AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 10, 2022

Aaron Boone

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. You said yesterday that you guys haven't had your full discussions on what the roster is going to look like. How close are you to making those decisions?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, we are fairly close. Just waiting on a few things to unfold the rest of the day today, and hopefully have it finalized by tonight.

Q. DJ said he was going to go through a full workout. Do you expect him?

AARON BOONE: We'll see. That's one of the things obviously we're waiting on. So we'll kind of make that determination tonight.

Q. With DJ, in Texas he said he felt like he was getting a swing off pretty well. Is it a matter of the toe still is bothering him when he's swinging in the box or is there something specific?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think it's getting his swing. I feel like he was still compromised. That's what I was seeing. So you know, kind of want to see how he is today and what he's able to do, and make that determination.

Q. What's your confidence level in the depth of this lineup when you look at it offensively and the belief that you'll get contributions from a number of players?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I mean, you have to. If you're going to go on a deep run, right, and be a champion, you've got to get it from different places at different times. You know, we've gotten a little healthier. Obviously we'll have Matt Carpenter part of things as a good weapon off the bench. You know, getting the Rizzos back and Giancarlo back. Feel like Giancarlo is trending in the right direction over the last week or ten days.

But, you know, obviously Gleyber has swung the bat really well for us down the stretch, but it's going to take a big, big shot from everyone in different moments at different times, and I do feel like we have the people in there capable of hopefully doing some really good things offensively.

Q. How are Wandy and Clay doing and how comfortable are you using them in high-leverage situations as they comeback from injury?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, Wandy is good to go and totally comfortable. And then Clay, I feel like is going to be -- he's actually going to throw a little bit again today. Yeah, they are both going to have to -- for us to realize our goals, they are going to be in some big spots and have to get some big outs.

Q. This is a follow-up to the last question. You've got Domingo going into the bullpen. But how confident are you in Domingo's transition to the bullpen and even guys like Castro or Abreu, leaving out roster comments, can they contribute as well?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, they have to. I think Jamo early on is going to be in the bullpen for us, too. Domingo -- I mean, it takes everyone. It takes everyone during the season and you're going to have to get some level of contribution from everyone in the postseason if you're going to reach your goals. So these guys are all prepared. Everyone that's on there is ready to go, and looking forward to just taking our shot tomorrow.

Q. Given how well Aaron Judge has handled the pressure, but in the last five days, have you seen that he's been able to relax and reset?

AARON BOONE: No. I mean, no. He's the same. That was the beauty of going through it. For Aaron and for a number of our guys, you know, we've tried to take advantage of having some days off finally, and hopefully that's something that serves us well. We've tried to strike that balance between giving these guys live looks, and they have racked up some at-bats, but they have also been off their feet a lot, had time to rest up a little bit. I would say Aaron embodies that.

Q. Following up on that, do you think now that the home run chase is over, will there be normalcy to his at-bats now, or is the bar set so high that there's no going back to the old normal?

AARON BOONE: I mean, I'm not sure exactly what you're asking.

Q. Fans are expecting a home run at every at-bat, and that was the vibe in the entire ballpark.

AARON BOONE: This is the postseason now. Obviously every pitch is huge and people are hanging on every pitch. Similar to how it was down the stretch in his at-bats in games that weren't affecting the standings towards the end there.

You're just super focused on the moment and trying to be victorious. So you know, I don't know what the --

Q. I guess I'm asking, I assume you're hoping that the ballpark doesn't come to a dead stop between every pitch.

AARON BOONE: I think it will be very playoff-like, right. Yankee Stadium in the playoffs, it's going to be pretty raucous, I would imagine tomorrow night. A lot of energy in the building and a lot of anticipation, certainly when Aaron is up because it's Aaron Judge and what he can do.

But no, I don't think it will be necessarily similar to when he was 60, 61 and stuff like that. I think it's going to be the playoffs.

Q. I'm sure there's urgency to win in the playoffs, but is it accentuated because you don't know where Judge is going to play next year, to get a championship during his time?

AARON BOONE: I don't look at it like that at all. You know, Aaron and I have been together now for five years, and you know, every year we have had a realistic shot at this, and we feel that way now. I mean, we are so focused on the here and the now and the present that that's for another day.

I think he understands that and has lived that and that's who he is. Our focus is on this team and trying to be the last team standing. So that doesn't even enter to my mind.

Q. Do you see Taillon as a long reliever or are there other ways you can use him?

AARON BOONE: No, I think he could be a starter later in the postseason. No, I think he could be anything from a long reliever to close the game. I mean, I think he's in play for anything.

Q. And then this bullpen looks a lot different than the one you broke camp with, no Chapman, no King, no Green. How confident are you in locking the lead down after, say, the seventh inning?

AARON BOONE: So I'm really confident in who we have down there. Obviously we don't have necessarily the traditional roles or the roles going into postseasons that we have had, but we feel like we have a number of guys down there throwing the ball well and capable of getting huge outs. Hopefully we can get them into situations and parts of the lineup where they have the best chance to be successful.

So we have a lot of guys capable down there and it's going to take all of them. I can see a number of them hopefully closing out games for us, too.

Q. Have you finalized what your bullpen is going to be?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, we are finalized. We are still letting some people know what we've decided.

Q. And we've talked to you a lot about Cole the last few weeks, the one bad pitch, the one bad inning. What can you guys do before, or what have you been doing to help him prevent that in such a big game tomorrow?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, it's more just making sure we are prepared. Making sure he's prepared as best he can. You know, focused a lot on all the good that he's done this year, and even down the stretch. You know, obviously avoiding the long ball has been a bugaboo.

But there's nothing we are doing, like, you know, anything physically or prep-wise. We're leaning into how he's going to go attack Cleveland, and then it comes down to execution. And if he executes, nobody's better.

Q. Sort of on the whole, what did you think of Gerrit's season, strikeout record, over 200 innings?

AARON BOONE: Really good season. You know, obviously because it's Gerrit Cole and because he came here and signed a huge contract, the long term, and the ace of this staff, the New York Yankees staff, nothing will ever be necessarily good enough. But I think he's had a very strong year. The home run ball's hurt him a little bit to keep it from being, you know, I guess -- probably going to keep him from winning the Cy Young and things like that.

I feel like he's throwing the ball incredibly well. I feel like he has all year. I feel like his stuff has been really consistent. The long ball has been the thing that's kept it from being a Cy Young season, and there's no reason to think he can't go out there and dominate, and again, it comes down to execution. If he goes out and executes, we'll be in a good spot.

Q. Is Giancarlo healthy enough to be an option for the postseason and if anything changes with Carpenter coming back, could open up the DH for Carpenter?

AARON BOONE: It's possible in play -- or I wouldn't expect it in play these first couple games. I would have a hard time putting Giancarlo in left field at Yankee Stadium, especially right away.

So we'll see as this thing unfolds. Giancarlo is going to, you know, kind of work towards that and maybe at some point in the postseason, it will be an option, but we'll see.

Q. Is he healthy enough to do that? Is it a tricky situation because you want him to contribute offensively and you don't want him to go backwards?

AARON BOONE: We'll see. He's going to prepare. He's doing well the last week or ten days, and I think you can see it in his at-bats. I think he's got to another place physically, which is good. So we'll just see. I mean, he'll kind of determine that as he's able to work through it, and we'll see where Carp is and how much availability we have with him.

But I'd be reluctant to put Giancarlo in left field here out of the chute.

Q. How much shorter is your leash on starters in the postseason than the regular season, and what's a situation where you would make a change now?

AARON BOONE: Well, every year is different and every staff's different. I think for us, one of the things I feel really good about is I think our starters match up well with everyone in the playoffs' starters. I feel like if we are going to go deep in this and if we are going to win a championship, I think it's because our starters pitched really well and probably pitched deep into some games.

So every game is different. Every game is different but you know, I don't think -- I don't think my hook comes quicker now because I believe we've got to lean on our starters.

Q. And does the extra off-day after 1 and 2 factor into the decision-making?

AARON BOONE: Sure.

Q. That's what I was going to ask about how the off-day after Game 1 may be altering your decisions with your personnel.

AARON BOONE: I mean, I guess it factors in a little bit. We are probably going to go 12 pitchers, and part of that is having a couple off-days in there where we feel like we can withstand that. And obviously have some guys that can give us some length out of the pen.

So, you know, I guess it probably factored in a little bit. Hard to say specifically how it did, but, you know, I mean, when we started kind of voting on things and getting opinions, like that's baked into the conversation, into the equation is this is the schedule.

Q. And what about Cleveland concerns you the most?

AARON BOONE: They do a lot of things really well. They are athletic. They have a number of guys that run really well and run the bases really well. They can catch the ball. They can pitch. They have got a really good closer and a really good back end of the bullpen.

And I think you're seeing a young team that's kind of continued to get better and better and better, and you know, played a lot of meaningful games down the stretch and went and took that division. They grabbed it. So they are a team playing with a lot of confidence right now and do a lot of things really well, and we certainly understand that we have to play really well to beat them.

Q. With you and Terry Francona both coming from baseball families with your backgrounds, how do you think it affects how you feel the game should be played and managed, if at all?

AARON BOONE: Oh, I don't know. I mean, everyone's, I guess, experience affects who you are. I don't know if there's anything about our background that makes -- I don't know. I'm not sure how to answer that question.