ESPN: Aaron Boone angry response to Luis Severino’s quip that the Yankees only have “two good hitters,”
Recently, the New York Yankees have evolved into MLB’s punching bag. Although the White Sox are undoubtedly the weakest major league team, the Yankees’ season has gotten out of control since mid-June. The Yankees dropped eight series in a row and fell out of first place in the AL East, despite being the first club to reach 50 victories.
The Yankees wanted to move past the disastrous conclusion to the first half of the season and, after returning from the All-Star break, start a new chapter in their history. Thanks to a fantastic start by starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, they jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the rival Tampa Bay Rays. However, former Yankee Luis Severino’s remarks were the main focus.
Severino, who is currently playing for the Mets across town, disclosed on Friday that he was being teased by his former teammates in their group chat, saying he was “afraid” to play them in the Subway Series. Then, Severino disclosed that he informed them that the Yankees “have two good hitters.” That was obviously directed for Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Even though Severino was making a joke, his remarks were relevant to the Yankees postgame news conference.
A reporter inquired about Severino’s remarks from manager Aaron Boone. The squad leads the league in runs scored, according to Boone, but “hopefully we can answer him.”
“Lets see where the dust settles when we’re all said and done,” Boone added. When everything is said and done, we’ve had our share of setbacks, but overall, I believe we lead the league in runs scored. I noticed how Sevy said it; perhaps we can respond to him.”
Luis Severino made fun of the Yankees lineup, saying they only had “two good hitters,” but Aaron Boone defended it.
Boone is not embellishing his statistics. As of this writing, the Yankees have scored 494 runs as a unit this season. Of all the major league teams, that is the most. Their excellent start to the season is responsible for that.
The Yankees had the third-highest run total in the majors in June with 152 runs scored in 27 games. Even with the downturn they experienced around the month’s halfway point, the numbers were still good. However, in July, the Yankees tied for the 18th-most runs scored in the majors with 57 runs in 13 games. Thus, there is a notable decline.
Currently leading all MLB players in home runs (34), RBI (85), on-base percentage (.433), slugging percentage (.679), and OPS (1.112), Judge has been lights out this season. Judge is the clear frontrunner to win the AL MVP award this season based on these stats.
As demonstrated by his, Soto is unquestionably the Yankees’ second-best hitter on the squad.A slash line of 295/.426/.558 with 23 home runs, 66 RBI, and 75 runs.
The problem is that the Yankees’ remaining lineup is quite unimpressive. In June, Alex Verdugo went through a slump. Gleyber Torres’s performance isn’t as impressive as it once was. D.J. LeMahieu tends to ground into double plays and has trouble getting extra-base hits. After having a fantastic start to his second season, Anthony Volpe fell into a concerning slump.
There is potential; the Yankees have recently benefited from an offensive boost from Ben Rice, a rookie, and Austin Wells, a backup catcher.
The July 30 trade deadline presents an opportunity for the Yankees to upgrade their batting order. Yes, with this Yankees roster in place, runs scored have been scored in a consistent manner overall. However, with the club struggling, they must turn things around if they are to qualify for the World Series deep for the first time in 2009.
For the time being, though, Boone will demonstrate that his evaluation of the team is accurate.