Aaron Boone: Yankees 'On Cusp' of Breaking Out Offensively
NEW YORK — Through the first six games of the 2022 regular season, the Yankees have already reverted to some of their offensive tendencies that doomed this team last year.
While New York has hit nine home runs, second most in the Majors entering play on Thursday, the Yankees are also hitting just .175 (7-for-40) with runners in scoring position, leaving a total of 46 runners on base.
They've struggled to produce timely hits, falling behind early while relying heavily on their stellar pitching staff to keep them in games.
Obviously, this is a very small sample size. The Yankees haven't even played in a game away from Yankee Stadium yet. Nonetheless, those numbers have already struck a nerve with this fan base, sparking concerns that this team will produce another campaign full of inconsistencies going forward.
Asked on Thursday about New York's offensive output thus far, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn't hesitate, confidently assuring that his team is "on the cusp" of breaking through.
"I do feel like offensively we're very close," Boone said. "I feel like a number of our guys are in a pretty good place as far as at-bat quality, how they're hitting the ball. I think hit into some tough luck at times. I thought we hit a number of balls well last night."
Boone added that other than Monday's shutout loss—featuring six one-hit innings from Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah—New York has been consistently hitting the ball hard, especially toward the top of their lineup.
"I feel like there's a number of guys that are going already," he said. "I feel like [Anthony Rizzo] and [Giancarlo] Stanton are really rolling and [Aaron] Judge has been pretty good. I do feel like Joey Gallo has had a lot of really good at-bats. I feel like [Josh] Donaldson's close here to breaking out. So I'm not too worried about it."
Rizzo leads the team with three home runs and seven RBI while Stanton has two long balls, nearing tying Wednesday night's ballgame with a third, coming off the bench in the eighth. Judge cracked his first homer of the season on Wednesday night—the slugger leads New York with seven hits.
Gallo may be hitting just .188 (3-for-16), but he's been barreling the baseball practically every trip to the batter's box. The outfielder is in the league's 100th percentile in Barrel% and HardHit%, averaging 100.1 mph in exit velocity (top 1% in Major League Baseball).
The real issues have stemmed from the bottom of the order.
Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Kyle Higashioka are hitting a combined .057 (2-for-35).
"We've got to get those guys going," Boone said. "Again, I'm not worried about them over the long haul, but that's somewhere we've got to start getting a little bit of production. [Isiah] is gonna be fine. His quality of contact has been there, he's hitting a lot of hard balls right at guys on the ground. So turning a couple of those into line drives and we'll get him rolling. [Higashioka] is gonna hit for power down there, it's gonna happen."
After Thursday night's series finale against the Jays, New York will embark on a six-game road trip, splitting time in Baltimore and Detroit.
Boone reiterated that he isn't concerned in the slightest about this club's production so far. He believes that those in pinstripes have a chance to be a "really good team" in 2022.
"I think we play in a really good division, where it's going to be super competitive all season, all summer long," the skipper explained. "We've jumped right in here with the Red Sox and the Blue Jays. We've faced a lot of good arms, obviously faced good lineups. It's going to be a fun, tough season that my early signs say we're equipped to handle this and my expectations are high."
MORE:
- 'Otherworldly': Yankees Praise Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After Three-Homer Game
- Aaron Judge Receives Free Agency Advice From Former Yankees Star
- Yankees' Joey Gallo Feels Good at Plate After Productive Offseason
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