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Manager Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees takes batting practice.
The New York Yankees crashed out of the MLB postseason in unceremonious fashion on Wednesday, managing only two runs against a Toronto Blue Jays “bullpen game” parade of eight relievers on their way to a 5-2 loss in what proved to be the decisive Game Four of the American League Division Series.
The meager offensive output spotlighted what one commentator on Thursday slammed as a “costly mistake” by manager Aaron Boone that helped the Yankees along to their embarrassing ouster. In eight years at the helm, Boone has led the Yankees past the division series round only twice.
Boone benched the Yankees’ breakout star Ben Rice in the deciding game, as he had in Game One of the AL Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox — a game also lost by the Yankees with another poor offensive output — just one run.
Commentator Sara Molnick of the Yankees news site Pinstripes Nation slammed Boone’s benching of Rice as a “costly mistake.”
“Boone’s steady leadership has value during the grind of a 162-game season. His calm approach often helps players weather adversity. But in October, when urgency and adjustments matter most, his decisions have repeatedly cost the Yankees,” wrote Molnick.
“Benching Rice in two key postseason games epitomized that problem. The young slugger had earned his role with consistent production, yet in the most critical moments, Boone turned elsewhere. That faith in veterans backfired again,” Molnick concluded.
World Series Drought Now at 16 Years
The Bronx Bombers’ latest elimination extends their World Series-winning drought to 16 years, their longest since going 17 years without a championship between their titles in 1978 and 1996.
In fact, their total of just one World Series victory (2009) in the last 25 years would be the lengthiest stretch in the history of the franchise — dating back to its founding as the New York Highlanders in 1903 — in which the team has not won multiple championships.
On Wednesday Boone elected to bench the 26-year-old Rice, one of baseball’s best feel-good stories of the year. A 12th-round draft pick in 2021 out of Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the lefty-swinging Rice belted 26 home runs in 467 at-bats, posting an .836 OPS.
Against left-handed pitching, however, Rice’s OPS was a lesser though still respectable .752.
Boone Opted For Veteran Over Rice
On the other hand, while Rice hit only seven home runs against lefties, his home run rate of one per 15.1 at-bats against lefties was actually better than his rate against righties, who he took deep once every 19 at-bats.
While it is true that three of the Blue Jays eight pitchers Wednesday were southpaws, Boone’s benching of Rice did not seem to be a platoon situation. Rather, the manager opted to go with 38-year-old veteran first-baseman Paul Goldschmidt — playing likely the final game of his one-year, $12.5 million contract with the Yankees — in a move favoring the more experienced player.
As it turned out, Goldschmidt popped out in his only official at-bat, getting hit by a pitch and walking in his other two plate appearances.
Boone sent Rice up to pinch hit for Goldschmidt against Toronto’s righty closer Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rice drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, but catcher Austin Wells ended the inning with a fly ball out.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
