Jhony Brito looked like a savior for the Yankees in his first two starts of the season, allowing just one run in 10 innings of work to help mask the absences of Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino.
On Thursday, that early promise came to a screeching halt as the 25-year-old was battered by the Twins at Yankee Stadium.
Brito couldn’t escape the first inning, allowing seven runs on six hits in 0.2 innings of work, leading to a blowout loss and a nine-run first frame for Minnesota, tying the most runs the Yanks have ever allowed in a first inning.
Asked about Brito’s struggles following the 11-2 defeat, Boone pointed to just about everything that went wrong for the rookie.
“Just looked like a lot of pitches out and over the plate,” Boone said. “And it seemed like he was ball one too much too, behind in the count, leaving the sinker elevated too much. Obviously a rough night.”
Asked if Brito may have been tipping his pitches given how hard he was hit, Boone again pointed to how fat many of Brito’s pitches were.
“We dive into everything, and see if we can find any tells or whatever,” Boone said. “I haven’t gone back and looked at all the pitches, but it seems like he was missing over the plate and elevated. But we’ll go back and look at everything for sure.”
As for Brito’s confidence potentially being shaken after such a disastrous outing, Boone didn’t have much concern about the youngster’s bounceback ability. The Yankees will need Boone to be right, as Rodon and Severino don’t seem to be on the cusp of returning just yet.
“It’s back to work. He’s got a great head on his shoulders,” Boone said. “This is unfortunately part of the game. You get punched in the mouth in this game, and he’s equipped to handle that. Just support him, dive in, evaluate, look at where you can make improvements and get back to work. That’s all you can do, and he’ll be ready to do that.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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