Aaron Boone: Yankees had ‘one of those days’ at plate spoiling Juan Soto’s Bronx debut
On a day when there was a lot of “anticipation” for Juan Soto, the Yankees “just didn’t get much going offensively” and that included the big offseason addition, manager Aaron Boone said after Friday’s 3-0 defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Soto finished his Yankee Stadium pinstripe debut 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
“Just one of those days,” Boone said. “The other side’s really good and when pitching executes at a high level, I don’t care who you are it can be tough sometimes. Just one of those days, look forward to watching him out there tomorrow.”
Overall, the home team managed just four hits – all singles – through the first eight innings before adding a pair of two-out, ninth-inning singles. The Yanks managed just two chances with a runner in scoring position.
Aaron Judge credited Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi with keeping them off balance.
“Kikuchi was, all game, working the edges, working all of his pitches,” Judge, who walked the two times he faced the left-hander, said. “He had that back door kind of curveball/slider working and then you kind of work it down and in on you. He's got a great heater, he can run up to 96, 97 [mph] so I think he just kind of kept us a little bit in between.
“And then you got to tip your cap on some of those pitches he made on the corner. We just gotta come out and do better.”
Kukichi had just nine whiffs on 38 swings but got 20 called strikes out of 96 pitches he threw, with nine coming on the fastball, seven on the curveball and four on the slider.
Giancarlo Stanton – who is now 3-for-24 to start the season – went hitless in four at-bats in the home opener and was the victim of two Kikuchi strikeouts, stranding three runners in those two at-bats.
Despite his early season woes as the DH and clean-up hitter, the manager said he isn’t concerned about the lack of production.
"I mean, that’s G, man. He can be streaky like that and once he gets it going, hop on. So I don’t see it that far off,” Boone said.
On a day when there was “not a lot going offensively,” the manager mentioned that “one of the good chances” the Yankees had to score on Friday against Toronto’s starter came with Stanton up and runners on first and second with two outs in the third inning.
“He has around the eight-pitch at-bat against Kikuchi, I thought he was all over, it looked like, a breaking ball early in that count that he just missed. And then Kikuchi out-executed him at the end there,” he said about Stanton swinging through a 3-2 curveball to strand two runners.
“So,” Boone said throwing a hand up in the air before continuing, “he’s in the at-bats, like, not overly chasing so you just gotta ride with [it] a little and have him catch fire.
“He looks healthy, he looks strong, he’s firing well. Just not getting any results yet.”
Stanton has struck out 13 times out of 24 at-bats with just one walk in his first six games.
The exception to the team-wide struggles on Friday was Anthony Volpe who had two hits giving him 11 on the year and raising his average to .423 through seven games.
