As Judge, Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton Slam Astros, Aaron Boone Reflects On Yankees’ Past Offensive Struggles

Manager Aaron Boone opened up the New York Yankees’ 9-4 victory against the Houston Astros. From being questioned about the not-so-great offense to coming all the way to earning praise for some stellar offensive performances, Boone has brought the Yankees a long way. In a post-game interview, he addressed this transformation. 

While he revealed whom to give credit to for the surge in offensive greatness, Boone also shared a little about the monstrous home run Giancarlo Stanton hit. After all, this was the hardest-hit ball of the season. 

Aaron Boone comments on the surge in the offensive performance of the Yankees

In a press conference by YES Network, the Yankees skipper shared his point of view on this question: From struggling offensively to having one of the best offenses this season, how much of a reason [Juan] Soto and how much were others? His answer captured what a personality he has as a team manager. Boone said, “Both. You gotta include a lot of guys in that. You gotta include [Alex] Verdugo; you gotta include [Anthony] Rizzo back and healthy”. With that, he highlighted another aspect of this offensive transformation. 

Boone further added that health has been an important part of this growth. Clearly, last season they had a lot of issues with health and injuries, as he noted, “You gotta include health. You know, which we didn’t have a lot of last year. So we’re a different team. A better team. Talking about offense.” With that, he highlights how important it is to stay this way in the long haul. 

Aaron Boone also highlighted that this is just early May and that the team needs to show consistently throughout the season. He focuses on “continuing to just lock in day to day”. Moreover, he also went on a tangent to weigh in on Giancarlo Stanton’s mighty home run. 

Boone calls Giancarlo Stanton’s home run “weird”

Aaron Boone was asked about the video that Amazon Prime posted, capturing the reactions of the folks in the dugout when Stanton launched his mighty home run. Boone shared that he had yet to watch it; however, he noted that the response certainly captured the magnitude of what the 34-year-old had just unlocked. He even described it as “hashtag weird”.

The 5x All Star pulled a 1-2 curveball from rookie starter Spencer Arrighetti, thrashing it into the second deck in left field at Yankee Stadium at a speed of 119.9 mph, as measured by MLB Statcast. He did that just inside the foul pole. The 447-foot drive came one night after Stanton rocketed a 118.8 mph homer off Justin Verlander in Tuesday’s 10-3 win over the Astros, which manager Aaron Boone described as ‘2-iron’.