Aaron Boone refuses hold Yankees youngster accountable for embarrassing mistake

The New York Yankees lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-3, on Friday afternoon. You can't win 'em all, so this is hardly a reason to panic. But for Yankees fans, it was only the latest example of Aaron Boone's frustrating inability to hold his players accountable and develop winning habits on the baseball diamond. You won't find another contender who can replicate the sheer volume of boneheaded mistakes this Yankees team makes.

In the top of the third inning, with runners on first and second and one out, Cody Bellinger sent the baseball a mile high into the right field corner. Ronald Acuña Jr. drifted under it for the Braves; Jorbit Vivas, New York's runner at second, prepared to tag up to third. Because nobody could possibly throw him out from that distance.

Ya-nope. Out. Acuña, lest we forget, is probably the closest mankind will get to a superhero.

Vivas did not slide and was thus tagged out on a throw from damn near the right field warning track. After the game, Boone was asked if he considered benching Vivas. His answer was an unsurprising no.

"I bench when guys don't run hard."

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Aaron Boone's hypocrisy on full display after maddening Yankees baserunning

In all fairness to Boone and to Vivas, the 24-year-old third baseman did run hard. He just didn't slide because there is precisely one (1) human who can make that throw. That is an uncontested tag situation for 99 percent of base runners.

That doesn't mean Vivas shouldn't be more aware of his surroundings — he clearly received the slide signal from third base coach Luis Rojas. He needs to know who he's dealing with in right field. That was an avoidable but costly mistake. Instead of runners on the corners with two outs with Aaron Judge in the box, the inning was over. That could very well have made the difference between a comeback and a loss.

Boone needs to do more to negate these baserunning errors that have become so common for the Yankees. It can't help that he also isn't living by his own words. Fine, Vivas didn't jog into third. But Jazz Chisholm Jr. very much logged to first later in the very same game. Boone did not yank Chisholm, funny enough, despite his vow to bench those who don't run hard.

Yankees need to start getting serious about the small things

New York ranks 20th in baserunning value this season, per MLB. Honestly it feels much worse. The Yankees have serious speed at a few positions, but they just keep stacking egregious, 100 percent avoidable miscues. Whether it's running headlong into a tag like Vivas or getting caught in a rundown for no particular reason, we've seen this song and dance too often in 2025. And for years now, frankly.

Boone's teams just are not very disciplined. Talented, sure. Motivated even. But the small things continue to evade New York and this team simply lacks the margin for error that last season's squad did with a healthy Gerrit Cole and Juan Soto. So unless the Yankees can get their ish together on the base paths, we should temper expectations for the playoffs.