It was a whole day at Yankee Stadium Friday. Wow.
And if you dig and dig, past the morning collapse of extension talks with Aaron Judge, past Brian Cashman’s lunchtime sharing of the team’s offer, past Billy Crystal’s ceremonial first pitch testing Gerrit Cole’s patience, past Cole’s first inning against the Red Sox that felt like last year’s Wild Card Game, and his subsequent ability to survive with his secondary pitches, and Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton’s home runs, and the dominant Yankee bullpen, and Alex Cora challenging Stanton by issuing an intentional walk in front of them and winning when Stanton struck out, and Josh Donaldson’s game-winning hit in the 11th inning of his Yankee debut, you will find a major Yankees news story (we told you it was a full day):
Gleyber Torres is not the primary second baseman after all, and Aaron Boone’s handling of an awkward situation facilitated a big win against Boston.
Torres might be in the lineup on Saturday or Sunday, and he will be many times this year. But it was significant that DJ LeMahieu started at the position on Opening Day.
As one Yankees official put it, “It’s a clear challenge [issued] to [Torres]. LeMahieu, when healthy, has been better the past two years. Today it wasn’t even close.”
The decision itself, according to people familiar with the team’s inner workings, was Boone’s. Both the front office and Boone always insist that the manager makes lineup decisions, and this instance was no different.
Early in spring training, Boone gathered his five main infielders — Torres, LeMahieu, Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Rizzo — and explained that he would be using different lineups on different days. A player talented enough to start would begin most games on the bench, and they shouldn’t take it as a sign of disrespect.
A few days ago, Boone and bench coach Carlos Mendoza set about deciding on the Opening Day lineup. In this case, it wasn’t the matchup against Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi that determined their preference, or any specific data point.
“When you’re talking second and saying DJ and Gleyber, I feel like it’s a similar matchup,” Boone said. “It’s just the way I wanted to go today.”
Others in the organization, pleased with Boone’s decision, were more explicit about the lineup functioning as a reminder to Torres that he has to earn his at-bats, despite his profound talent and a hot start to his Yankee career in 2018 and 2019.
After the game, Torres calmly said that he was “mad” when Boone first delivered the news, but made sure his public comments included “I just want to do the right thing for my team.”
Prior to the game, Torres did not appear on the field for batting practice. This is often a no-no, but according to team sources, Boone and the staff allowed Torres to do his work indoors. He was still coping with the disappointment and not eager to answer tough questions about it.
The manager often speaks in generalities about providing a warm, comfortable environment that helps players cope with pressure; here was a hard-to-come-by specific example.
What happened next could hardly have gone better for all involved. LeMahieu tied the game with an eighth-inning home run, converting what seemed like a downer of a Yankee day into a hopeful one.
Three batters later, with a runner on first and two outs, Boone briefly considered pinch-hitting Torres for Kyle Higashioka, but opted to keep his big bat on the bench for an even bigger moment.
That chance came in the tenth, when Torres — pinch-hitting for Higashioka — tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
Donaldson’s game-winner will be the reason why the team’s network will air this one as a Yankees Classics game in future years. But it was Boone’s perfect deployment of Torres and LeMahieu that allowed the moment to happen.
This won’t get any easier. Boone is going to have to risk hurting feelings every day. But in the first game of the season, the second base split between two star-caliber players ended up working in perfect balance.