DUNEDIN, Fla. – Aaron Boone said at the start of camp that he wanted his club to be aggressive in its use of the automated ball-strike challenge system.
How does a 6-for-8 day sound in that respect?
The Yankees were both aggressive and mostly accurate with their challenges during an 8-7 victory over the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark on Tuesday. That included Austin Wells and José Caballero who both went 2-for-2 when they had the calls overturned. Caballero used both in a single at-bat to generate a walk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. picked up his only challenge and Trent Grisham went 1-for-2, although Boone had a bit of a problem with Grisham’s miss.
“We really want to get good at it,” Boone says. “We want to be the best at it. I feel like our guys have preached here long enough about controlling the strike zone.
“I thought the second time Grish was wrong was probably a bit emotional for him. He wanted to challenge the first one and then the last one, when he probably wasn’t convicted. But overall I thought the guys did a good job.”
Since teams get two challenges per game – and keep them as long as they’re correct – one thought might be to save them for big spots late. But Boone disagrees with that idea.
“This isn’t ‘save ’em for the seventh, eighth and ninth,'” Boone said. “I want us to be right. … But I just want us to also have an inherent understanding of leverage. You’ve only got one inning left and it’s the fifth inning, nobody on, two out, 1-0 count, that’s one. I feel like if we challenge that one, we have to take it. But it doesn’t change [in a] big spot, two strikeouts, fourth inning, two guys down, that’s the biggest spot at that moment.”
Spring training stats mean next to nothing, especially to a veteran like Paul Goldschmidt. But they don’t hurt either, and the first baseman continued his solid start Tuesday by smashing a two-run homer off stalwart righty Tyler Rogers and later adding a two-run double against righty Jesse Hahn.
“It’s definitely not a time where you just want to go through the motions,” said Goldschmidt, who will leave camp this weekend to play for Team USA in the WBC. “You want to have good at bats and most importantly, just keep building toward the regular season.”
Two relievers vying to break camp in the Yankees bullpen had solid outings Tuesday, with Jake Bird turning in 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings and left-hander Brent Headrick making his spring debut with a scoreless frame.
Kervin Castro, another bullpen candidate after being added to the 40-man roster this offseason, pitched two shutout innings.
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