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AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS YANKEES

October 6, 2019

Aaron Boone

Minneapolis, Minnesota - Workout Day

Q. Luis Severino made a couple of starts to close out the season. What did you see that's going to make him a successful pitcher in the postseason?
AARON BOONE: First and foremost, health. He's really looked good going back from the first time he got on the mound and making his way back in a side session and feel like he progressed how we would have hoped, wasn't rushed, and kept bouncing back to how we would have hoped.

Then really from his first start in the big leagues, felt like his delivery was good, felt like the stuff was good, and overall the commands are good. Feel like he's ready to roll and he gives us a really good chance every time we hand him the ball.

Q. Are you anticipating the same lineup tomorrow?
AARON BOONE: Probably, yeah.

Q. First, being able to write out the same lineup three days in a row and the bottom of it being Sanchez, Didi, and Urshela, you've talked about depth all year, but that seems even extreme for what you guys have.
AARON BOONE: Feel like we're not fully healthy, obviously, but about as healthy as we've been all year. Through the first couple of games, they've represented really well, and I think you can kind of see the strength that they bring when they're all together. I think they all benefit from having one another in that lineup. So far, they've done a really good job of making it difficult on the opposing pitchers.

Q. When Severino came back, was there a point where you thought him starting in the playoffs would be possible? Was there something he did or something you saw from him that you were like, okay, he's good to go?
AARON BOONE: I would say right away, to me, the first start was really encouraging. In kind of watching his minor league starts, which I did on video, I thought they were fine. What was nice is I thought he was getting better each time out. In that first time, his first start back in the big leagues was another huge step, and I thought, you know, coming back in that game at home, you know there's going to be some emotions there. I thought he did a really nice job of kind of controlling his emotions, himself, being real clean in his delivery, and as a result, he commanded the ball, yes, but he also had the velo we normally see with him. The stuff was coming out like it does for Sevy, and it made me feel really good about where he was at that point in the season.

Q. Aaron, you said that D.J. LeMahieu is probably your MVP for this season. How would you summarize what his presence has been like in that clubhouse?
AARON BOONE: A lot of different personalities in there, but it's a group that's very close. One of the great things about that room is guys -- I mean, they get along really well, obviously, but guys that are able to be themselves. I think, from day one, D.J. has felt very comfortable here. There's a way that he goes about in his work that is really efficient and obviously works really hard, but I think it's been something that's rubbed off on guys, too, and been a nice -- one of the tone setters in a lot of ways. I think guys look to him and appreciate just how he goes about it.

Q. Aaron, when you first heard that the Yankees were a possibility of getting Encarnacion, if you were asked your opinion, was it like, yeah, gimme? Or, hey, do we need another hitter?
AARON BOONE: I didn't hear about it until the very end. I don't know how long -- I'm assuming it came together fairly quickly with Cash, but I remember it being a possibility the 24 hours before I feel like I was alerted to it. I mean, very excited. I think a lot of people at the time were wondering if we were going to go get pitching, but as Cash has said, this situation presented itself. To get a guy the caliber of Edwin to add to our team, I think everyone has seen, when he's been healthy and in our lineup, what a difference maker he is right in the middle.

He's a wrecking machine. He's a great hitter, and he's shown it every step of the way.

Q. You spent a lot of -- made it a point of emphasis during the regular season to protect the bullpen, make sure guys weren't overused. You got a lot of guys involved. The way things have broken for you guys over the course of the season and the first two games, how well do you feel set up for a Game 3? You have a lot of weapons set up. You have Chad Green in a position to help you.
AARON BOONE: We're in a good position. We're in good shape, obviously, but it shifts venues now all of a sudden. We understand still what a really good team we're up against. So we're set up to -- just with the off day and guys being rested, that we can shoot everything at you in a Game 3, and hopefully we're in a position to do that. So that feels good, but there's always that trepidation walking into a game knowing that it can get sideways at any point, too.

So we'll be looking forward to our workout today, and hopefully, we'll come out tomorrow and Sevy sets a nice tone. Obviously, we won't hesitate to go to our guys that we feel like are pretty well-rested.

Q. Where do you think Giancarlo Stanton is? Your assessment of him offensively. Is he close to where he needs to be or where he usually is?
AARON BOONE: Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with where he is, considering as much time as he has missed this year. I feel like his at-bats towards the end of the season where he got into a handful of games were mostly good, and he's carried that into the postseason. I feel like he's doing a really good job, along with the rest of our guys, of really controlling the strike zone and swinging at strikes, a number of walks already for him. Just missed a ball on the sac fly where he got the guy to third, also, with less than two outs.

I feel like his at-bat quality has been there, and just another guy in our lineup that's so far been able to make it difficult on opposing pitchers.

Q. There's obviously a lot of attention and pressure on Aaron Judge. How have you seen him handle all of that? And when would you say you really started to see him take a leadership role with his teammates?
AARON BOONE: Ask that again. Sorry.

Q. Just curious how you've seen Aaron Judge handle all the pressure and the attention and how he's kind of become a leader within that clubhouse.
AARON BOONE: How he handles pressure, I mean, I think he eats it up. I mean, he -- the bigger, the more important, now that we're in the playoffs, I think you've seen just he's one of those guys that you feel like ratchets it up a little bit more. I think he lives for this kind of thing, and to see him out there in every aspect -- defensively, running the bases, the at-bat quality pitch to pitch has been great and feel like he's at his best right now as he has been at any time of the year.

As far as a leadership role, he's so well respected, and they are so well loved in there and does have a big voice in there. Guys listen to him. When he says something, whether it's a younger player, whether it's a player that's older and more experienced to him, I think he respects and defers some things to like CC and Gardy, but there's no question that Aaron is our guy. When he speaks up, everyone in that room listens.

Q. Aaron, when Severino was up here before, he was asked about his performance, his poor performance against the Twins in '17, and he joked that he didn't remember, and that it's a non. But then we saw him in the playoffs last year, the way that he performed in the playoffs, and it was pretty bad, too. What kind of guy is he? Is he going to be inspired the way Aaron Judge and all the other guys have been talking about failure? How do you think he will handle being back on a mound?
AARON BOONE: Well, I think, first, Sevy's had good and bad in the postseason. You talked about Minnesota, but then last year, he pitched the Wild Card game and pitched great for us. So I expect him to handle it. I mean, this is a guy with loads of talent and the ability to go out there and pitch at a very high level. I think he expects that of himself, and I think he will handle it.

Whether he uses -- you know, I'm not sure exactly how guys take experiences with them, whether it's highly successful or they failed or whatever, that's all part of it. The one thing I've kind of always said with Sevy is, for being a young man, he's been through a lot at the big league level. He came up as this huge phenom, had some struggles, went to the bullpen, kind of had a lot of success, then emerged as this Cy Young candidate. Has had huge successes in the postseason, has had some times where he stumbled, now been through the first major injury of his career where he was out a significant amount of time.

And I think all those things that he's gone through, hopefully serve him well moving forward because he has, for being a young man, a lot of experience. Sevy's a smart, thoughtful, talented player that hopefully that's something that benefits him moving forward now.

Q. These might be interconnected, but would you go back to Happ after two days off? And then if there was a Game 4, would he be an option? Would he start Game 4?
AARON BOONE: I would say that anything's on the table still. We're going to pour everything in. Happ will be available in Game 3, and we'll just see how it unfolds, and then we'll go from there. Hopefully, we're in a position to where we're not making the decision, but we'll cross that bridge if we have to. We're going into Game 3 with the old all hands on deck, and J.A. will be part of that mix in the pen for us in Game 3.

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