Trouble Answering: Aaron Boone continues to make a fool of himself by benching Yankees bright spots
Tuesday’s loss was particularly disappointing for the New York Yankees. Losing is never ideal, but the New York Mets executed a strategy to force anyone other than Aaron Judge to beat them, and the Yankees couldn’t rise to the challenge. Luis Severino’s pre-series comments proved accurate.
The loss was compounded by the Yankees’ lineup choices for the game. While having Juan Soto and Aaron Judge batting second and third is strong, the players positioned around them were questionable.
Jahmai Jones, who had only 39 at-bats this season before the game, was chosen to lead off. J.D. Davis, sidelined since July 4 due to illness, was placed behind Soto and Judge in his first game back.
The results were predictable. Jones went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before being pinch-hit for by the light-hitting Trent Grisham. Davis also went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, later being replaced by rookie Ben Rice.
Adding to the puzzling decisions, Rice, who didn’t play Tuesday, was benched again for Wednesday’s game. Despite his recent struggles and the Mets starting a lefty, benching the rookie for two consecutive games while Davis gets another start is hard to justify.
Aaron Boone benching Ben Rice to start J.D. Davis is a decision even he had trouble answering
Here’s the Yankees lineup:
Wednesday Night Matchup. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/pl50nFiBSg
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2024
This lineup looks better than Tuesday’s. Austin Wells, one of their hottest hitters, is slotted behind the plate in the clean-up spot. Gleyber Torres, who homered on Tuesday, is leading off. However, the bottom of the lineup still looks weak. The decision to start J.D. Davis over Ben Rice remains difficult to understand, even for Boone.
"This is a guy that recently has had a good amount of success"
Aaron Boone was asked about playing J.D. Davis over Ben Rice tonight: pic.twitter.com/q47Mf5jQYL
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 24, 2024
When asked why Davis was chosen over Rice, Boone took a long pause before answering. He explained that Davis was brought in specifically to be a platoon hitter against left-handed pitching and that they are trying to put Rice in positions where he can succeed.
While Rice has struggled against lefties in his brief MLB career, he had a .795 OPS against them in the minors this season. He’s not incapable against southpaws, and he only has 23 MLB at-bats against them. He also had a pair of impressive at-bats off the bench on Tuesday, even though they resulted in outs. Shouldn’t he get more of a chance before reverting to Davis?
The Yankees acquired Davis in late June after he was DFA’d by the now 41-62 Athletics, and he has struggled in New York, recording just one hit in 16 at-bats. The illness has obviously impacted his availability, but when he has been on the field, he’s done nothing.
Digging deeper, Davis was DFA’d by one of the worst teams in baseball, showing how poorly he had been playing before the Yankees got him. He has just a .622 OPS against lefties this season. His career numbers are better, but Boone continues to fall back on what players have been, not what they are right now. He has done the same with DJ LeMahieu while trying to justify playing him regularly.
Rice is at least an unproven commodity, whereas Davis has struggled all year and has only been worse as a Yankee. He played on Tuesday, hitting in a prime spot in the order, and struggled to even put the ball in play. Not giving Rice a chance when the team badly needs a lift is a mistake and could contribute to the Yankees losing another game against their crosstown rivals on Wednesday.