We all make mistakes. Through life, we are taught that when the invetiable happnes, we just have to face the consequences and hold ourselves accountable. New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has shown once again that he does not necessarily believe in that ideology.
Over the last couple of seasons, as good as the Yankees have been, they have been notorious for poor baserunning and occasionally the lack of effort. Both of these flaws were on full display Wednesday night from catcher Austin Wells and it was not even addressed.
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Austin Wells base-running blunder nearly cost Yankees the game
In the bottom of the ninth inning with one out and the game tied at three, Austin Wells stood on first base while Trent Grisham dug into the batter's box. The small-ball strategy of Major League Baseball has become a lost art but Grisham laid down a beautiful push bunt in hopes to move Wells (the game-winning run), into scoring position.
Wells did advance, at least for a moment. It appeared that once the play was complete and Grisham had been threw out at first, Wells started jogging back to the Yankees dugout thinking it was the end of the inning. As a result, he was tagged out between first and second and the Yankee faithful was ungratefully rewarded with free baseball.
Austin Wells on baserunning error:
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) July 31, 2025
“I think I just was being an idiot.” https://t.co/c8eLJjYBRD
First off, Wells should have used a little baseball IQ to think through that situation. If that would have been the third out, why in the world would Grisham try to lay down a bunt with his power? Once the mistake was done, Wells undoubtedly had to be awaiting a scolding from his skipper. After all, he was the winning run and gave himself up.
Instead, nothing was said and Wells remained in the game until the end. Maybe Boone feels like this is something that should be addressed behind closed doors but not showing any signs of discipline for a mistake that big sends a message to everyone that anything goes in the Yankees organization and accountability is a term that is not used very often.