Video summary
Aaron Boone praised Carlos Rodón for his strong performance in his return against the Orioles, highlighting how the pitcher held the opposing team to just one run over four solid innings. Boone emphasized that this effort set up a crucial win for the Yankees by allowing their leverage pitchers to shorten the game later on. He also commended Yariel Rodríguez for his excellent work and specifically noted a standout defensive play by Lou Lombard, who made a difficult throw from deep in the hole while maintaining proper mechanics despite the challenging carry.
The manager discussed the strategic decision to bring up Cruz Alonso, acknowledging the immense pressure of the situation with runners on base. Boone explained that he felt Rodón was slightly grinding through the inning after reaching 25 pitches and believed it was better for him to secure two big outs rather than risk being beaten while not at his sharpest. Although Fernando Cabrera could have been aggressive to induce a swing-and-miss, Boone felt there was enough margin of safety and that Alonso was the right choice to handle the specific matchup against Jackson and Holiday.
Regarding Rodón's offensive contributions in his limited time in the batter's box, Boone expressed no surprise at the quality of his competitive at-bats. He noted that while the team had waited for Rodón to reach this level offensively, the pitcher has taken significant strides as a hitter throughout the season. Boone pointed out that Rodón has been ready defensively for some time and that his recent offensive improvements align with the progress he has made over the last few months, even if translating those skills immediately to the major league level takes time.
Finally, Boone addressed the team's early use of their ABS challenges, admitting that neither call was a good one to challenge. He explained that the first challenge on a 2-1 count with nobody on should have been reserved for when they were certain of the outcome, while the second challenge on Spencer was made when they were already down a challenge with two outs and nobody on. Boone reflected that these were not the best uses of their challenges that night, though he conceded that if Welssy had chosen to challenge the bases-loaded situation involving Jackson and Holiday, it could have been a completely different game for the Yankees.
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Um, so that was his last hitter. Um, so,
um, but I thought, you know, I I thought
he did really well and and to give us
four strong innings, hold him to one run
there, you know, set us up to go win
that game. DLO comes in and gets, you
know, has two huge innings for us so we
can shorten the game with our leverage
guys there at the back and um, just so
really good job by by Yari there.
>> Look at that throw by Lombard in the
hole. Yeah, I thought, you know, I
thought like he got his steps off off
and then he's still able to get that
throw off with that carry on it. So,
another really good play by him.
>> Cruz Alonzo would bat. I mean, that's a
lot of pressure there. Is did you like
the matchup?
>> Yeah, I I just felt like I felt like
Head was kind of grinding a little bit
tonight. You know, he's up around the 25
pitch mark. Um and and you know it was
big time that he got the two big outs
there uh with the strike out of Jackson
and he's able to get Holiday, but I just
felt like you know I didn't want him to
get beat there when he wasn't at maybe
his sharpest and it was getting to be a
longer inning and I felt like um with a
base to work with there. Um Fernando
could be aggressive with trying to get
some swing and miss or you know he ends
up smoking the ball to right. But but I
felt like we had some margin there and I
felt like um I felt like Cruiser was the
right guy in that time.
>> Aaron, you knew the defense was going to
be there when he came up, but are you at
all surprised at those competitive at
bats and the way he's held his own in
that in the batters box in the short
time he's been up here?
>> I I I don't know that I'm that surprised
honestly. I mean, you know, we waited
for because you know, part of it was
like to get his offense to a place and
and I feel like he's really grown this
year offensively. like he's taken big
strides as a hitter and you know,
you know, part of that was, you know, we
know we we feel like he's been ready
defensively for for a long time. Um, but
that offense, he's continued to get
better and better. So, um, this is in
line with what he's been the last couple
of months really. Um, where he's had a
lot of competitive bats down there.
Obviously, that doesn't always
necessarily translate right away to this
level, but [snorts] I I can't say I'm
surprised by the quality of the at bats.
>> You guys lost your ABS challenges pretty
early. Were you take issue with either
one of the challenges?
>> Yeah, those weren't good ones. Um,
you know, 2-1 count there in the first
with nobody on.
To me, that's a that's a we got to be
certain of that one. That one you're
you're I'm okay with a challenge if
you're certain that that one's got to be
certain. And then the Spencer one, um,
when you're down a challenge there, it
is 10 at bat, but it's two outs, nobody
on as well. So, um, probably not the
best for us tonight, although we might
have had the best challenge of the
season by Welssy if you think about it.
Like, [snorts] you know, who knows? You
know, we bases loaded there, Jackson
Holiday. Um, we're already down a
challenge to get that one. You know, who
it could be a completely different night
if he doesn't challenge that. and
Jackson gets on and now Rodon's shorter
and um so that was a big time challenge.
So, a couple not great ones.