Well, it looks like the Aaron Boone haters came out in force in last week’s voting. A bunch of people decided to vote 1 across the board, it appears. Still, the most frequent choices were 8, 10, and 10 for strategy, media, and clubhouse respectively. I think that says more about the fanbase’s sentiment than the averages from last week. It’s a lot closer to what we’ve seen on average since August.
Anyway, with the previous week’s polls aside, let’s refresh where the Boone’s team stands this morning.
2019 Regular Season Record: 102-55 (AL East Champions!)
Last Week: 4-2
Upcoming: Away vs. Rays (2 games, 9/24 – 9/25), Away vs. Rangers (3 games, 9/27 – 9/29)
Recent Aaron Boone News:
- Domingo Germán was placed on Administrative Leave under the MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy. Apparently, Boone “heard the whispers” about it prior to the announcement on Thursday. Germán pitched two innings on Wednesday, so it seems possible that Boone knew what was coming and pitched him anyway. Not a great look if true.
- Boone became the first manager in MLB history to win 100 games in his first two seasons. Obviously, it helps that he’s at the helm of a great team — but it’s a nice accomplishment nonetheless.
- On Saturday, Joe West ejected Boone in the first inning. It was yet another chapter in the saga of the Yankees’ manager and the umpires this season. Yet again, Boone wasn’t afraid to assert himself for his players.
- The skipper told the media that CC Sabathia will pitch out of the bullpen the rest of the season. Under normal circumstances, that would have been a tough conversation between a manager and long-time great who is past his prime. But, Boone and Sabathia are known to be close, so no harm no foul. Boone had a tough time holding back the waterworks during Sabathia’s pregame ceremony yesterday.
- A few injury updates from Boone:
- He’s feeling more confident about Gary Sánchez’s readiness for the playoffs.
- Edwin Encarnación could return against Tampa Bay, but is expected to be back in Texas for the regular season’s final series at the latest.
- Gleyber Torres had quite the scare the other night. Thankfully, he was feeling good before his MRI on Saturday morning per Boone, and even better: the results came back negative.
Please take a moment to vote on the three poll questions below:
[democracy id=”40″]
[democracy id=”41″]
[democracy id=”42″]
RetroRob
Boone’s in-game decisions have been more solid this season. No doubt a full year of experience helped, but I also wonder if the Yankees have given him more flexibility on pitching changes. Some of his slow and/or questionable moves he made last postseason may very well have been influenced by the analytics team. The failure of some of those moves last October may work to Boone’s advantage this year if they let him make his own decisions. I mean, the guy grew up around the game. The analytics input is great, but the manager is hired and paid to make decisions on the fly. He may have had final say on all on-field decisions last year, but perhaps he’s simply more comfortable overriding some of the input this season and the Yankees are comfortable with him doing that.
Unrelated, the Yankees need to get Stanton fully game ready, meaning play nine innings in LF, With EE returning perhaps as soon as Wednesday, they might want to DH Stanton on Tuesday (I don’t see them playing him both games in the OF on the turf in Tampa) as the DH slot may get crowded with EE, Voit and maybe even Sanchez getting ABs there the last four games. They can then play Stanton in LF the last four games. Having two off days this week will help here.
MG309
Boonie has done a terrific job-the players know he has their back and play hard for him in every game. The difference from Girardi is both noticeable and welcome
JG (Ben Francisco)
In Boone We Trust