Nevin: No regrets about costly send
Phil Nevin has no regrets about his decision to wave home Aaron Judge on Giancarlo Stanton’s shot off the Green Monster with the Yankees trailing by two runs in the top of the sixth in what turned into a 6-2, season-ending loss to the Red Sox in the AL wild-card game on Tuesday night in Boston.
“There were a lot of factors,’’ Nevin told The Post of why he sent Judge. “I did see the low throw [from center fielder Kiké Hernandez]. It was off line, as well. I factored in the wet surface, which ended up being the demise [of the play], because it was a quick skip into [Xander] Bogaerts’ glove. He made a great baseball play and throw home.”
It resulted in Judge being thrown out fairly easily at the plate, with Kevin Plawecki applying the tag for the second out, as Stanton moved to second. Stanton was stranded when Joey Gallo popped out to end the inning, and the Yankees never got any closer.
“I know what it looks like,’’ Nevin said of the play. “I know what the situation is. I know what kind of third-base coach I am. I made a play to win the game. It didn’t work out. It was a great baseball play on their side. In a big moment, it didn’t go our way.”
Once Bogaerts made the catch of Hernandez’s throw cleanly, Nevin said he knew “if [Bogaerts] makes a perfect throw home, it’s gonna be close. Which it was.”
When asked if having Gallo on deck impacted his decision, Nevin said, “No.”
Gallo finished the season — and spent most of his two months with the Yankees — in a brutal slump.
“There was one out, so you’re gonna be a little more aggressive than with no outs,’’ Nevin said. “With two outs, it would be a nobrainer. If it had ended up second and third and one out and we don’t score, I’d kick myself all night, too.”
Among the people who have criticized Nevin’s decision was Alex Rodriguez during the ESPN broadcast, who said when a ball hits off the Green Monster, Judge shouldn’t have been sent “unless something unusual happens,” like the ball taking a weird bounce after hitting off the wall.
“You don’t have to overthink that one,’’ Rodriguez said during the telecast, in addition to several other head-scratching comments. “I’m surprised of the magnitude of that mistake [by Nevin] in this situation.”
Nevin, who said he had a “good relationship” with Rodriguez, said the critique was inaccurate.
“The guy has never been in that situation, but thinks he has a good idea of what baseball is in that spot, and he’s wrong,” Nevin said. “He’s never been in that position.”
And Nevin defended what led up to the send.
“I didn’t hesitate at all,’’ said Nevin, who was among a contingent of players and coaches — including Aaron Boone — who were at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. “I was in the right position, made the right read [and] had conviction in my send. But I get it. I get why people are upset and people are mad.”
What makes the results more difficult is the fact that the loss sent the Yankees into the offseason — with a lot of help from an ugly outing by Gerrit Cole, a lack of offense and some cracks from the bullpen.
“A lot of things go through your head afterwards because we’re packing our suitcases,’’ Nevin said.