Baserunning blunders piling up
ATLANTA — With the Yankees down, 8-2, on Monday, Harrison Bader made the final out of the sixth inning when Braves starter Max Fried picked him off of first base.
The Yankees challenged the call, but replay review didn’t spare them from an inexcusable out.
“You just can’t get picked off there,” Bader said, echoing a sentiment shared by Aaron Boone after the Yankees’ 11-3 loss. “I take full responsibility for that.”
While Bader showed accountability for the gaffe, he also said that the lefthanded Fried has a “balk move.” Asked if he thought Fried balked on the play, Bader said, “I don’t know. I think it’s the same thing you can say about balls or strikes or a balk move or no balk move. It’s what the umpires call and that’s the standard.
“Regardless of the situation, the umpires’ calls are the calls, and I have to be able to adjust accordingly to that. I knew how good his move was going into it. I just extended [my lead] too much. And again, the situation can’t happen.”
Balk move or not, Monday was hardly the first time the Yankees have made an egregious out on the bases this season.
Such slipups have been a common occurrence for a last-place, near-.500 team that has little room for error. With that in mind, Boone was asked, “All season long, it seems like you guys have had some blunders on the basepaths. Why do you think that is?”
“Yeah, it seems like it,” Boone responded, emphasizing the third word of the sentence. “But it’s actually probably on the lower end of the league, frankly. Because we’ve been in so many kind of low-scoring, close games for the most part, when you do have a blunder, and it costs you, it’s accentuated. It’s extra. You got to strike that balance between sitting on your hands, not being aggressive, playing scared, and sometimes you get caught.”
It’s unclear what stat Boone was referring to when he said the Yankees are “probably on the lower end of the league” when it comes to baserunning mistakes, but most say the opposite.
Entering Tuesday’s game, the Yankees had been picked off 12 times, the fifth-highest total in the majors. They had also made 37 outs on the bases (which excludes pickoffs, unsuccessful stolen base attempts and force plays), the 10th-highest total in baseball.
While the Yankees were better than league average when it came to outs made at first and second base, they were the fifth-worst team with 11 outs made at third base. They were ninthworst with 11 outs made at the plate.
The Yankees’ 75% success rate on stolen bases was also among MLB’S lowest.
Surgery not in Judge’s plans:
Boone feels that Aaron Judge has looked good since returning from a torn ligament in his toe, which isn’t fully healed. The manager said the outfielder has been moving better and having strong at-bats despite not being at his peak physical form.
Judge entered Tuesday’s game hitting .260/.456/.460 with three home runs, five RBI ,18 walk sand 13 strike outs over 68 plate appearances since returning on July 28.
Boone added that he doesn’t believe surgery is in the cards for Judge, who previously said he wasn’t sure what the offseason could bring.
With the Yankees in last place, Boone was also asked if the team would consider shutting Judge down at a certain point if the standings don’t change.
“We’re not at that point,” Boone replied.
Rodon could see Nationals:
Boone said that Carlos Rodón (hamstring) will throw a simulated game in Tampa on Wednesday. The skipper wasn’t sure how many pitches the lefty will throw, but Rodón will have “a good workload.”
If that goes well, Rodón is lined up to return for next week’s series against Washington at Yankee Stadium.