Another terrible news hit the Yankees as Aaron Boone has sorrowfully announced…
Two factors that are highly relevant to the 2022 Yankees are that Aaron Judge leads MLB in would-be balls that are called strikes, and Aaron Boone leads MLB in ejections.
Before the Yankees fell to the Red Sox on Friday night, 5-4 in 11 innings in the Bronx, Boone lost his cool. In the ninth inning, a fastball to Matt Carpenter appeared low, but it was called a strike. There was more to the Yankees manager’s subsequent outburst—he was dismissed for the seventh time this season—than just a single pitch.
Boone seemed to be releasing a season’s worth of aggravation when he charged out to yell at home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn, who seemed to take the verbal abuse largely well without responding. Jim Reynolds, the third-base umpire, kept trying to step in, but Boone followed him around.
Boone gave up the struggle after a minute, hurling his gum out of frustration and walking off the field and out of the dugout. Ultimately, Carpenter was struck by a pitch during the at-bat.
Aaron Boone gets ejected and throws his gum.
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After being dismissed during the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Red Sox in the ninth inning, Aaron Boone threw his gum. Post: Charles Wenzelberg, New York
Carpenter is just one of many tall batters in the Yankees lineup whose strike zones start higher than those of shorter hitters. No player in baseball had faced more pitches that were called strikes but were actually balls per the MLB Gameday strike zone as of Friday, according to Baseball Savant. Judge was the greatest of all time.
57 pitches to Judge that should have been called balls have instead been called strikes, according to the estimated zone. Giancarlo Stanton (39), ranked 21st, and Anthony Rizzo (40), afflicted the 16th most.
Boone claimed his outburst was the result of the night’s calls coming to a head. An inning earlier, Judge had been struck out on a pitch that seemed to be below the strike zone.
Matt Carpenter is given a strike argument by Aaron Boone.
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Matt Carpenter is given a strike argument by Aaron Boone. Post: Charles Wenzelberg, New York
Judge. Rizzo. Carpenter. Boone, who was ejected six times in the previous season—tied for the most in the AL—said, “The balls are low.”
Boone felt he should say something to Judge, but he didn’t know what to say to Reyburn. His slugger should not be chasing balls on pitches.
How can we inform him? I’m asked it a lot,” Boone remarked. The umpires are exerting their utmost effort. I’m not sure.
The ninth inning saw the ejection of Aaron Boone.
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The ninth inning saw the ejection of Aaron Boone. Post: Charles Wenzelberg, New York
The fact that Judge has never been sent out of a major league game should be cause for more complaints than any player. He stated that there are typically additional pitches on which he could have done damage, so he can never completely attribute a bad at-bat to a bad call.
And he understands that he can forfeit additional at-bats if he loses his cool.
Friday saw Judge go 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. “You gotta be mentally tough enough to move past that and stick to your approach,” Judge said. I try not to get too worked up over an umpire because of this. I say what I have to say and say my piece, but I still have work to do. I have a few more at-bats left in the evening.
