Aaron Boone Explains Why He Benched Isiah Kiner-Falefa For Game 4 of ALDS
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CLEVELAND — Desperate times call for desperate measures.
For the Yankees, leading up to a do-or-die Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Sunday night, that means a change in the starting lineup, an alignment that New York didn't use once during the regular season.
After more misplays at shortstop in Game 3 on Saturday night, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is on the bench for Game 4. Oswaldo Cabrera has moved from left field to shortstop, opening the door for Aaron Hicks to start in left.
Hicks will be making his ALDS debut after sitting through the first three games. Kiner-Falefa had played in every inning of this series far, appearing in more games during the regular season (142) than every Yankee not named Aaron Judge.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked before Sunday night's game about the swap, a decision he made after watching another tough night for Kiner-Falefa in the field during a walk-off loss in Game 3.
"I feel like in this series Izzy has been pressing a little bit out there," Boone said. "Playing a little bit not to make that mistake. I think that's gotten in his way a little bit. So I just felt like I needed to do this today. Still expect him to play a huge role for us in what we hope is a couple more weeks of baseball, but I felt like today it was something that was the right thing to do."
Kiner-Falefa made three mistakes at shortstop in Game 3 at Progressive Field, plays that won't go down as errors, but instances where the infielder was "disappointed" in himself. All year, his defense at shortstop has been under a microscope. With a top prospect like Oswald Peraza knocking on the door in Triple-A, finally called up in September, fans routinely questioned why Kiner-Falefa continued to start in the big leagues.
"When [Kiner-Falefa] has had those moments of making a misplay on a real routine play, he always bounces back," Boone said. "I feel like in some big pressure spots throughout the season, he has made big-time plays. So he's always answered the bell really well after a mistake. This time I feel like it snowballed a little bit on him in this series, so that's kind of going into this."
This topic is even more contentious within the fan base after Peraza was left off New York's roster for the ALDS. The skipper assured that he has plenty of confidence in Cabrera to transition back to shortstop. As much as he is a middle infielder by trade, climbing within New York's farm system at shortstop and second base, he only played short in four games with the Yankees since being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre .
As for Peraza, it doesn't sound like Boone thought the 22-year-old had shown enough at the big-league level to factor into this decision. That's why he was left off the roster.
"I don't think we necessarily viewed Oswald as a finished product in his minor league development," Boone explained, thinking back to before Peraza was called up this summer. "So it ended up with him coming up in September after more of a full season in Triple-A. I think we kind of view Izzy as what we feel like has been a really good defensive season on balance and feel like, man, this guy's our shortstop. I think we have viewed Oswald as still working to get to that point and obviously got some opportunities in September and I thought played really well for us and handled himself really well."
Kiner-Falefa hit .261/.314/.327 this season with four home runs, 66 runs scored, 20 doubles and a team-high 22 steals. He was acquired alongside Josh Donaldson in the Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela trade the Yankees made back in spring training. The shortstop is set to enter his third and final year of arbitration in 2023, under contract before hitting free agency in 2024.
MORE:
- Aaron Judge Reveals Yankees' Mindset Entering Game 4, One Loss From ALDS Elimination
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa 'Disappointed' in His Defense, a Factor in Yankees' Walk-Off Loss in Cleveland
- Yankees' Clarke Schmidt Opens Up About Allowing Walk-Off in Game 3 Loss to Guardians
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