AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 15, 2022

Aaron Boone

Progressive Field

New York Yankees

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Aaron, can you just kind of walk us through the decision-making process, moving Judge to the 2-hole leading off Gleyber.

AARON BOONE: I wanted to change that up a little bit. The big reason is that I feel like as a team right now, we're just a little more whole than we were ten days ago, where I feel like Giancarlo was still working his way back. You know, Rizzo, to a degree, was working his way back.

So I feel like the length of the middle of our order -- I like J.D.'s at-bats now. So I feel like we're getting a little more whole so I just wanted to flip that. Something I woke up to. And, you know, obviously, Judge has hit a lot of second in his career, and, yeah, just wanted to shake that up a little bit.

Q. Just two games, but a tough start to the postseason for Aaron, 0 for 8, seven strikeouts. What are you seeing from him at the plate right now?

AARON BOONE: I think just a little bit of timing. Back to yesterday, you know, you're facing great pitching that's executing, and you're playing in the shadows. I've been there, man. It's hard. It's really hard to see. When guys are really good at what they're doing, it's just a tough day, you know, to be a hitter.

So those kind of innings, 3 through 7, 8 yesterday was a challenge. You know, I think he's just a tick off timing-wise. Looking forward to him going out there and stringing some good ABs together.

Q. Aaron, you guys lost two leadoff men in D.J. and Benintendi. Already being down two, how hard is it to find the right lineup for that. You used Gleyber today. It just doesn't seem like the rest of the lineup makes for a natural fit in that spot.

AARON BOONE: That's the thing. Judge is the most logical leadoff guy with us with no D.J. and no Bennie. So, yeah, that's as big a thing as anything.

Q. You said a few days ago that you weren't ruling out Giancarlo playing the outfield. Have you given any consideration to putting him out there at all?

AARON BOONE: Not yet. You know, we'll talk about that more as today unfolds and get through tonight. But I haven't considered it yet.

Q. Aaron, when you get a strikeout pitcher, a swing-and-miss guy like Severino, coming up against a team that makes contact, that doesn't strike, how do you think that dynamic plays out. Who has the advantage in this situation?

AARON BOONE: We had that with Gerrit the first game. I'd sign up for that pitching out into the 7th with one run. You never know. I don't necessarily -- I think every game's different. Comes down to execution. If Sevey throws the ball the way he's capable of, then I think he's got a really good chance of being successful. Whether that manifests itself in strikeouts, soft contact, whatever it may be, ultimately as a pitcher, that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to execute your pitches.

If you do that consistently, you have a chance to -- whether it's a strikeout ball or get the ball in play in a way you hope.

Q. You have Higgy in there today. He hit .299 after the All-Star break. Obviously, the average didn't get real high because of the tough first few months. What adjustments did you see him making that allowed him to have this big second half at the plate and, also, what do you think of his defense this year?

AARON BOONE: Yeah. I always loved his defense and, you know, what he brings to the table there. When he gets going offensively, we've seen him hit for power.

I think in the second half, offensively, he's just kind of calmed some things down a little bit. I think he's kind of thinking less is more in a way. Hasn't been chasing that power. He's kind of thinking 80 percent and getting a lot of good swings off.

And like you said, since the All-Star break, he's been a pretty good offensive player for us, and we love his defense. Obviously, Trevy has kind of taken hold of the number one spot, but he's going to play this month too in what we hope is a long month. And I'll have Trevy in there tomorrow with Gerrit again. I felt like today was the right day to get Higgy in there and hopefully give us a little bit of a spark.

He caught Sevey's last outing of the year, which was obviously really good. That didn't hurt. I have a ton of confidence in Trevy and Higgy, whoever we have back there defensively running the game. You may get in the middle of the game where you get a pinch-hit situation. They interchange a lot. They communicate well. I thought today was the right day to have Higgy in there.

Q. What have you seen out of Oswaldo's at-bats so far?

AARON BOONE: This year?

Q. In the postseason.

AARON BOONE: We've had two games. I mean, similar. Yesterday, again, was a hard day to hit. He's having competitive at-bats. Yeah, I think he's right in the fight and looking forward to him hopefully going out and having an impact for us.

I don't think much has changed. He's expanded a couple of times when he's gotten into some deep counts. But, again, I think part of that was some tough conditions yesterday.

Q. Aaron, McKenzie pitched really well against you guys back in July. What is it about his stuff that poses a challenge to your hitters?

AARON BOONE: He's become a really good pitcher, and he's, I think, gone to another level for them here in the second half. Spins the ball well, kind of has that tall upright angle where he creates a good angle. I think that helps his fastball play out. But then he works his breaking pitches off of that.

He's really come of age for them. We saw him last year as well, when he was first really starting to establish himself at the big league level. You've even seen this year him kind of go to another level in the second half of the season.

I think it's that upright, over-the-top fastball that he can play. And then he spins it well.

Q. Understanding that Oswaldo did correct himself, even when he first came up, he went through a stretch and then found his footing, how do you understand or know that that's not going to be too much for him in the playoffs as a rookie?

AARON BOONE: I guess you never know. But our feel with him has always been that -- and part of the reason, you know, you talked about that first month. There was a couple weeks in there when he was playing regularly and doing really well for us defensively, where he wasn't really hitting yet.

But to me, to my eye, I was seeing a guy that was not overmatched, that was having the right at-bats. Just wasn't getting results yet. And then, you know, we saw him really take off in the month of September.

So he's shown us at every step that he's not overwhelmed by anything so I think he's totally cut out for this and equipped for this and confident he'll go out there and put together some good at-bats for us.

Q. Aaron, I remember in July you saying youth can serve this Guardians team well in some areas. What's most impressed you about their evolution as a team, much like you mentioned with McKenzie earlier?

AARON BOONE: I think they dialed it in pitching-wise. They have good starters. Now I think they've really established strong roles with four or five guys in the pen that are pretty elite.

They've got balance in their lineup. The right, left, they've got some switch hitters. May be cliché, but they do all the little things. They really do. They run the bases well. They catch the ball. They have a superstar switch hitter in the middle of everything.

So they're just a really, kind of a polished, complete team. They do a lot of things really well and can actually beat you in a lot of different ways.

But it starts on the bump, whether it's starting pitching or relief pitching. They can limit runs.