|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES VS ASTROSOctober 16, 2019Aaron BooneNew York, New York - Workout Day Q. I was wondering what does your lineup look like for tomorrow and what does the rest of your pitching rotation look like for the rest of the postseason in this ALCS? AARON BOONE: I have not settled on the lineup yet. That will be something we talk about today and possibly even into tomorrow. As far as rotation goes, will be Tanaka tomorrow in Game 4, with likely Paxton then in Game 5. And then we'll see where we're at from there. Q. Through your career as a former player, as an analyst, and now as a manager, is there something you've seen as a common thread in pitchers who are very successful in the postseason the way Tanaka has been? AARON BOONE: Command and the ability to ultimately command your repertoire of pitches. In a starter's case typically we're talking three or more pitches. And Masa clearly has that and the ability to put the ball where he wants, the ability to not make any kind of a moment or start bigger or less than it is but having that ability to kind of really focus on pitch to pitch. And I think the guys that do that the best give themselves the best chance to be successful. And Masa has clearly demonstrated the ability to do that. Q. Do you think that's just part of his temperament? AARON BOONE: Everyone's a little bit different. There's been guys across the history of the game that have had tremendous success with kind of different personalities. Some guys are very detail oriented, very meticulous with how they go about things to guys that are very intense or a little more fly by the seat of their pants. There's no one way that is the ultimate way to be successful. But Masa I think is a guy that is obviously very good at his craft, very meticulous, and understands his mechanics and his delivery about as good as anyone. And I think those things lead to him going out there with a lot of confidence. Q. Gleyber's at-bats against Gerrit were some of the best your team had last night. What impresses you about the way he's able to control the at-bats even against a great pitcher like that? AARON BOONE: I mean, that. He's been so locked in and I think Gleyber clearly likes playing in these kind of games when it really matters. He has a lot of confidence in his ability. But I think the biggest thing is he's not -- he's controlled the strike zone. He's not up there, I've got to do something great here. And against these pitchers that are really good and the best at what they do, you've got to be able to control those situations even in the big moments. And I think Gleyber has done a great job of that, and especially some big counts where a lot of times you get guys that will chase. He's done a really good job of slowing it down. I think disciplining himself not only within the at-bats but before the game, I've just got to really focus in on winning pitches. And he's done a great job of that. Q. Can you give us an update on Stanton's status and do you expect him to be in your lineup tomorrow night? AARON BOONE: I have not seen him yet today. I'll probably go from here actually and see how his treatment and everything goes today. I'm not sure. I'm not really close to making that decision yet. That will be something that we kind of work through today and possibly even into tomorrow before I make that decision. Q. How much longer can you go with a 24-man roster in this series? AARON BOONE: That will be another conversation. And even though G hasn't been able to go yet, I did view him as a potential option off the bench in a hitting situation if we like something. So I don't look at it as we're entirely 24-man right now. I do believe we have his bat off the bench right now. And whether a situation for that arises, we'll see. But we'll continue to evaluate this as smartly as we can moving forward. Q. In terms of Aaron Hicks, obviously he hasn't played fully since August. What did you see from him last night that were some encouraging signs? Obviously he had the two walks and honestly looked very poised for someone who hasn't played in two months. AARON BOONE: Zone control, which is one of his overwhelming strengths is his ability to control the strike zone. Even throughout the year when he's not at his best or swinging his best, he always does a good job of controlling the strike zone. And it's been really nice to see him here and obviously getting a full game of at-bats yesterday, coming in for an at-bat in Game 2. You always wonder what it's going to look like when a guy hasn't really seen live-game action in about a couple of months, what that's going to look like. And he hasn't missed a beat. He looks exactly like Aaron Hicks. I thought his at-bats yesterday were excellent. I do think Aaron is one of those guys that the more you're playing for, the sharper his focus is and the better he is. I think he relishes playing in these games. There's a fearlessness to which he plays the game, and there's a confidence in his ability that he knows he's going to go up there and swing at strikes. Q. Would Giancarlo's status for Game 4 affect Aaron Hicks in the lineup? AARON BOONE: I don't know that yet. My feel right now is that Aaron will probably be in the lineup some way, shape or form. But, again, it's not something I've finalized yet. Q. You said likely for Paxton. Under what circumstances wouldn't he pitch? AARON BOONE: He's going to pitch. I mean, I guess if something got really crazy in a Game 4 scenario, but he will -- I plan on him pitching Game 5. We've prepared him for that. He threw a side yesterday so that's our thought. Q. I know you touched on it a little bit yesterday but why do you think Ottavino has struggled this postseason, and will you change the way you use him because of those struggles? AARON BOONE: I still think he's got to play an important role for us, especially against this Houston lineup that a lot of their great players are right-handed hitters. And just the way we're built and set up, he's going to have to still get important outs for us. I still feel like he's capable of that. I don't think this is a situation where the moment or the playoffs or anything. I feel like he has the right mindset. I feel like he has confidence, he's just struggled a little bit with his command. I thought last night was a good example of coming in, and obviously a tough spot in the lineup when you're facing the top of the order there. And I felt like he was in the midst of having a good start to that inning with Springer where he got ahead of him 1-2, made some really good pitches, and then didn't make a few good pitches where he ends up walking that leadoff hitter, which really obviously hurt him. So I do feel like he can get back on track and I don't feel like he's that far off, but he's got to find a way to command his pitch and really be able to dictate counts. And if he does that, he'll be successful. Q. What gives you that confidence that he's going to be able to find the command at this point in the season? AARON BOONE: Because, again, I do believe in the person and where he's at. Again, I don't think he's -- I don't think he's overwhelmed by the playoffs or all that goes into how we assess performance sometimes in this. I think it's a question of he hasn't executed great. And at different times for as great a year he's had this year, sometimes the command gets away from him and that's where he's gotten in a little bit of trouble, which has certainly hurt him here a little bit in the postseason. Q. You've shown that you'll be aggressive in going to your bullpen in this postseason. With the possibility of four games in the next four days if this series goes the distance, how much longer of a leash do you anticipate having with your starters? AARON BOONE: I mean, we're going to have to get some innings out of our starters, there's no question about it. So hopefully -- obviously Masa is coming off a real good start in Game 1 where he was able to give us six innings. So between him and Paxton these next two days, they're going to need to give us some innings if we're going to be successful. But again, you're kind of -- we've got to go out and win a game. So I'll be aggressive in that sense but we do have to get some bulk innings out of some people, there's no question. Q. You were asked yesterday about the possibility of removing Sánchez from the lineup for Romine, and you answered very quickly and very emphatically no. What gives you confidence that he can break through? AARON BOONE: Say it again. Q. What do you see from Sánchez and his at-bats that give you confidence that he can break through? AARON BOONE: Let's start with the other side of the ball, which completely gets lost in this. And without sugarcoating at all, he's been excellent behind the plate from a game calling standpoint, from a game plan target, receiving. A lot of people are making a lot of the block. There's a lot of 94-mile-an-hour fastballs that guys don't block. Guys aren't always set up to block a fastball. That's kind of a 50/50 play. The bottom line is his body of work in this postseason, and frankly down the stretch in the second half of the season defensively, has been excellent. So that part has me feeling really good about him. And just knowing how talented of an offensive player he is, I always feel like he's a pitch away or an at-bat away from really getting locked in and changing the course of a game. So clearly he hasn't been at his best offensively but with a guy as talented as he is, I think that's right around the corner always. Q. You were talking about getting some length from your starters. I guess what's the challenge for you going forward here wanting to get that length but also understanding where the series is right now down 2-1? How do you manage the balance of getting length out of your starters but also not sticking with them for too long? AARON BOONE: Yeah, that's the line you're walking all the time. If we're going to win this series, our bullpen will still play a huge role, obviously. But we've got to be able to get a little bit of distance out of our starters probably if we're going to ultimately be successful in these next several games. So that's the balance you've got to try and strike, and we'll do it the best we can. Q. You've had Tanaka a couple of years now, and each of his regular seasons have kind of been up and down. Does he just look like a different pitcher in the postseason? Because you've seen him obviously very good in the postseason back-to-back years. AARON BOONE: Yeah, I don't know if it's so much different because I feel like we see this guy, or I have, a lot in these last couple of years. I feel like last year in the second half of the season he really got it going. This year I feel like has been mostly good. He's had a couple of clunkers along the way that have kind of distorted his overall line from an ERA standpoint and whatnot. But I feel like mostly this year, especially in a year where he was a little bit inconsistent with his split finger, I feel like he's thrown the ball mostly really well, and we've seen outings like he had the other night throughout the season. So it's definitely the good version of Masa that I've gotten to see in the postseason but it's also a version that I'm not surprised by and I feel like we've seen a good amount in the regular season, as well. Q. Going back to Sánchez for a minute, we asked him I think in Houston if kind of the time that he missed with the injury, the sporadic playing time towards the end, if that threw him off going into the playoffs. He said that wasn't the case. Do you see signs of that, of him trying to get up to speed and that's why you think it might be around the corner because it's been a bit of a process or does that not have anything to do with it? AARON BOONE: I think that's certainly possible. And that's a question you get asked a lot or I get asked a lot is when a guy is coming back how long is it going to take to get back into the full swing. And hitting is fickle like that. Hitting is hard. Like we've seen with Aaron Hicks, he's out a couple of months and kind of looks like he hasn't missed a beat with the quality of his at-bats. Sometimes you kind of lock it right back in right away. Other times it takes a little while to find that consistency. It's hard to really predict, frankly. All you can do is get guys ready and prepared the best you can and hope that their talent goes out there and gets it done for them. But I feel like Gary has been back long enough now to certainly be in the flow and the rhythm of regular play. Again, hopefully this starts real soon for him. Q. As a manager when you get into these tight spots in the playoffs, what's the kind of line that you walk between riding with your guys but also trying to make the hard decisions to do what's right for this team? AARON BOONE: Right. I mean, those are always the decisions. The reality is you have to get the 27 outs. Guys that are throwing the ball incredibly well and kind of locked in are going to be -- but you're going to have to lean on guys, too, that maybe are going through a tough time that have to step up and get you big outs if you're going to move forward. And I consider Otta one of those guys. Q. What's your comfort level and confidence level if you have to use a reliever three or four days in a row? Would you do it? And what is your belief about them being effective and efficient on a third or fourth straight day? AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think I definitely would do it. Now, that's a case-by-case basis and depends on the individual. I would certainly be prepared to do that but we've also got to take into consideration where the guy is coming in each day. The reality is he may throw an inning or more than an inning and may come in and actually not be available. So you're kind of measuring where they're at physically, trying to have that open quality dialogue with them and myself and Harkey and Larry and where they are, and trying to make good evaluations. So I'm certainly open to them running out there every day but it's something that's kind of always fluid with the different individual pitchers and how they're able to bounce back. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|