Yankees manager AaronBoone hit on several topics speaking ahead of New York’s 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals, including getting Clarke Schmidtback in the rotation, Ben Rice‘s hot start at the plate, and the importance of Major League Baseball honoring the legacy of Jackie Robinson ending baseball’s segregated era on this day 78 years ago.
Schmidt set for season debut
The Yanks’ rotation is getting a boost with the 29-year-old set to make his season debut on Wednesday after beginning the year on the IL with a shoulder issue.
“We’re counting on Clarke; we expect a lot from Clarke now,” Boone said Tuesday. “How it lines up with last year, hopefully, guys like Clarke area always continuing to improve, too. We have a lot of confidence in what he brings and how good of a pitcher he is and has become.”
The right-hander was similarly hampered by injuries last year as he missed June, July, and August but was effective when healthy, pitching to a 2.85 ERA and 1.184 WHIP in 85.1 innings over 16 starts.
“[We] feel like he’s in a good place right now, too, in his build-up and what the last month or so has been. We’re excited to get him back, and he’s an important part of our team,” the manager said.
Schmidt tossed four scoreless innings with four strikeouts in his final rehab start at Double-A Somerset last week.
Honoring No. 42
Members of both teams – and across all of baseball – wore No. 42 for Jackie Robinson Day in honor of his April 15, 1947 debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, which ended segregation in the modern era of professional baseball.
“I think he’s one of the most important figures in American history and certainly of the last 80 years now or so,” Boone said before the game. “Obviously, he was part of integrating our sport but further integrating America and other sports.
“I think it’s so cool what we get to do today in everyone wearing 42 and bringing attention to it and just honoring what’s an amazing legacy.”
Aaron Judge added that he “wouldn’t be standing here today without all the sacrifices that Jackie made, and a lot of people before me.”
“It’s a humbling reminder, looking back on his story and what he went through just to play this game,” he said via The New York Daily News. “I go out here and have some fun, but he had a lot of hate, a lot of discrimination against him, and he still went out there and had an incredible career.
“So it just speaks volumes to the type of hero he was. So anytime you get a chance to wear 42 and represent him and represent what his legacy stood for, it’s something I definitely don’t take for granted.”
Boone’s grandfather Ray overallped with Robinson and made his MLB debut for the then-Cleveland Indians a year after Larry Doby became the first Black player in the AL.
“I feel like sometimes Larry Doby gets lost in this. He was an amazing player and an amazing person,” Boone said, recalling what his grandfather told him.
After Robinson’s debut, it would be another eight years – 1,233 regular season games – before the Yankees became the 13th team to integrate when Elston Howard appeared in pinstripes for the first time on April 14, 1955. (The Boston Red Sox were the 16th team to integrate on July 21, 1959.)
During his playing days, Howard would win four World Series titles, appear on 12 All-Star teams, win two Gold Glove awards, and was named the 1963 American League MVP.
Rice frying competition
The big first baseman went off the boil on Tuesday night, finishing 0-for-5 with several weakly hit balls and a strikeout. But the production this year has been big – eight extra-base hits (five home runs) with a .385 OBP and .618 slugging – and the underlying advanced metrics are very Aaron Judge-like.
“I don’t want to say he’s gonna be Aaron Judge. But I think he can really hit,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game.
Entering the second game of the series aginst KC, Rice has a .491 expected-weighted on-base average (99th percentile), .329 expected batting average (94th percentile), .749 expected slugging percentage (99th percentile), 96.1 mph average exit velocity (98th percentile), 27.8 barrel percentage (100th percentile), and a 66.7 hard-hit percentage (100th percentile).
As much as Boone doesn’t like the comparison, but even in the this small sample size of just 16 games and 65 plate appearances, is this sustainable?
“He rakes,” the manager said. “I think he is going to be a really good hitter, maybe already is a really good hitter in this league because he controls the strike zone well and hits the ball extremely hard, that’s a pretty good recipe as a hitter.
“I’m expecting him to be a really good major league hitter for a long time.”
Boone admitted he didn’t remember much about Rice when the Yankees drafted the catcher in the 12th round in 2021, but once he got a chance to impress last spring, he stood out.
“Really impressed us in spring training last year, getting to really be around him and see him for the first time and the at-bat quality the ability to control the strike zone with power,” he said. “And then getting an opportunity last year and doing a lot of really good things, around some struggles, too.
“But I think the takeaway was this guy has a good chance to really hit. I think he’s got a lot better for a lot of different reasons from last year to this year and obviously he’s playing a huge role for us right now.”
The batting eye and strike zone control are reflected in his 10 walks so far (93rd percentile in walks) and 17.4 percent chase rate (97th percentile), entering Tuesday’s game.
Bombers more than just mashers
“When anyone mashes homers, they win,” Boone said in response to a point about Monday’s win that saw his side smack four solo home runs. “Usually, the good offensive teams usually hit the ball out of the ballpark to some degree. It’s an important part of our identity. It’s not everything, we feel like we have other ways to beat ya.”
Tuesday the Yankees were kept inside the ballpark in their 17th game of the year. While acknowledging the small sample, Boone believes the club has “the chance to have a really good offense.”
“We’ve got the best player in the sport right in the middle of things and I feel like we’ve got really capable people around him,” he continued. “And I also feel like young emerging players that we’re counting on to take another further step in their development and their career.
“I feel like we have more speed this year, so some different ways we can go about it on a given day.”
Giancarlo Stanton will travel to Tampa
The slugger, on the IL with elbow issues, is expected to travel with the team for the upcoming trip to Tampa for the four-game weekend series against the Rays. Boone said he is not sure about any plans for Stanton to take live at-bats.
Read the full article here