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AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES VS ASTROSOctober 10, 2019Aaron BooneNew York, New York - Workout Day Q. Any information on how CC bounced back? AARON BOONE: He's out there stretching today now and will play catch and everything. Just talking to him when he came in, said he felt good. You know, so far encouraging. Q. What do you need to hear from him? What do you need to see from him for him to be on that roster for the ALCS? AARON BOONE: You know, I think completing the bounce-back today and that he is sound, kind of we'll have some more conversations about it and try and make a good decision one way or the other here over the next 24 hours. Q. With Hicks, is it just a matter of being healthy or is it a matter of you thinking he can be effective, as well, based on the amount of time? AARON BOONE: Yeah, a combo of both of those, and coupled with our roster, it'll be -- the good thing is that he's put himself in this position to make a decision. Obviously as good a player as he is, that's exciting. So we'll have some tough decisions here over the next 24 hours as we work this out, what kind of makes the most sense, and we'll try and make a sound one. But he's put himself in that conversation. Q. Is starting Hicks in Game 1 on the list of options? AARON BOONE: Could be, yeah. I would say yeah. I would say he could potentially be a starter, be off the bench, not be on. I mean, I think they're all legitimately things we've got to consider and what makes the most sense for us. We'll try and make as good an evaluation as we can. Q. Is part of that consideration that if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it idea, just how good Gardy has looked in center, how good Stanton's at-bats and just all of that? AARON BOONE: Yeah, that certainly complicates it a little bit because we've been very successful, and the guys that we have are playing really well. That certainly complicates it, and kind of the unknown because Aaron hasn't played in games or anything like that, and it's been a while. The good thing is that he is healthy and put himself in that conversation. Q. The decisions with CC and with Hicks and any other final decisions with the roster, how much will that be impacted by what happens in tonight's game? AARON BOONE: It could factor in a little bit. There could be a decision based on the opponent for a spot or two. You know, we're talking about a handful of guys for the final couple spots, and I think opponent will come into play a little bit. Q. We've seen you be more aggressive this year with your bullpen. How much of that is a response to any criticism you got last year about sticking with starters too long? AARON BOONE: I mean, I kind of go into the game and go into series and what -- try and have a blueprint or a plan in place that obviously is always fluid, and you've got to make adjustments on the fly. But just trying to do whatever to -- what's going to give us the best chance to win. So I don't know if it's response to anything or just trying to be as prepared as I can be to make sound decisions. That's ongoing. Q. What did you make of that last year? AARON BOONE: Make of what? Q. When people thought that you stuck with Sabathia or Severino too long? AARON BOONE: You know, I always talk about in baseball, that a lot of decisions are gray. Sometimes you make a decision and it works out and it's not necessarily the right one, but usually decisions made and certainly in the postseason are always up for debate, and that's part of it. You kind of know that going in. All you can do is be as prepared and as focused as you can be to try and make sound decisions to help us win. So I don't -- it's all part of it. Q. You've used DJ at first base; would you feel comfortable using Encarnacion there, or in your mind is he your DH for the postseason? AARON BOONE: No, I'd be comfortable with Edwin at first. I feel like he's healthy and sound, feel like he plays a pretty good first base, so yeah, I would always be comfortable going that way if there was the right situation. Q. You've been asked a lot of questions in the last two weeks about how you have changed or what you've done better. How much -- are there tangible ways that your team is better than the one you took over? AARON BOONE: I'd like to think that we are better, that we're a year more mature in a lot of ways from some of our key guys. I've always -- from day one that I got to spend with these guys in Spring Training and really started to get to know them last year, I've always felt from a makeup standpoint we were really strong and really good. You know, that said, I think there's another level of experience, of focus and perhaps the biggest thing, hunger. That's one word I've used to describe these guys a lot this year. I feel like they're really hungry. They've shown that in the most normal of days during the year and continue to show it now when the stakes are really high, obviously. But I think that hunger is something this team has in a big-time way. Q. Can you learn anything from watching other managers work in the postseason, or does it have to be a personal experience? AARON BOONE: I think you probably learn. I watch a lot of baseball throughout the year, try and pay attention a little bit to what's going on. I'm certainly in the playoffs watching these games. Sometimes you sit down, you watch the whole game. Sometimes you're in and out a little bit. But hopefully you're kind of always growing from your experiences, and that's not always just as a player or as a manager or in your own game. I think there's always things to be learned. I've been in this game my entire life pretty much, and I think all the experiences you have going back to childhood and being around things, hopefully you take with you and you learn from and you grow from, and it adds to your level of experience. Q. Defensively compared to last year's club, do you feel like you've improved overall, and are there any specific players that have taken strides in that area that you've noticed? AARON BOONE: I do. I think Game 3, a big reason we won that game was our defense. You look around the diamond, I think Gleyber has made huge strides this year defensively. Right now with the lineup we're running out there where you have DJ, a middle infielder basically playing first base, obviously a lot of talk about what Gio has meant to our club and how good he's been defensively, I think our outfield has played incredibly well. As good an outfielder as Aaron Judge is, I think he's gotten better this year. I think he's had an amazing defensive year. Gardy has been terrific in center. Giancarlo coming back from the knee injury I think has been sound in left field, and then to have the ability to go to Cam, I feel like we're strong in a lot of ways. Gary I feel like has continued to make big strides defensively; Didi, as steady as he is. I feel very confident in our defense, feel like it played a role in us having a successful first series. Q. Defensive metrics have gotten better. They're still not great, but do you think that that's the one area of the game where the eye test is still just as important as it always was, or can you quantify it a little bit better with numbers as opposed to in the past? AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think you can quantify better. The eye test is still important, context is still important. And those are things that hopefully you're always considering when making evaluations or determinations. You know, we try and look at all those things. But overall defensively I feel like we are a better club. Q. It seems like young players are having more impact all over the game, and then on the other end of the spectrum you have Brett Gardner playing the best baseball maybe of his career at his age. I'm wondering what have you learned about Gardy being up close with him for two years as opposed to watching him from afar? AARON BOONE: Really tough. You know, he's a hard-nosed, blue-collar, old-school, grind-it-out player that, despite being 36 - is that what he is? You look at him, he's physically very sound, very fit, obviously still runs well and is strong and takes care of his body and has shown to be durable. Even though he's been through the rigors and gotten beat up in different ways like everyone does that plays every day, I feel like he's got a younger man's body, and part of that's a gift. He's physically -- he's a stud. Q. What do you think of the championship belt thing that the players are doing after wins, and is it true -- it was reported that you got one after the -- on the savages. AARON BOONE: I love the belt. It's been a team-building thing for us. In a way it's created some competition, guys want to fight for it, want to perform for it. It's fun to see teammates talk through it and have to give it out. So I think it's been something that -- especially in the course of a long season is something that adds to the camaraderie of things and even the competition of things. I got one once. Q. How difficult is it in this kind of day and age, and I think last night Dave Roberts was talking about having faith and trusting in players, to balance that with what your game strategy says and what the numbers say and what your plan is going into the game? You have a loyalty to these players, obviously, but at the same time you have to try to do it as surgically maybe as possible. Is that a hard line to walk? AARON BOONE: That's part of the job. It's a big part of the job. You know, you love your players, and you're in it with them, and I try and be as -- I think I'm as loyal as it comes. But I think -- and I think when you communicate with people and have a relationship with people, it makes difficult decisions -- I don't know about any easier, but it makes them -- I think maybe everyone understands it and at least respects it. Hopefully we have that with this group, and I believe we do. Q. Can you talk about the challenges that you guys would face if it's Houston that you play and then also if it's Tampa, who if they win, they would have beaten the big three pitchers in a row? AARON BOONE: Yeah. I think both teams are great and present serious trouble, competition for us, and I know we'll have to play really well to beat both teams, whoever it ends up being. Obviously with Tampa being in our division, we know them well. We know what makes them successful. You know, we know how difficult it can be when you go in there, and even though we had some success against them in the regular season this year, you always know how difficult it is and how well we had to play to have that success. You know, obviously with Houston, I think a lot of people would look at them as going into this postseason as kind of the odds-on favorite, really kind of a complete team with elite starting pitching and a good bullpen and star players. We know they're a load, so we're really excited, whoever it may end up being, and we know we'll have our work cut out for us, but I think our guys relish that opportunity. Q. Coming off a sweep where things are clicking offensively and defensively as you mentioned, is there a desire to get back out there and play, and how do you deal with this layoff and anything you do to stay sharp and make sure that momentum carries over? AARON BOONE: Yeah, I talked about this a little bit yesterday. As a player and even looking back the last couple years, that would always make me a little nervous, a little anxious. I completely have a different view of that with these guys. Part of the reason we wanted to win Game 3 so bad, or I did anyway, is I look forward to having a few days off for these guys because I think it really serves them well. It really benefits them. And I think they do a great job, and I think in this day and age, it's easier to stay sharp just with facilities and things you're able to do, whether it's high-speed machines and breaking balls, if you want to see that, or going into the last series we had some sim game situations where guys that wanted at-bats could get at-bats. So I know our guys will use this as an opportunity to kind of recover a little bit, stay fresh, and I know we'll come out and be focused and I feel like sharp when that bell rings. Q. You have such a unique roster and of course it keeps changing, depending on who's coming back and who you're going to select, but when you talk about that hunger, guys have won World Series before, some are looking to -- have never been this far in the postseason. Where is that coming from that it seems like it's so unified, this hunger that this team has? AARON BOONE: Yeah. You know, I think that's something that's internal with these guys. I think it's something that our leadership does a really good job of kind of living and instilling, and guys kind of get caught up and swallowed up in the culture, I think. I think there's always a fine line between I think we've got a lot of good guys in that room that you'd want to go to dinner with or hang out with, but also a healthy dose of an edge that they play with that serves them well in the grind of a 162-game season but I also think here in the playoffs where there's so much riding on every pitch. It's something I really think those guys have in them, which is important. Q. Just in terms of the lineup that you guys have had, obviously you're going to be facing tough pitching regardless of what team you play. What kind of elements do you feel like Encarnacion, LaMahieu and Urshela have added to your lineup that maybe you didn't have in 2018? AARON BOONE: I think the strength in numbers that kind of completes our lineup and makes us long, I think because they're all tough outs in different kind of ways, I think when you have nine guys that are tough outs that are giving tough quality at-bats, I think that's something that's served them all well as a group, and probably over the course of games eventually leads to some mistakes -- eventually leads to some innings where we've really broken through, and it's not necessarily all just that inning where we threw up a crooked number or three up a 5- or a 6-spot. That happens sometimes in the innings leading up to that, in the toughness and the quality of at-bats, and I feel like that's what they have maybe as their biggest strength is the quality 1 through 9 and how that can wear down an opponent. Q. I think we all understand that a rested bullpen is an asset, but you guys really seemed to take that to a higher level with your big four in September. For instance, Chapman threw 70 pitches in the month of September. I can't imagine a healthy closer contending for a postseason spot was ever used that infrequently. Can you take us behind the curtain a little bit and describe was there a voice or series of voices or a meeting where someone said, hey, we want these guys to be ready for October, let's plot out the plan at the end of the September in this manner? AARON BOONE: No, it actually just kind of unfolded that way a little bit in September. I mean, we were playing it straight, honestly. So there were games where Chappy's situation that we're pretty disciplined on didn't present itself. So we ended up having to get him into a couple of games just because he hadn't pitched in a handful, and we were going to -- all right, he's in there today in some form or fashion. We stayed disciplined to picking a spot where we felt like a guy needed an extra day, we would do that. But in most of those games where our guys were available, we were going to bring them into their normal high-leverage situation. Obviously we stay away from during the regular season -- try to stay away from the three in a row and more than three out of four and try and be mindful of that, but we didn't specifically get away from that at all in September. I think the games just kind of went in that direction that we had some guys down more often because of the daily score of the game or the result of the game sometimes. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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