MLB WORLD SERIES: YANKEES VS DODGERS

October 29, 2024

Aaron Boone

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. A little bit of a tweak to the batting order. You have Stanton behind Chisholm. Just what went into that thought process?

AARON BOONE: Really just trying to be a little more balanced, with them doing a bullpen day and this being more in line with kind of what I've done all year, like say we're facing a right-handed pitcher, just this is kind of the rollout. But today against a bullpen day, just trying to net an at-bat or two that's not a favorable spot for them.

Q. Heavy bullpen usage and even bullpen games aren't really uncommon in baseball, but is there something about the way the Dodgers do it, whether it's the variation of looks or the talent level or how these guys are deployed that's made them specifically effective in the playoffs?

AARON BOONE: Obviously they're very good, right?

Not necessarily. I think in the last series they had a dominant one and less of one maybe the next time. Look, they have a lot of good arms over there, a lot of good talent. Guys that have different strengths.

But we've seen that over the years too with Tampa, when they've done it a lot and leaned on it a lot or other clubs that will go through those situations. We saw it with Detroit a lot at the back end of the year and in their playoff run.

It's not foreign or uncommon in the game like you said. It creates challenges, but hopefully we can counteract it.

Q. An hour ago Anthony Rizzo was asked about calling a team meeting before Game 3. I'm interested to know just what has his leadership meant in the years you've had him, and what's he been like in the clubhouse?

AARON BOONE: A lot. He's such a gamer. Used the word a lot the last couple days, his moxie, with what he's been through on the injury front the last couple of years, and then obviously going through and playing with a broken hand and playing so well.

He's just got a knack for raising his level in the biggest moments. The toughness and moxie he's playing the game with right now is admirable and fun to witness. He's just one of the beloved guys in there. We've talked about the closeness of this group, and he is one of the leaders of that. He's been a lot of fun to be around.

Q. What do you hope Jasson Dominguez takes from his experience this month?

AARON BOONE: I feel like he's going to be such a good player. For being a young man and getting to the Big Leagues at such a young age, he's also missed a lot of time. So there's always the valuable experience of the irreplaceable value of playing, right? Whether it's winter ball, in-season stuff, the Spring Training work you do. But also being around this and being around veteran great players, seeing how they prepare, seeing how they go about things.

He's an important part of that room, and we know his future is incredibly bright. So hopefully the experience that he's gained being around and being in this environment and having to prepare every day -- hopefully there's one of those ingredients that serve him well moving forward.

Q. How has his role in reality this month compared to what you imagined it might be coming into the playoffs?

AARON BOONE: Well, a little bit at the end when he came up, there was some competition for an outfield spot. Struggled a little bit defensively. Didn't totally get it going offensively up here although I thought he finished really well in Triple-A and started to string it together like we know he's capable of, and we know that.

There just hasn't been obviously the starting opportunities for him where Dugy's kind of taken it and run and what he brings to us defensively out there. But that being said, as I tell some of the guys, whether it's pitchers on the roster, whether it's position players on the roster, he may find himself in the box in the biggest moment of the season.

So it's our job to help prepare him as best we can, and I know he's focused and ready to go when his number's called.

Q. You talked about closeness of your group. How does the closeness of a group like yours get you through a difficult situation that you're in now?

AARON BOONE: It has all year. We've certainly faced our share of adversity this year, and those guys have never flinched in good times, in bad times. I feel like -- this is my seventh year now, we've had a lot of what I would think good, strong, close clubhouses. This one takes the cake. These guys play for one another.

I always feel like if you can find a situation in your sporting life -- and for those of you who have played at whatever level, when you find yourself where you can sit down and say, man, I want it for that guy next to me more than I even want it for myself and have that real feeling -- like not just say I want that, but have that feeling, you've got something special, and that room has that in spades right there.

It's remarkable to see how close they are, how much they trust one another, how much they pull for one another. It served them well as we've gone through highs and lows of the season, and hopefully it will serve us well as we're down in this series.

Q. Booney, back to Rizzo, how much do you think his participation in the 2016 World Series with the Cubs and what they went through -- Game 7 was a very stressful situation, and they all kind of rose to the occasion both in the clubhouse and on the field.

AARON BOONE: I think that's where guys listen to him and pay attention to him. He does such a good job of striking that balance in these games. I've seen it all postseason where you kind of embrace the pressure of it all but also making sure you're having fun intertwined in that. He does that really good.

Like there's been some really good moments where we've lost a lead or given up in some previous series, where it's like he'll pause and look around, isn't this great, guys? Appreciate this. Appreciate the opportunity to play in these high stakes games.

And I think he does a good job of helping settle guys, and also paying forward and sharing his experience, and guys perk up at that.

Q. Do you have (no microphone)?

AARON BOONE: More when I go out to the mound, and we just took a little gut punch within a game, and how much he embraces that too. This is all part of it, boys. Enjoy it. I think it helps settle guys.

Q. Like every manager, your moves are scrutinized this time of year, all times of the year. When you were a player or a fan or an analyst yourself, did you -- where did you fall in that sort of scrutinizing the manager, blaming the manager sort of spectrum? What's your perspective on it now?

AARON BOONE: I don't know. We all have opinions or thoughts about what we would do or should do. It's one of the beauties of the game. Every move, if it works, it was the right move. If it didn't, it wasn't. That's not necessarily true either.

This game is gray and debatable. The biggest thing is I want to be prepared to make the best decisions possible for our team. I'm confident that I do that and do it at a high level.

Q. When you watch other games now, other managers, or even other sports, do you try to think along with the coaches and managers?

AARON BOONE: Sure, sure. But you also never have the full story either. You never have the full context of anything, whether it's in a season, in a playoff series, whatever it may be.

So I think being in this chair you understand that maybe just casually watching the game, oh, I would have done this, but I don't know everything either that they clearly know.

Q. From the day Anthony Volpe got here, you've been steadfast in his confidence in his mental makeup and emotional makeup and everything. How do you think he's handled his first postseason, and what have you seen in him as far as for his long-term career, what he's gone through here and what this postseason has been for him?

AARON BOONE: I think he's been excellent. I looked up, and he's definitely hit better than his numbers would even suggest. I think everyone that's watched every one of our games, you see his at-bats game in, game out have been excellent.

I think he's grown a lot this postseason. Not surprised by the mental toughness he's shown. And hopefully this is also a little bit of springboard for him growing on the offensive side of the ball too.

I really go back to his year, where again a little bit up-and-down offensively, but I feel like he's made some necessary adjustments that are really going to serve him well moving forward that eventually are going to take and take him to another level offensively.

I'm even confident that he's made some of those final adjustments or later adjustments, even going into the Kansas City series. I go back to the week leading up to that, I felt like, Bam, he did some really good things that set him up for success going into that series, and we've seen really consistent at-bats from him. I think that's all part of the growing process.

His defense has been there since day one, since he got to the Big Leagues. The offense, I feel like we're going to look up in a couple of years and see a really, really strong offensive player. It doesn't always happen in a meteoric rise for some people, but I feel like he's moving the needle in a really good way, and I feel like this playoff is showing that a little bit.