Aaron Boone: Yankees ‘unconcerned’ about criticism from Aaron Judge’s hitting coach
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he was unconcerned about criticism from Aaron Judge’s personal hitting coach.
Richard Schenck posted Thursday on X: “They’ve lost 13 out of 18 while he’s hitting like an MVP. The Yankees offensive player development is terrible.”
Judge is currently hitting .313 with 32 home runs and 83 RBIs so far this 2024 regular season entering Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees are currently 54-35 and are sitting third overall in the American League.
“People are going to say things and certainly everyone’s entitled their opinion,” Boone said Friday, “and especially when you go through a tough stretch and you wear this uniform, I know people are going to take shots and things like that, so you can’t get all consumed with all that stuff. We got enough to worry about making sure we’re buttoned up and putting our best foot forward every day.”
Judge had minimal response on Friday.
“I honestly really don’t care what’s said on Twitter,” he said, adding: “It doesn’t involve me, to be honest. It’s somebody else making a comment.”
New York entered the night with a .248 team batting average, 10th among the 30 MLB teams, but 27th since June 3 at .221 (139 for 629), ahead of only Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle.
Anthony Rizzo has been sidelined since June 16 with a broken forearm and Giancarlo Stanton since June 22 with a strained hamstring.
Boone speaks to Grisham about lack of hustle on error play: It’s a ‘bad look’
Boone spoke to Trent Grisham over the center fielder’s failure to hustle in the ninth inning of an 8-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds and said it was “a bad look.”
Grisham didn’t charge Jeimer Candelario’s two-out hit Thursday, then bobbled the ball for an error that allowed Candelario to take second. The Yankees went on to get swept by the Reds, their 13th loss in 17 games.
“It’s a bad look,” Boone said Friday, “but at the same time, one of the reasons he’s a Gold Glove center fielder is because of his heartbeat, the reads, the jumps, the ease with which he plays the position, so you don’t want to lose that in there. But with that, just be mindful of certain routine things.”
Boone was understanding, and Grisham was in the lineup for Friday night’s series opener against Boston.
“If Grish makes a mistake in the field or if Gleyber (Torres) makes a mistake in the field, the way they play the game, it’s not going to have a good look to it,” Boone said. “It’s not going to look like you and me playing softball where we’re going to take it off the chest and off the chin, but we suck.
“Some guys look the fundamentally sound (way) that everyone wants to see and you can live with that guy if he makes a mistake. There’s also really good players out there that make the same mistake that a hack would make doing it with ease and it looks lackadaisical,” Boone added. “Believe me, that lackadaisical look sometimes is what makes Trent Grisham a Gold Glove center fielder. He plays the game with an ease and a flow. Now catch the ball. We don’t want that guy on second. And it gets magnified a little bit when we’re going through a spell like this.”
Acquired from San Diego in December along with Juan Soto, Grisham entered Friday’s series opener against Boston with a .165 average with five homers and 14 RBIs. Grisham had hit .304 since Stanton went on the injured list June 23, leading to more playing time.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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