“We Hit a Couple Balls Out of the Park”: Aaron Boone Fires Back At Reporter Who Quipped About Excuses Made After Orioles Loss

Sometimes lesser efforts can actually result in slightly better results. The New York Yankees saw an example of that last night. Despite their hitting lineup not doing as well as they did in game 1, the Bronx Bombers managed to avoid a shutout. In fact, they hit two massive homers. However, their inconsistencies didn’t allow them to take advantage of it. So, with the Yankees losing once again to the Baltimore Orioles, tough questions were asked of Aaron Boone.

However, the skipper found the performance encouraging. Though he did want his players to “score more,” Boone understood that the team was having good at-bats. His support for the team was obvious after Boone reminded the reporter that despite a bad result, the Yankees did score two homers.

“Tonight, you know, I don’t think it was as good as last night,” Boone said about the team’s performance. “Obviously, we hit a couple balls out of the ballpark. But then didn’t take advantage of maybe less opportunities than we had (in game 1). It’s one of those things. We gotta score a little more, try to get a victory a little more.”

While Boone reminded them of the homers, he did say that the team wasn’t as effective as it was in game one. If one looks at the numbers, his words do make sense. Despite the Yankees avoiding another shut-out, in this game, they had only 5 hits. For comparison in game 1, the Pinstripes recorded 7 hits. 

Perhaps, that’s why despite some improvement, Boone insisted on his players to score more runs. Especially when the players are on base, that’s something that the Yankees are struggling to do currently.

The New York Yankees’ RISP issues throughout the season

Per Baseball Reference, yesterday the Yankees stranded 4 runners on bases. In game one, that number was 10. Ever since the start of the season, the Bronx Bombers have left in total 222 players stranded in their first 31 games. That means on average they’ve failed to take advantage of 7 runners per game. That’s not a very good record, and finally, an opposing team is taking advantage of this weakness.

So as it stands, Aaron Boone has a lot of work cut out for him. He needs to find a way to guide more runners home. At the same time, the skipper needs to ensure that good hits don’t go to waste due to double plays. That’s a lot of work for the manager who is also looking at 2024 as a make-or-break year for himself and the Yankees.