ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge stood at third base as the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Saturday when the Rays intentionally walked Ben Rice to bring up Randal Grichuk.
Aaron Boone let Grichuk hit for himself in the right-on-right matchup against reliever Hunter Bigge and did not have much of an explanation afterward for why he did not send up Paul Goldschmidt as a pinch hitter instead.
“Fair. Definitely could have, should have, whatever,” Boone said after a crushing 5-4, 10-inning loss at Tropicana Field. “But definitely some consideration.”
Grichuk, who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning, was off to an 0-for-9 start to the season and made it 0-for-10 when Bigge needed just one pitch to get him to fly out to end the ninth inning.
“Just felt like it was a good spot for [Grichuk] too,” said Boone, who confirmed Goldschmidt was available off the bench. “But fair question.”
Bigge has reverse splits for his career, which is likely why the left-handed-hitting J.C. Escarra did not pinch hit for Grichuk.
But neither did Goldschmidt, and the missed opportunity loomed large as the game went to extra innings and eventually turned into a fourth straight Yankees loss.
Signed during spring training to be a lefty crusher, Grichuk has started the season 0-for-10 with five strikeouts. Eight of those at-bats came against left-handers.
“He’s played a couple games, hasn’t gotten results, [but] he’s hit a couple balls on the screws, hit one good to center [Friday] night,” Boone said before the game. “Then obviously to start the year, with all the righties we had initially, there weren’t a lot of opportunities. So physically, I feel like he’s in a good place. Not a lot of spring at-bats, but hopefully as we get settled into the season and he gets some opportunities against some lefties, he’ll produce.”
Judge could get his second DH day of the season Sunday, with Stanton heading to the bench for the series finale against the Rays. Boone had initially planned to do that Saturday, but after the Rays bumped lefty Shane McClanahan from Sunday’s start, Stanton will likely sit Sunday against righty Drew Rasmussen.
As Ryan McMahon works to get his bat on track — he went 1-for-2 Saturday before being pinch hit for by Amed Rosarioin the seventh inning against a lefty — the Yankees are still counting on him being a staple in the lineup at third base any time Max Fried is on the mound, given his propensity for generating ground balls to the hot corner.
“That’s kind of Ryan’s superpower, especially as he tries to get it going here offensively,” Boone said. “The one thing we can count on is how good he is on that left side. With Max going, usually he’s pretty busy over there.”
