AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 19, 2024

Aaron Boone

Progressive Field

New York Yankees

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. Just what made tonight the right time to move Giancarlo Stanton to the cleanup spot?

AARON BOONE: I don't know, just kind of what I felt last night. As much as they've had to use their pen, I know, for example, like they get into that spot, probably Herrin is going through the bottom of our lineup.

But he's had to do it a lot, and I just felt it was the right thing for tonight.

Q. You've talked about Giancarlo's preparation and what he means to the team behind the scenes. But once he's actually in the box, what makes him different?

AARON BOONE: He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all. So there's the physical nature of what he does that's different than just about everyone in the world.

But he's just incredibly disciplined, his approach, his process, how he studies guys. One thing we've talked about a lot over the years is one thing we noticed even early on in the first couple years with the Yankees, one of the things we noticed like upstairs kind of studied a little bit, he more than most when he sees pitchers over and over really benefits. So I think he processes what he -- when he faces people. He's shown in his career that he benefits just about more than anyone.

There's something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted.

Q. You said last night that you were going to check in with your coaches and relievers before determining what the bullpen moves would be. What's the status of your bullpen going into the game?

AARON BOONE: You must not cover us.

We'll see. We'll see. We're all right. I'm not going to tell you who's available, not available, all those things, but we'll go through those and see what we're able to roll out there tonight.

Q. Getting back to your previous comment about Stanton, acquiring knowledge about a pitcher, do you think that learning curve exists within the course of an at-bat --

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think part of that, too, is he's disciplined to a certain thing, so sometimes he may take a bad one, but it doesn't necessarily affect the next one or it's just, hey, he was looking for a certain thing in a certain spot.

But I do think he applies what he experiences better than most.

Q. How did you know that Mark had walked Stanton after he bunted and there was a first base open?

AARON BOONE: I didn't.

Q. Just move on and take that chance?

AARON BOONE: Yeah.

Q. This year compared to 2022, you got teams more whole right now. Hill wasn't supposed to be part of the starting rotation, Mark Leiter and Hill. What does it say about the whole general player development system, the whole package that you have available to you right now?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, you go back to Spring Training, you break camp and you envision how your team is going to roll out. But there's always going to be X factors, whether it's people in the room in Spring Training that you don't think necessarily might impact you in a given year. There's always those surprises.

I talked to those guys first day of camp, like, you're sitting in here right now, you think, oh, I probably won't be with the big club this year or whatever. You might find yourself in the batter's box or on the mound in the biggest moment of the year, so try and prepare that.

Then there's always the X factors of the trade deadline that happens. But even the other moves like getting Tim Hill and Jake Cousins that have become really significant parts of our bullpen that were in a way cast-offs from other organizations.

You never know how it's all going to shape up. You never know how the injuries impact you and create opportunities for other people, so you try and prepare people as best you can throughout the year for moments like this.

Q. What have you seen from Volpe's at-bats, particularly in the postseason?

AARON BOONE: Excellent. Excellent. I go back to -- I felt like his workweek ahead of the Royals' series, the five days to me, noticeable, yes, that's what we're looking for, and he has carried those at-bats.

I feel like the consistency of his at-bats this entire postseason thus far have been excellent. Whether he's gotten a result on a given day, he's having good at-bats. It's been great to see, and he's a big reason we're here.

Q. What would it mean to you and your team to punch your ticket to the World Series tonight?

AARON BOONE: I mean, it's obviously a goal of ours, but try not to get too ahead of anything. It's like, get ready for BP here, get ready, prepared for this game, and hopefully obviously go out and get it tonight. But you really just try and, as best you can, stay in the moment.