NORTH PORT, Fla. — With less than two weeks left until it’s being used for real, Aaron Boone remains unimpressed with the automated ball-strike system (ABS).
“I don’t like it,” the manager said before the Yankees’ 7-6 spring training loss to the Braves Friday at CoolToday Park. “I don’t want it. I think the umpires are trained really well now and graded really fairly. I’ve seen the [strike] zone get more consistent umpire-to-umpire.”
But his real issue is the impact it could have on the flow of the game.
“It’s a whole new component,” Boone said. “A guy strikes out a guy to end the sixth inning in a big spot and he’s going off the field and it’s overturned. Now he’s back in the fire. Hopefully that serves us well, but that’s now part of the game. Is that a great thing? I don’t know.”
And it’s not about the concept of letting umpires make mistakes behind the plate, it’s the way in which the challenge system may impact calls in games.
“There’s a human element of ‘This team is out of challenges and [the umpire] got one wrong,’ ” Boone said.
Now that it’s here, though, Boone believes the Yankees will have success with the system.
“I continue to think it will be good for entertainment and I think there’s entertainment value to it,” the manager said. “I think we’re going to be good at it. I expect us to be good at it.”
Boone said the Yankees are “going to be prepared correctly for it. I think our guys, offensively speaking — kind of our identity [and] DNA — is controlling the strike zone. Hopefully that serves us well in this environment.”
And Boone added he’s not totally against it — and acknowledged he may come around at some point.
“I might grow to like it,” Boone said. “I was skeptical about some of the rule changes a couple years ago. … [And] I’m not dead-set that I hate it. It’s fine. I don’t think I love it.”
He’d also rather they just go totally to an automated system instead of relying on a challenge system.
“I’m kind of one way or the other,” Boone said. “Then there’s no consternation. You want it or you don’t.”
Boone said with Ryan Weathers expected to be in the five-man rotation to open the regular season, veterans Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough likely would pitch out of the bullpen in the early going.
Boone also added the Yankees could go with a four-man rotation for the first few weeks, given extra built-in off days in March and April.
“Those are things we’ll work through over the next weeks,” Boone said.
A day after top prospect George Lombard Jr. was reassigned to minor league camp, Boone praised the young infielder who has stood out each of the last two springs.
“Obviously, we think very highly of him and he continues to confirm those notions,” Boone said. “The way he goes about it, he’s as professional as it gets: Great routine, his love of the game, how he works.”
Boone’s message to Lombard and Spencer Jones, in particular, was: “Be where your feet are. The bottom line is to keep getting better. Go play. … Some things are out of your control. Handle your end of business.”
