Yankees’ Aaron Boone Taking Heat For Max Fried Decision
As soon as the New York Yankees removed Max Fried from Tuesday’s Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, good things happened for the Boston Red Sox. In fact, the next three Red Sox batters reached base against Yankees reliever Luke Weaver. Ceddanne Rafaela walked, Nick Sogard doubled, and Masataka Yoshida delivered a legendary, pinch-hit single to drive in two runs and give Boston a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium.
Fried had allowed just four hits on 102 pitches when he was pulled. The lefty looked locked in all night.
Naturally, Yankees manager Aaron Boone took a ton of heat on social media following the game for his decision to pull Fried when he did.
What made things worse for Boone from an optics standpoint was that Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to leave his ace, Garrett Crochet, in until 117 pitches, and it paid off for Boston.
The good news for Boone is that tomorrow is a new day, and the Yankees still have an excellent chance to win this series. They’ll have a (theoretically) favorable pitching matchup in Game 2 on Wednesday with Carlos Rodón set to face off against Brayan Bello. Nonetheless, Boone should probably avoid social media for the next 24 hours.
Here are a few more of the “Greatest Hits” of fans on X roasting Boone. Mets super fan Frank Fleming even took a swing (see below).
Game 2 will start at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday in the Bronx.