The Yankees lost last night because Aaron Boone pushed the wrong buttons again in using his bullpen. Fair or foul? Let’s explore a bit…
Beleaguered Yankees manager Aaron Boone is back on the witness stand again regarding the use of his bullpen during a heart crunching defeat at the hands of those damn Red Sox last night in eleven innings.
Unlike former Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, who once sent word to Mickey Callaway to have Jacob deGrom removed from a game, the one thing Yankees GM Brian Cashman relinquishes to Aaron Boone is complete control of the game once it begins.
Now, to the question, Aaron Boone blew the game last night against the Red Sox through his misuse of the Yankees bullpen – fair or foul?
The tables below will help to answer the question. To the left are the pitchers Boone used in Wednesday night’s ten-inning over the Phillies, and to the right, the pitchers he called on last night.
One win, one loss, but we can understand Boone’s thinking regarding last night if you look closely.
Yankees: A Tale Of Two Games
First, as we look at the Phillies game (left), except for Aroldis Chapman and Brooks Kriske, all of the relievers used in that game were eliminated except for emergency use last night because of the number of pitches they threw.
Second, we see that Kriske, last night’s goat, got the win for Boone and the Yankees, tossing a perfect inning on only ten pitches.
Remember, too, that both Jonathan Loaisiga and Nestor Cortes Jr. were not available in either of these Yankees games.
Moving to the table on the right, we see that Boone just about emptied his bullpen when another went into extra innings.
Boone pushed the right button three times after Jordan Montgomery could not finish the sixth inning, calling on Sal Romano, Lucas Luetge, and Luis Cessa to get the Yankees through the eighth inning, with a 3-1 lead still preserved.
And then, as we know, the roof fell in.
Here’s the point I want to make, though. Combining both games, Boone, in manipulating his bullpen, pushed the right button nine of eleven times.
Even Zack Britton, who was charged with two runs in the Phillies game, can be excused as Gleyber Torres opened his inning with an error, putting a runner on base.
Any manager would take Boone’s “batting average” from his bullpen in two ultra-tight games to my way of thinking.
Second-guessing from last night? Sure, we can point to Boone’s decision not to send Luis Cessa out to pitch the ninth, after expending only five pitches to retire the side in the eighth.
On the other hand, though, Chad Green has been one of the Yankees, if not the most reliable reliever on the team. Chapman, you say? Hell, no. He’s the reason we have to spend time and potentially a ton of money to trade for Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel in a fight with several other teams.
Stuff happens.
A guy pitches lights out one night, and on the second night, he inexplicably throws four wild pitches (Briske).
A stand-up guy, Briske met with reporters after last night’s debacle:
It’s baseball, and while you can see in the video below, Aaron Boone and the Yankees were crushed by what happened last night, a manager makes the calls instantaneously, just like umpires do. And always have to live with the outcome and move on, which the Yankees will do when Gerrit Cole takes the ball tonight.
I’m not putting Aaron Boone down as the AL Manager Of The Year; I’m just saying he did his job last night with the players he had on hand, that’s all.
Yankees Game Recap And Aaron Boone
Here’s What Readers Are Saying…
Dave Matheson If his overpriced bullpen could actually hit the strike zone it would help.
Steven Red Cano It’s so easy for people to criticize after the fact. Shit just happens, how could anyone anticipated the dude throwing all those wild pitches and such. I hate the Yankees but the fans need to chill out, geez. The Yankees are 100% anal, I mean analytics. They can fire Boone but it’ll just be another dude who makes zero decisions.
Bryan Kuhn all is good until you throw 4 wild pitches in one inning and can’t change pitchers because it’s Manfred’s rule! Good point about the rule – that didn’t occur to me.
Ron Donald Uhm Steve, they’re just not a very good team right now. Happens to every team or player. They get old, get injured, skills diminish. Truthfully there’s not much Boone can do with what’s essentially a Triple-A team.
Bob J Spat Foul…. He’s Looking at if we can’t win the Division I have to take The Wild-Card so he needs to keep Chapmen and Britton Rested. Honestly Chad Green has Been Lights out so When the Save was Blown He was Very Limited in The Bully Not his Fault
Dan Teti Cessa threw 5 pitches and shut them down. Why couldn’t he have gone a second inning if he thinks Green has been overused in the first half. Makes no sense to me
Vinnie Coletta I agree, it’s not Boone’s fault, he is supposed to be able to trust Green
Mike Harrington I’ll blame him for Kriske, but Green was the right call in the 9th. Can’t trust Chapman right now and he was the best man available. He didn’t get it done, period.
Joel Albert If Kriske was brought up….who ordered it? Boone? No…Cashman…and that has attached to it the implied or explicit message……” you are to use him”…..Boone has few options
Frank Grippo I hope Boone did not keep the pitcher in for the 9th was because the sheet he looks at told him to I know deep down inside he knew he should have kept in the game
Bruce Sadler With a two-run lead Chad Green should have been able to close out the game.No one’s fault except the Pitcher pitching There! Someone finally said it. Bravo.
Steven Kenworthy I agree with your “he did his job last night with the players he had on hand” statement. Yes, the Yankees are short-handed, and there’s little to no depth at Scranton. This is another reason I’ve said more than once…they are a .500ish team.
Tim O’Meara I think the criticism is legit, but to be fair, being the head skipper of the Yankees is incredibly difficult.
Closing Published Comments And Final Thoughts
We’ve about beaten this one death, so published comments are now closed.
What I get from readers is that there’s something about Aaron Boone that simply rubs them the wrong way, and, therefore, if the Yankees are swayed by fan sentiment, Boone will not manage the Yankees in 2022.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
