New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone bristles at suggestion that he should have walked $30,000,000 man Shohei Ohtani before epic homer
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone continues to take heat for not walking Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani in the seventh inning of Monday's extra-inning loss.
Ohtani, MLB's home run leader, crushed his 35th homer of the season off of Yankees reliever Michael King. The two-run shot tied the game before the Angels went on to win 4-3 in extra innings.
In an interview with the "Talkin' Yanks" podcast, Aaron Boone bristled at suggestions that he should have allowed Ohtani a free pass rather than risking what ended up occurring.
"When you manage the team, you can make that call," Boone said.
King got two strikes on Shohei Ohtani before coughing up the game-tying homer. He complimented the Angels superstar during a postgame interview with the New York Post:
"I wish it wasn’t at my expense, but (Ohtani) is an incredible hitter. We knew as a team we didn’t want him to be the one that beat us. Unfortunately, I got greedy in a two-strike count and tried to make a better pitch than I needed to."
Shohei Ohtani has recently been linked to the Yankees as a possible landing spot should he be traded before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
MLB analyst John Smoltz said on Monday, before the Angels/Yankees game, that he believes Aaron Boone's squad would become an instant World Series favorite should they trade for Ohtani:
"It's worth getting him even if they don't re-sign him for a chance to win the World Series. If he were to be traded to some of the top-tier teams — let's just say New York — it makes them clear favorites, in my opinion, to get to the World Series and win the American League. That's how big of a difference this guy makes."
Hitting a career-best .306, he leads the majors with 35 home runs, a .677 slugging percentage, a 1.068 on-base plus slugging percentage and six triples.
Having played in his third consecutive All-Star Game last week, Shohei Ohtani is also 7-5 with a 3.50 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and 139 strikeouts in 18 starts.
Shohei Ohtani's homer helps sink Aaron Boone's Yankees into AL East cellar
Yankees fans are becoming increasingly fed up with Aaron Boone after Monday's loss sunk New York into sole possession of last place in the American League East.
With a record of 50-45, the Yankees are nine games behind the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.