— The Yankees’ latest summer downturn has reached a familiar stage: pitchforks are out for Aaron Boone.
And, while much of the recent fan outrage has centred on Boone — which may have been mitigated at least for one night on Wednesday, when the Yankees defeated the Rays 2-1 to win for the seventh time in 24 games — general manager Brian Cashman gave him a vote of confidence before the series began on Tuesday.
“Obviously he works extremely hard,” Cashman stated after travelling to Tropicana Field due to the team’s troubles. “He is really well-connected with these folks. Every day, he is tasked with pushing the proper buttons as best he can with the resources he has. I believe he is doing his best to navigate this situation.It was a tidal wave of success for the first two months, but when June finished and July began, we hit a pretty hard patch for an extended length of time. Ultimately, it all boils down to our current record, but we need to play better as a team.”
On June 14, the Yankees possessed baseball’s best record, 50-22.
Since then, they have gone 6-16, the poorest record in the majors throughout that time period. In that span, the Yankees have gone from enjoying a 3 ¹/₂-game lead atop the AL East to being two games behind the Orioles.
They finished Wednesday as the top AL wild card, but the Twins (2 ¹/₂ games back), Red Sox (4 ¹/₂ games back), and Royals (five games back) are now biting at their heels.
The Astros have also begun to improve, while the defending World Series champion Rangers are lurking and gaining momentum as they consider whether or not to sell before the trade deadline.
Boone, who is in the final year of his contract, accepted responsibility Tuesday night when asked what he could do as manager to assist the Yankees break out of their protracted slump.
“It starts with me,” Boone explained. “I filter in through the coaches, and it’s all about getting these men as prepared as possible while also setting a tone with how we carry ourselves. However, as coaches, it is our responsibility to place our athletes in the best possible position to succeed.
“We have to keep trying to accomplish that to the best of our abilities and have faith that the ball will start to bounce our way a little bit and we will be able to get it moving here. It starts with that bump, and we must persevere.”
Though the Yankees’ troubles over the last three weeks may have loosened what appeared to be a firm hold on a playoff place, they still finished Wednesday with the majors’ fourth-best record.
As of Wednesday morning, FanGraphs estimated their playoff chances at 97.1 percent, while Baseball Reference gave them a 96.6 percent probability of making it.
“Acknowledging the last three, four weeks have been brutal—we know we’re better than that, and everyone’s a little bit frustrated,” Boone remarked before Wednesday’s triumph. “But the other reality of the issue is that we’ve put ourselves in a strong position here, no matter how many games we play. We’ve prepared ourselves to attain all of our ambitions and dreams this season.
“We know we need to turn things around. We realize we need to play better. However, while acknowledging what we are going through, we must also keep the wider picture in mind.
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