boone did offer this when asked by Craig & Evan about Corey Kluber specifically:
“He’s a competitor, and I feel he’s out there getting more comfortable in competition mode, racking up big time game reps. Really with these guys, in April, coming off the season we had last year and different starters coming off different reasons for inactivity, I’m trying to be conscious of building them up properly. We want them to be healthy and strong, so when we get into the back end of the season, we’re not worried about having to pull back. With more off days in April you can do those things, but we’re getting to a point where most of these guys can be left to run a little more.”
Listen to Boone's entire segment with Carton & Roberts below!
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