In every week, the Yankees went from giving Giancarlo Stanton his first begin within the outfield since July to placing him within the giant left area at Yankee Stadium for a essential Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. It has been 1,106 days for the reason that slugger stepped out to the left area within the Bronx, courting again to Game 1 of the 2019 ALCS on Oct. 12, 2019.
“Just thought he moved around well out there in Houston, obviously made a really good play out there,” Boone stated of enjoying Stanton within the a lot smaller left area at Minute Maid Park. “So seeing how he was after that recreation, which [he] got here out of that feeling good, the following day felt good as properly. As I deliberated on it yesterday, I checked in with him simply to ensure that he felt good about it. I instructed him I used to be contemplating it. He was all in on it, ‘Let’s go,’ and determined to go that approach.
Boone admitted it’s not the right scenario, however it’s the place the Yankees are proper now. They went into Saturday night time’s recreation down 0-2 to the Astros within the best-of-seven video games collection, their offense stalling in opposition to Houston’s glorious pitching and a roster that was given to him with restricted choices.
After Joey Gallo turned out to be a bust in New York, Andrew Benintendi was acquired earlier than the commerce deadline particularly for these conditions. He performs a Gold Glove-worthy lefty area and hits the kind of pitches the Astros pitchers throw properly. But he fractured the hook of the hamate bone in his proper hand in early September.
In the previous, Boone would transfer Aaron Judge to middle and use Aaron Hicks or one other middle fielder in left to let Stanton play the a lot smaller proper area. Hicks is out six weeks with a sprained knee. Harrison Bader is an exceptionally good defensive middle fielder, however as a result of he got here to the Yankees injured, Boone didn’t have an opportunity to let him do this within the common season.
So he was reluctant to throw him in there in such an important recreation.
“I just haven’t done that with Bader at all, him coming back from [missing three months with plantar fasciitis] and to just all of a sudden throw him in left field,” Boone defined. “It’s not the ideal alignment, but the reality is, we’re still really good defensively in the field right now.”
Bader, who has 4 residence runs within the final seven video games, was main off in Game 2 on Thursday night time, however was dropped to sixth Saturday. Boone had Anthony Rizzo main off for the seventh time this season.
“I just really wanted to get the third lefty at-bat in there today against [Christian] Javier, who’s got pretty extreme reverse splits,” Boone stated. “I mean, he’s had a great year against both, but he’s especially tough on righties. So I just wanted to have the three lefties in there today.”
Rizzo was one on the high of the lineup and Boone had Matt Carpenter in there on the No. 5 spot as a delegated hitter. Carpenter, who missed the final two months of the season after fracturing his foot, is 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts in seven at-bats within the postseason.
But Boone has restricted left-handed bats obtainable with Benintendi on the injured record and Carpenter was an enormous a part of the offense earlier within the season.
“He’s healthy, he’s had a ton of at-bats,” Boone stated of Carpenter, “albeit not loads of in-game at-bats. He’s been getting loads of stay at-bats.
“It’s Matt Carpenter. Just because you have a couple of bad at-bats against some really difficult matchups, left-handed matchups. He’s a really good hitter. And then especially against Javier. Javier is their one guy that’s pretty extreme [with] righty splits. I want to have the three lefties in there and I feel like he gives us that chance.”
And lastly, Boone performed Oswaldo Cabrera, a change hitter, at shortstop, hitting eighth to offer the Yankees a 3rd left-handed hitting menace. It was not a straightforward choice, Boone stated.
“I do like [Isiah Kiner-Falefa] in there today, but again, I just went with the side of one of the three lefties in there. So yes, that was a hard one again,” Boone stated.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com