At one point for the New York Yankees, their game was falling apart. Aaron Judge was stuck in a slump, the team was losing games back-to-back, and inconsistency was their hallmark. But they have made a roaring comeback. First, Nestor Cortes is back and has been performing like a fireball. Judge, who was stuck in a drought of home runs, has made a comeback too. But for Manager Boone, it’s not just about thinking about the wins now—it’s about fine-tuning the roster for October.

The next couple of weeks are almost like mini-auditions for some players as they try to prove they’re worthy of staying in the lineup. One major question mark has been the decision involving Marcus Stroman. He has a history of being stellar during the first half of the season, but he has a history of slacking in the second half, and this happened yet again. Aaron Boone thus had to make a bold call to move Marcus Stroman to the bullpen.

The New York Yankees’ latest rotation twist, with Marcus Stroman

Aaron Boone demoted Stroman to maintain the stability that the Yanks had shown after Nestor Cortes’ return. In the second half of the season, Stroman has posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in nine starts. This is a downturn in performances because, for the rest of the season, he performed like a workhorse. He made 28 starts and logged over 148 innings, essentially fulfilling all the expectations of the $18 million contract he signed. However, right now Boone needs stability going forward, and hence Stroman finds himself as the odd man out in a lineup of Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil, and Carlos Rodon. The team is going for a five-man rotation, so Marcus Stroman finds himself pushed to the bullpen by Boone. “Stro will be out this time around. He’ll be available for us in the bullpen probably on Sunday, and then we’ll keep evaluating,” said Boone. 

Boone, with his statement, still seems to be evaluating who the best five people will be going forward. Boone said, “I’ll try to put him in the best position, make sure we try to communicate well with him. He and I spoke about it. Nothing is necessarily permanent, but with the off day, I want to have us go five at least this next turn and maybe the next time around, too. We’ll see.” This is because, even though Marcus Stroman’s numbers haven’t been great in the latter half, his overall season is good enough. Right now, the tables could turn if Stroman can prove his worth when given a chance.

If his performance still turns out to be lackluster, his playtime with the team could seriously be in question. For Boone, while his lineup still seems far from finalized, he is much more than relieved that Aaron Judge is back—out of the slump!

Aaron Boone’s confidence in Aaron Judge’s comeback proves right!

Aaron Judge was stuck in a slump, and it seemed like it would go on forever—16 games, to be precise. For a player of his caliber, even two games without home runs is out of the ordinary. Fans were concerned if Judge could even overcome this phase before the playoffs. But Aaron Boone had no doubts about his star. Even with the media’s ongoing questions about ‘when will Judge get over the slump,’ he was as cool as a cucumber. And Judge proved Boone right.

The Yankee captain hit a grand slam in the seventh inning and clinched a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The entire crowd went crazy, and his teammates were more than thrilled with his grand comeback. After all, a home run after 16 games was a big deal indeed—but Judge himself was unfazed, saying he didn’t even know it had been that long. Boone then talked about the Yankee captain’s ability to stay laser-focused during such trying times.

Boone said, “He’s going to go through this again in another few weeks, at some point next year, whatever, and he’ll be fine. That’s who he is. He’s as good as I’ve ever seen at dealing with all that the season brings. He doesn’t get on the roller-coaster ride. He’s obviously incredibly confident. I don’t worry about him at all.” Aaron Boone added, “It felt pretty turned up, as the kids like to say,” when asked about how Aaron Judge feels after breaking the slump. 

Currently, the Yanks are in powerful form and Aaron Judge is also eyeing the MVP crown if the loud cheers didn’t already make it clear. However, nothing is certain in baseball—and whether things with Judge will only improve or whether relations between Stroman and the Yankees will worsen—only time will tell.