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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS YANKEES

October 5, 2019

Aaron Boone

New York, New York - pregame 2

Q. Masahiro hasn't started in a game since September 19th. You had him pitch out of the bullpen in the last game of the season. Did you consider using him in more of a bullpen role this postseason? Also, how has he been able to stay sharp not having as much regular starts?
AARON BOONE: Yeah, so not really envisioning him in a bullpen situation. That September 19th start, he was then scheduled to start the last game of the season. So we were actually in between kind of that ten-day stretch, going to have him pitch an inning out of the bullpen, I think, when we were in Tampa, and we kind of all sat down and decided it was better for him to have that rest at that point.

Then we were just going to start him the last game of the season and go a little bit shorter with him, but we all sat down again and decided, in case we ever were to do something where it's a little bit of a unique role or doing an opener role, he wanted to go ahead and do that just to have done it. So that's why we did the opener thing with him on the final day of the season knowing he was going to go a little bit shorter.

But he had his normal work, a couple of sides in between those, but it was more of a choice kind of for Masa physically. He felt like it would benefit him.

Q. What are you seeing from Didi at the plate?
AARON BOONE: I saw a big walk in his last at-bat. That was huge. You know, just a stretch where you're not getting results. The game's hard. Hitting's hard. These guys are really good. So, again, I still maintain that the best is yet to come from Didi, and I know he's going to have some big swings for us moving forward. I know he's working really hard behind the scenes, but sometimes when you go through an extended stretch where you're struggling a little bit, you can press. You can try and do some things until it really clicks. Sometimes it just takes one at-bat, one swing to kind of turn it, and I believe that's what's in there for Didi still. He's healthy. Yeah, he's good.

Q. Aaron, what do you think the source of your team's plate discipline is, and do you believe that that can be contagious in an offense?
AARON BOONE: I think, by and large, we have a lot of good hitters that, for the most part, have that a little bit in their DNA. I think it's something that they do take a lot of pride in. I absolutely do think it's contagious. It's something we preach ad nauseam. I talk about it all the time, and I do think those guys take that to heart and really, as a group, have some faith and trust in each other and take some pride in knowing that, when they do that as a group, it benefits all of them because it wears people down. It nets more mistakes over time, and more often than not, when we do that, we've been able to kind of break through at some point. Last night, I thought, was an awesome example of that.

Q. How is the workload of this job compared to your expectations when you first got it? And how much do you think it differs from when your dad did this job about 25 years ago or so?
AARON BOONE: I don't know. I guess it's about -- I don't -- how do you really know what to expect? I guess it's a full-time job. Whereas it's very different than it used to be, obviously, I don't think the work's changed. My dad sweated over it as much as anyone, and you go back further before him, and it's always probably been a demanding job, but one that's awesome and rewarding and hard and fun all in -- you know, I like it.

Q. Facing a starter like Randy Dobnak, who does not have a lot of big league experience. None of your team has faced him. What are the challenges with something like that, especially on a stage like this?
AARON BOONE: I think no one having faced him, I think as a hitter you always prefer to have some experience against a guy. Fortunately, now you can get a lot of information on guys and see video and watch how he attacks and how he attacks like hitters and things like that. So our guys are able to get a good idea of what they're walking in, but there's no substitute for, I think, as a hitter, the experience of being in against a guy.

But that said, I know our guys and how they prepare and what they look for, and when they go through their meeting with Marcus and P.J. in the next couple hours, they'll come out with an individual and a game plan as a group and hopefully go out and execute and make it hard on them.

Q. Aaron, we saw what the Red Sox did last year using starters out of the bullpen in high leverage spots. Last night we saw Scherzer pitch in a high leverage spot in the eighth inning. How fortunate do you feel to have the depth in your bullpen where you don't have to think about doing that in normal nine-inning games at least?
AARON BOONE: Well, I feel very fortunate that we have the pen that we have and the confidence that we have in so many guys down there that we know are capable of getting big-time outs against big-time hitters. That said, you could still see our starters in some unique situations as this thing unfolds. We feel like, with our pitching staff in a whole, we feel like we're capable of preventing runs in a way necessary to win big.

Q. What's the biggest advice that your dad ever gave you as far as being a manager?
AARON BOONE: Let's see what he texted me last night. "Keep it rolling. Have another good one. We're at Matt and Lennon's watching." More supportive, obviously. We've talked a lot of baseball over the years. It's casual conversation for us, and every now and then over the course of the year, we're talking about the Nationals game the other night. I was watching while he was watching, so we were talking about some things going on in that game.

But I think as far as advice, not that he doesn't give it, but it's more he's just kind of a supportive dad and waits for me to ask if I need anything.

Q. I know Happ threw just one winning last night, but he's a starting pitcher. Could you use him tonight?
AARON BOONE: Probably not. We'll probably stay away from J.A. today.

Q. Also, Brett Gardner called today a must-win game. Do you see it that way?
AARON BOONE: Yeah. I mean, yeah. I feel like as a group, that's something they've done really well this year is having that -- you know, I go back to that hunger. It's a hungry group. Whereas winning the first game is big and important, it's on to the next day, and today becomes huge if we can go out and get this.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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