After a recent bout with customs, it appears the Yankees are showing some issues with their defense.
Manager Aaron Boone expressed confusion about his team’s defensive skills, labeling them as “a very good defensive club” after they made four errors in an 8-4 defeat against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. This trend seems somewhat amplified at Rogers Center, their venue in Toronto.
This season, the Yankees have racked up 11 errors across just seven games in Toronto.
“I think it’s just this place. I’m not playing well here,” Boone mentioned, as the team now finds themselves four games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East standings.
“We had solid defense in Atlanta. I’ve chatted with a few players and, overall, I still believe we have the potential for a strong defense moving ahead,” he added.
Boone’s stance on the team’s defense has sparked debate lately, with fans often at odds with him over the statistics and overall performance. Despite the noticeable drop in defensive quality, he continues to argue that Volpe is an outstanding defender, citing both traditional error metrics and advanced stats like defensive runs saved.
This discourse became particularly pointed after Wednesday’s game, where Boone defended the team’s defense even after multiple errors contributed to their loss in the series.
Errors by Volpe and Oswald Peraza caused crucial runs to score in Monday’s 4-1 defeat, with another error by Volpe on Tuesday allowing the Blue Jays to tie the game before the Yankees eventually won on a Ben Rice home run. Wednesday compounded the issue, as four players made mistakes.
Additionally, Cody Bellinger lost a ball in the outfield, which led to a run for Toronto, marking another misstep.
The 11 errors made in Toronto translated into eight runs for the Blue Jays over these seven games, with the Yankees going just 6-1 in that stretch.
“Yeah, it’s just not enough,” Boone admitted. “I think we have a solid defensive team, but these last seven games clearly don’t reflect that. We’ve given away extra outs, which has hurt us in these series. We definitely need to tighten up.”
Advanced metrics do provide some support for Boone’s claims. The Yankees rank 6th in defensive execution statistics but are rated 20th overall with a negative six rating according to Fangraphs.
Public perception seems to weigh heavily on the team, especially after their struggles during the 2024 World Series when mistakes were magnified.
Even this year, defensive alignment has caused issues—like how Chisholm struggled with three errors while Lemahieu found himself in tough situations with two errors.
When questioned about the negative perception surrounding the defense, Boone didn’t delve deeply but reiterated his belief that the team could be quite good defensively. He acknowledged that they struggled at this particular venue.
“We’ve played two poor series here,” Boone said. “I’m not sure if it’s just the field; it’s not really an excuse. We’ve been giving away too many opportunities, and it’s cost us.”
Boone assured that the team would keep practicing and accumulating experience, but he emphasized the importance of not letting the players feel pressured. “We have good defenders; that’s not in question. It’s a matter of control and composure,” he noted. “We have to keep working on the basics every day, and I really do believe it will improve. A lot of the defense this season has performed quite well.”
