How 2 critical Aaron Boone mistakes cost the Yankees against the Rangers
By Lbaquero
Yankees skipper Aaron Boone might have blown the first game of their series vs the Rangers because of these managerial mishaps
Throughout his stint as the Yankees manager, Aaron Boone has picked up a lot of heat from Yankees fans due to poor team performance, bad bullpen management, bench/injury management, etc. While some of that can be considered unfair to the 50-year-old Boone, his decisions in the later innings of Friday’s game vs the Texas Rangers were confusing and illogical to most fans.
Prior to these events, the Yankees entered the bottom of the eighth inning down 2-1 after Clay Holmes allowed an RBI single to Mitch Garver on a ground ball that found a hole on the left side of the infield.
Although a non-critical error, it is worth noting the following situation was not smart, and also did not actually hurt the Yankee’s chances of winning this game:
The Yankees would start the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back singles from CF Isiah Kiner-Falefa and LF Billy McKinney. That would bring up the No. 8 batter Jose Trevino to hit against Rangers right-handed starter Dane Dunning.
With righties Harrison Bader, Josh Donaldson, and Kyle Higashioka on the bench along with switch hitter Oswaldo Cabrera, Boone elected to pinch hit Cabrera, who had just been recalled from Triple-A, for Trevino. Bruce Bochy then countered that by bringing in left-hander John King in relief of Dunning, who threw seven strong innings of 2-run baseball. Boone would then make another move, now pinch-hitting catcher Kyle Higashioka for the switch-hitting Cabrera.
Although Higashioka is a fly-ball hitter and better vs lefties, the issue with that decision is wasting the spot of the versatile Oswaldo Cabrera, who can play every position besides pitcher and catcher. Going into extra innings, that versatility on the bench is so valuable, and should not be wasted as done today.
Although I did disagree with the move, it faired out well, as Higashioka drove in Kiner-Falefa with a Sac-Fly. However, there were two different critical managerial errors that plagued the Yankees in this game.