Yankees (and Aaron Boone) enjoy a much more pleasant game
Aaron Judge of the Yankees runs the bases after his first-inning two-run home run against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Saturday began for the Yankees much as their embarrassing Friday night ended, with manager Aaron Boone again explaining his bold — but necessary — move to pull Gleyber Torres for admiring a wall-banging single rather than hustling down the line for a potential double.
To Boone’s credit, he did a much better job the second time around. Maybe the chance to sleep on it cleared his head, because what came out of his mouth after Friday’s series-opening loss didn’t sound like a manager owning his decision.
First off, it was so out of character for Boone, with his well-deserved reputation as a players' manager, to make such a public example of someone, even Torres, whom he’d already benched this season for a perceived lack of effort. And second, Boone abruptly cut off questions Friday night, short of actually copping to why he yanked Torres from the game (it was obvious anyway).
It was a time that called for authority and accountability from a manager, but instead, Torres proved to be more of a stand-up guy at his locker afterward.
Given a do-over Saturday, Boone stayed more on message and was believable in the disciplinarian role. He had used the nuclear option on Torres, and Boone had to justify going to that level when he let so many others slide before him.
“I’m making judgments of intent, thought. It’s more nuanced than just this guy stood and watched it,” Boone said Saturday morning. “I felt convicted and strongly in that moment that I needed to do that. I’m not peeling the onion back too much for you and I apologize for that, but I just felt very convicted in that moment.”
Problem is, this is Boone’s seventh season as Yankees manager, and Torres has been his player for all of them. If Boone hasn’t already established an acceptable baseline for what’s demanded on a championship-caliber team, one that Hal Steinbrenner is paying $313 million for this season, it’s a bit late to talk about culture-building.
But Boone can’t change the past, or how the game is played across MLB in 2024, so the best the Yankees could do Saturday was to try to move on from the Torres turbulence. Whom better to lean on than the captain, Aaron Judge. Needing a conversation-changer, the Yankees got a go-ahead two-run homer from Judge in the first inning — No. 41 on the season — then tacked on a pair of no-doubters by Trent Grisham and Anthony Volpe for an 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays at the Stadium.
Unlike Torres, who was burned by spectating in the box while his liner caromed high off the leftfield wall, Saturday’s trio didn’t have to sweat the ball clearing the fence. Judge hammered his shot to the back of the visitors’ bullpen, an estimated 426 feet (he was running on impact, as always). Grisham sent his seventh home run about 20 rows deep (399 feet) into the right-centerfield seats. Volpe, who has five homers in his last 11 games, crushed his drive 376 feet over the leftfield wall.
There was no styling, no bat flips. Just head down, into the trot. Back to the business of winning, as the Yankees did in taking two of three at Fenway Park last week and sweeping three games from the Phillies at the other end of the Jersey Turnpike.
“I think we’ve got a lot of dangerous hitters,” said Volpe, who has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games (.365/.375/.683) with five doubles and 12 RBIs. “And I think our team approach, how we’re trying to attack pitchers collectively, and just pass it on to the next guy. I think the best part is everyone just trusting each other and the confidence in the guy in front or behind you. When it’s like that, the lineup gets really long.”
In the wake of the Torres episode, the Yankees definitely seemed to follow Boone’s message. And for the record, we were watching, making mental notes of any effort gaps. By our count, there were none, and Torres chipped in with a single and walk (even sprinting to first base on his routine pop-up to shortstop).
“I thought the guys got after it,” Boone said. “But I feel like that’s been the case, especially as we’ve started getting going a little bit here.”
Another noteworthy stroll got everyone’s attention Saturday, but this one involved Judge, and it probably won’t be the last we see, either. With two outs and the bases empty in the second inning, the Jays chose to intentionally walk Judge — the first time that’s happened in that situation so early in a game since 1972, according to MLB.
“I honestly didn’t feel like seeing him swing,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s in a different category I think than anyone else in the league where he can just flip the script of a game with one swing.”
Schneider did it one inning too late. Judge already had done enough damage by erasing the Jays’ 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and when they did pitch to him for the rest of the afternoon, he went 1-for-2 with another walk, a single and a strikeout.
Judge should anticipate more of this Barry Bonds treatment for the next two months as he chases history.
“It’s tough,” he said. “You always want to hit.”
Fortunately for the Yankees, all the talk about walking Saturday — home run trots or intentional passes — was the much happier kind.
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.
