Yankees manager Aaron Boone joins Carton & Roberts every week during the MLB season, and in his latest appearance on Thursday, there were three big topics: Aaron Judge’s side soreness, Gary Sanchez’s lack of hustle, and Gleyber Torres’ defensive struggles.
Boone had little new news on Judge, but when it came to Sanchez’s lack of hustle – namely, two plays against the Orioles where he didn’t run hard to first on what ended up a single to left, and then was nearly forced at second on a Gio Urshela rocket single to right – the skipper said they were teachable moments.
“I spoke during and after the game with him about it; the one to left field obviously doesn’t look good, but it’s more the one where he almost got forced at second,” Boone said. “The one to left – we should always be running and going hard, but there are a ton of guys, probably myself included, where when you hit it hard right at someone, you’re trying to body language it away from them, and I think he shut it down when he thought the guy caught it.”
Boone did note that he thought the less-than-speedy Sanchez might have been thrown out at second trying for a double had he been busting it out of the box, but then went into noting that he never should have been close to being forced there on Urshela’s hit.
“So Gio smoked it hard, one or two hops to the right fielder,” Boone said, “and it’s one of those players where as a runner, one without a lot of speed, you know you can’t go first to third, so I think he took that for granted and tried to coast into second. But, you can’t take that for granted; you have to be able to make the adjustment, or take an extra base if it gets away. It’s a lesson learned.”
As for the other side of that bag, namely Gleyber Torres’ struggles defensively, Boone still believes in Gleyber, and just needs him to stay aggressive.
“The biggest thing for him is to remain aggressive on defense. When you have a couple high-profile miscues, the tendency is to get passive and make sure you don’t make mistakes,” Boone said. “He has to be aggressive and lean on all the work he has done. He’s in such a better place defensively, and had such a good spring in terms of movements, range, and making the routine play.”
Boone noted “a couple hiccups,” but believe Torres can indeed be an above-average MLB shortstop.
“He’s a great player and has the equipment and foundation to be successful out there,” Boone said. “You have to lean on that right now.
Defense, similar to hitting, can be a little bit mental. You have to catch ‘em all, or else it’s a story.”
And, the skipper notes, don’t necessarily pin the blame on Jay Bruce’s inexperience on first, either.
“Any time you can have an experienced, good defender at first base, that’s an asset, but I’d say overall that Jay has played the position well,” Boone said. “Gleyber’s first error was a throwing error where he made a good backhand play in the hole, and Jay could’ve made the play for him, but that throw last night with the in-between hop is a do-or-die play, even for an experienced first baseman.”
So, with all that said, where will Rougned Odor fit in? Boone noted he still has to go through intake testing and then be evaluated for “where he’s at physically” after not playing for a couple weeks, but for those who may question the trade, the skipper says the main reason is upside.
“The biggest thing was we saw a chance to get a very talented player, a 27-year-old with a couple of years of control, for essentially no money. We had to give up two prospects, but they were not two of our real premium prospects,” Boone said. “This was a chance on a guy with some real upside and a little defensive versatility, and maybe in the middle of his career, we can unlock some things that help him get back to the impact player he was in his first couple years in Texas. It’s depth for our roster, because it’s a long season and anything can happen.”
Listen to Boone's entire segment with Carton & Roberts below!
Follow WFAN's afternoon team on Twitter: @CartonRoberts, @Craigcartonlive, @EvanRobertsWFAN, @TommyLugauer, and @CMacWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch