Mark Blinch/Getty Images
Will Warren’s entrance was questioned by a Yankees reporter.
It quickly became pretty clear Max Fried didn’t have “it” Sunday in a pseudo-must-win Game 2 of the ALDS in Toronto on Sunday.
Yet, manager Aaron Boone did not do the New York Yankees any favors with his curious decision of who followed Fried in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 13-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, according to YES Network’s Justin Shackil.
Shackil brought up the fact that bringing in Will Warren, who spent the entire season as a starting pitcher, was both an impossible spot — in a 5-0 game in the fourth inning with runners on first and second with none out — and an unusual spot for a starter to enter.
Bringing In Will Warren Was An Odd Choice For Aaron Boone
Fried put the Yankees behind the 8-ball by allowing five runs — and a two-run home run to Ernie Clement — over the first three innings. Then the Yankees ace got the hook from Boone after giving up an infield Andres Gimenez and walking Myles Straw.
But instead of bringing Camilo Doval, Devin Williams, Luke Weaver or any of the stable of high-leverage relievers coming in, Boone called for Warren — who went 8-8 in 30 starts and did not throw a pitch of relief this season.
The prompted Shackil, best known as a fill-in play-by-play broadcaster and sideline reporter on TV and radio, to second guess the Yankees manager.
One of the most curious decisions of this postseason for the Yankees will be why they brought Will Warren in with two on and nobody out,” Shackil posted on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s an unfamiliar place for a starting pitcher working out of the bullpen.”
Those defending Boone cited the huge hole the Yankees were in and the manager’s desire to eat innings in a game that was too far gone. After all, Warren saved the Yankees bullpen, which had been taxed in their Game 1 loss, by throwing 4 2/3 innings before Weaver got the final out of the bottom of the eighth inning.
Yet, Warren showed his discomfort in the spot by walking center fielder and Yankees nemesis George Springer then serving up a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that blew the game open and made it 9-0.
By the time Warren got the final out in the fourth, the Yankees were down 11-0 and effectively facing elimination.
“That’s the spot that he’s got a chance to be successful in. To keep it a game there,” Boone said of Warren. “He’s on this team for that, especially behind these lefties, to go on a run. [It] didn’t work there early.”
Boone’s Questionable Decision Was Magnified By The Yankees’ Comeback
It’s easy to second guess, but the decision to go to Warren was made worse when the Yankees‘ bats awoke after Toronto phenom Trey Yesavage departed.
Yesavage baffled the Yankees over five 1/3 hitless innings, but their offense ignited with Cody Bellinger’s sixth-inning, two-run home run that cut Toronto’s edge to 12-2.
But an inning later, the Yankees scored five runs against the Blue Jays bullpen, cutting the advantage to 13-7. Yet, by then the deficit was too great to overcome.
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
More Heavy on Yankees
Loading more stories
