David Lennon: Yes, Yankees fans, Aaron Boone might be having his finest season yet
Yankees manager Aaron Boone walks back to the dugout after a pitching change during the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Before reading any further, consider this a trigger warning for Yankees fans.
Aaron Boone deserves Manager of the Year consideration.
Didn’t have that on your Bingo card? No surprise. Boone has been fired in the court of public opinion too many times to count during his nine-year Bronx tenure, and yet this could be his finest season at the helm.
Don’t believe me? For starters, the Yankees, who were defeated by the Astros, 9-7, on Tuesday night, have played without three former MVPs, including Aaron Judge, who hasn’t taken a meaningful swing since May 31, and Giancarlo Stanton, last seen with a bat in his hands April 24.
Max Fried, a two-time Cy Young finalist, has spent two lengthy stints on the IL, totaling 82 days and counting. Gerrit Cole, the 2023 Cy Young winner, missed the first 58 days of this season. Carlos Rodon, only now rounding into shape, was on the shelf for 95 days.
Yes, the Yankees have baseball’s third-highest payroll at $338 million, which is perceived as a knock against any manager. But with 16 players accounting for 833 IL days, the receipt comes to $81,324,006 in rehabbing talent -- the steepest tab in the majors (according to Spotrac).
Of course, Brian Cashman’s roster juggling helps navigate the injury-related turbulence. But what about coping with a Judge-less offense that has scored 3.86 runs per game since June 1, the fourth-worst in MLB? Or put up second-lowest batting average (.230) and middle-of-the-pack OPS (.716)?
And yet, Boone has kept the Yankees on pace for 92 wins and within short reach of the odds-defying Rays, who led the AL East by 3 1/2 games through Monday. Playoffs trips are supposed to be automatic for the Yankees, but they still have to be earned over a grueling 162-game season, and this year’s march to the tournament has been harder than it’s looked.
Knowing that, I asked Boone as he walked out Tuesday for batting practice -- as Judge shagged some fly balls in rightfield -- if this was the most demanding season he’s endured in pinstripes.
“They all present their challenges,” Boone told Newsday. “But this one’s been a grind, for sure. I’ve used that word a lot, and it’s been that way. But it’s been rewarding, too, to see us kind of hang in there and find a lot of ways to win games. And still with that hope of being our very best when it matters the most.”
That grind has called for some deft maneuvering of the Yankees’ bullpen, which ranked second in ERA (2.97) and WHIP (1.19) entering Tuesday. That’s come at a cost, as the relief corps’ top weapon, Brent Headrick, led all MLB relievers with 67 appearances while iron man Paul Blackburn was fourth in innings with 70. Headrick had his worst outing of the season on Tuesday, blowing a 6-5 lead in the eighth by giving up three runs. Previously, he hadn’t allowed more than one earned run in any appearance. But Boone & Co. believe they’ve done a good job of preserving bullets for the toughest tests still ahead.
“In the seven years I’ve been here, I think everyone’s communication has gotten a lot better about who we want to use and when,” pitching coach Matt Blake told Newsday. “How to best utilize the group as a whole, finding guys the best avenues to pitch, thinking about using the bullpen in different ways and obviously guys have grown into their roles.
“I just think (Boone) has kind of evolved in his bullpen utilization. Obviously his strength is communicating with the guys and understanding them. And I think we’ve done a good job of finding where the guys are going to have their best chance of success and putting them in those situations as often as possible.”
The formula is working to near-perfection, from the opening pitch to the final out. Entering Tuesday, the Yankees’ rotation had MLB’s best ERA (3.35) but is now dealing with the additional loss of Ryan Weathers. Weathers had become a reliable pillar of the starting staff before landing on the IL with a left forearm flexor strain, making his return in late September uncertain.
Because of the microscopic margins, and a run-differential (plus-100) that has now slipped to sixth in the majors, Boone has talked about these games having an October feel since early July, with the outcome hinging on who comes out of the bullpen door. That’s not normal, even for the Yankees, a franchise saddled with heavier expectations than any other in baseball, playing in front of a packed house every night.
“It’s almost like you’re numb to it at some point,” Blake said. “More than the tension of the game itself, it’s more of how much we’re asking the guys to do. I think we’re comfortable in these tight games at this point, and who we’re putting out there. But just making sure we’re not asking too much of them too early.”
With five weeks left in the regular season, and what the Yankees hope will be a long playoff run, the mission is far from complete. Boone has missed the playoffs just once in eight years, but his only World Series trip ended in failure. With an especially weak AL, the Yankees have a great chance to return to the Fall Classic, and Boone deserves more credit for setting them up for another October shot at snapping the franchise’s 16-year title drought.
With everything the Yankees have battled through to this stage, I had one more question for Boone: is this turbulent season his best as manager?
Boone smiled. “We’ll see in the end,” he said.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
