There has been no shortage of tough questions for Aaron Boone this week — but he had heard enough after this one.
On the Yankees manager’s weekly appearance for the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast, the skipper navigated a variety of tense questions about the team’s disastrous trade deadline.
But one query from host Jake Storiale, about sitting Aaron Judge during last Sunday’s Orioles game, really ticked Boone off.
“Judge doesn’t get the start, and it’s crazy easy for us as fans to say, ‘Why isn’t the guy I like playing?’” Storiale said. “Sunday night, against the team that’s leading the division, from a fan perspective, it feels like a white flag. If it’s not now, when? Is there gonna be more of a sense of urgency?”
“I’m gonna protect Aaron Judge,” Boone said. “You of all people I would think would be a little more unemotional than that. The guy did not play in a rehab game. And one of the calculus’ for that was, we’re gonna get him here so we could get some games with him in the big leagues in a rehab situation.”
“When a guy has torn ligaments in his toe, hasn’t been built up even a little bit — like, stop, be better than that. And I understand how big of a game it is on Sunday against the Orioles. How big are these games against Tampa? How big are the weekend games in Houston? Do you think he’s gonna go out there and play every day right out of the shoot? He’s not in the position to do that.”
Judge, who missed nearly two months with a torn toe ligament after crashing into the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium, returned on July 28 in a pivotal weekend series against the Orioles in Baltimore.
The Yankees have eased the superstar outfielder back into his regular duties after he returned to the team without embarking on a rehab assignment, making him the designated hitter for three out of four of his starts thus far.
Judge blasted a home run against the Orioles in his second game back, but Boone sat him the next day to protect his health.
The Yankees, 55-52 and 3 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot, have been under significant scrutiny after a trade deadline in which they basically stood pat.