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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS YANKEES

October 4, 2019

Aaron Boone

New York, New York - pregame 1

Q. Mike Ford had had a pretty nice September. You ultimately went with Luke Voit. Why did you ultimately stick with Voit?
AARON BOONE: We decided Edwin was good to go, and obviously he was going to be in our lineup and look at him as our DH. Then you're talking about filling out more of a bench role and just felt like the right-handed element with Luke probably made a little more realistic pinch-hit option. Probably wouldn't hit for any of our right-handed hitters, necessarily.

Certainly, Luke's body of work and what we believe he can still provide is certainly in there, but a tough decision, and that's credit to Fordy for how well he's performed.

Q. One of the questions coming into the month of September is, when Stanton came back, what was he going to look like? In your eyes, what does he look like as you get going here?
AARON BOONE: Good, and a little bit better than I thought. Feel like his at-bats have been good. One thing he was able to do this past month, even leading up to getting back with us was, I think, see a lot of live at-bats off of pitchers when he was down in Tampa, even up here to a degree. So I feel like he was -- his work was really good. Then what I've seen, I've been impressed with how he's moved around physically, with how he's run the bases, how he's moved in the outfield cutting balls off. So that's been a little better than I expected. I feel like he comes into this series in a pretty good place and a good frame of mind.

Q. Gleyber Torres is one of a number of guys in their early 20s in the league who could come up from big spots in October. Do you think that managers look at players that young with a little more trust in October now than they did when you played?
AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think that's fair.

Q. Why?
AARON BOONE: I think in a lot of ways these guys are probably a little more well prepared early on. And I think that goes from a big league level. We've seen more and more the last several years guys come up from the minor leagues and instantly have impacts, probably more so. I don't know if that's actual reality, but it feels that way to me. So my answer to your question, from my perspective, is yes.

Q. I just wanted you to talk about the lineup, how you came to the decision, how that decision kind of plays into the fact that both you and the Twins are hitting so many long balls, and how important it is that the bullpen has been rested for the last four days coming into tonight's game?
AARON BOONE: We certainly like the rest, as far as any time we get our pen guys that are obviously so important to what we do. Hopefully, these four days is something that serves them well, moving forward not only tonight, but throughout the series and hopefully throughout the month of October.

As far as the lineup, shook out pretty clear in my eyes. Obviously, only having two lefties in there against Berrios, so just spacing them out and kind of deciding how to line them up. But it wrote itself pretty well, to be honest.

Q. Aaron, you've been asked a lot about the playoff history between these two teams. Do you think playoff history means anything, including potentially that it's a burden for the team that has the dominant position in that rivalry?
AARON BOONE: Well, I'm hoping it means something, but honestly, I don't. I don't think it factors much in here. We understand we're up against a great opponent, and I think a lot of people have talked about looking in the mirror a little bit, and I certainly think that's understandable with the quality of hitters we have and, frankly, the quality of pitchers.

I don't think history plays a huge role one way or the other. I feel like the team that executes the best, and in this series, with these two teams, obviously, and the power that both teams display, who can limit the damage from a run prevention standpoint, I think, goes a long way in winning this series.

Q. When you're looking at one of the roster bubble decisions like with Lyons, are you weighing more how you think his stuff is going to play against a particular lineup or is it just what he's shown you lately?
AARON BOONE: I think it's a combo. We've really tried to get Lyons into some situations this final month against some really good left-handed hitters to see how it would play. I feel like, by and large, he did really well, and we saw him have a lot of success and lefties not necessarily see the ball real well against him. So we do think there's some spots for him in this series that makes some sense.

This is a guy that, even though wasn't with us for a long time, spent a lot of time in the minor leagues this year. This is a guy with a lot of major league experience, and I feel like he was the right guy -- you know, especially when we didn't have CC, he was the right guy to round out the rotation.

Q. Aaron, obviously the situation is a little bit different from last year to this year. You were kind of preparing for the Wild Card game last year, but this year win the division. How has your preparation as manager changed from last year to this year, and what were some of your biggest takeaways from last year's postseason experience?
AARON BOONE: Well, having the four days off. Last year, obviously it was right into the Wild Card game and then winning that and then right on to Boston. We've had four days of knowing our opponent and kind of digesting it and being able to have our big advance meeting with our organization a couple of days ago. All our coaches in their particular areas have been able to dive in to all the things that they prepare normally.

So I think we've just had more time. Obviously, getting some answers on some guys as far as health goes this week was important for us. Hopefully, it's something that serves us well.

As far as taking from last year, I take stuff from every day, and that hasn't stopped since I got the job. So whether that's Spring Training, regular season, postseason, hopefully, I'm always growing as far as how I go about things.

Q. The two best home run hitting teams in MLB history facing each other, does that have to change anything about the emotional reaction, both to giving up and also hitting a home run on the bench?
AARON BOONE: Hopefully, myself, our staff, our team is emotionally prepared to handle anything. How you handle things is a big factor in how you perform in this game. That's the regular season, and that's certainly the playoffs. You've got to be able to take a punch, handle success, handle failure. You've got to be able to do that if you're going to succeed at the highest level.

I feel like our guys are excellent at that and certainly equipped to do that moving forward.

Q. You said leading up to this that you thought Didi -- this time of year would be good for him in terms of turning his season around. What gives you that confidence that this is the time for him to finally get into a groove?
AARON BOONE: First and foremost, he's a really good player. I just feel like he's one of those guys that the bigger the stage, the brighter the lights. I feel like he thrives in that. I feel like he's been healthy now for a while, and I feel like he's a guy that has a good at-bat or two here, I think that's something that can really propel him moving forward.

Q. And have you been convinced the whole time he's been back, that he's been healthy?
AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think the biggest thing with Didi is obviously returning in a timely fashion like he was able to do from Tommy John, probably getting back a little earlier than some people expected. But I think then having a couple of bumps along the way, as far as things he had to play through with the finger and then the shoulder, that kind of altered his season a little bit. Things he was able to play through, but probably kept him from getting on one of those hot streaks that he's kind of been known for.

But I do feel like he's been healthy now for a while and still feel like his best baseball is ahead of him.

Q. Aaron, is it kind of fitting for the season that you guys have had, I think it's the first time these nine players have been in the lineup together, and it happens to be in the first game of the playoffs?
AARON BOONE: Yeah, it's remarkable. I think we've had some good fortune here this last month, a couple of exceptions obviously with CC and Dellin, but for the most part, I think Giancarlo being able to get back in the way he has has gone pretty well. Obviously, Sevy coming back. Edwin having the questions going into this week, would he be able to get over that final hump and feel comfortable that he is?

So it's definitely good to go in with pretty much a loaded barrel, you know.

Q. Just with the kind of year that Brett Gardner has, and he winds up being your No. 3 hitter for tonight, just some of the thinking going into that with some of the other big sluggers you actually have on the team.
AARON BOONE: Well, having two lefties, so just trying to, first and foremost, space those guys out. So our lefties have hit in some spots all year because we don't have a lot of them, especially with like Aaron Hicks down and stuff. You're just trying to space them out, and I feel like Gardy, the year he's had and the matchup here makes sense to have him -- it's clear, in my mind, to have him in that 3 hole.

Q. Aaron, I know you touched a little bit on it yesterday, but the Twins have played you tough this season. What do you look at as some of the challenges in facing this Minnesota team?
AARON BOONE: Obviously, a lineup that does a lot of damage and can hurt you up and down, certainly with the long ball, but also a balanced attack. Good balance of right and left-handed hitters, switch hitter in Polanco up there towards the top, and I think a pitching staff that's probably a lot better than people know, and I think some bullpen arms that have emerged for them, especially in the second half of the season, that maybe a lot of people don't know about but certainly have got our attention.

Q. Is Hicks still in Tampa on the throwing? And what is the time frame for determining whether he'll have surgery or not?
AARON BOONE: Yes, Aaron's in Tampa, doing well. I would say probably looking more and more like he won't need it, but I don't think that final determination has been made.

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