Aaron Boone Evaluation Survey: August 31, 2020

That was mostly a rough week. More players got hurt, the Yankees struggled, and the Rays started to build a cushion at the top of the division. But at least it ended on a good note. Aaron Boone’s club won the last three games of the week against the Mets to keep divisional hopes alive, especially with the Rays coming to town today. Tampa Bay still has a 3.5 game lead entering this series. Before looking forward, let’s take a look back at Boone’s week. Then, please take a moment to vote on the poll questions at the bottom.

• Boone took some heat after the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against Atlanta. He pulled Masahiro Tanaka after five shutout innings and 66 pitches while the Yankees were up 1-0. Chad Green gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman to blow it. The manager’s reasoning: Tanaka had emptied the tank and the Braves were going to see him for a third time. Tanaka confirmed that he was out of the gas at the end of the game too.
• Who’d have thought that Boone would be criticized for pulling JA Happ? Well, that happened on Saturday against the Mets. The southpaw was excellent and cruised into the eighth. With one out and no one on, the skipper took the ball and gave it to Adam Ottavino while up 1-0. Otto gave up a game-tying homer right away. Again, Boone reasoned that Happ was out of gas and really only had him start the eighth because of a lefty leading off.
• The manager tabbed Gary Sánchez to pinch hit in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and the score 1-1. The move paid off right away as the well overdue backstop launched a game-winning grand slam. Boone was giddy for Gary afterward.
• Boone participated in a “powerful” hour long team meeting before Friday’s game against the Mets. The presumed topic: the team’s message following other players/teams refusing to play just days after police officers shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back. Other than the team deciding to play Friday, we don’t know much else about what came out of that conversation.