Yankees Defensive Collapse Costs Team in Tough Loss to Red Sox: ‘We Didn’t Do a Good Job’

The Yankees have maintained their position as the best team in the American League East despite the absence of Aaron Judge for a variety of reasons, but playing clean baseball might be at the top of the list.

This means that there is less leeway for defensive blunders because there is less room for error.

It was especially difficult for them to overcome the fact that they committed a season-high four mistakes in their 6-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thursday.

Even though they made the most errors in a game since the four they made in a loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium on August 21, there were even more mistakes than the ones that made it onto the stat sheet. This was the most errors they had made in a game since 2008.

In his statement, Aaron Boone stated, “We just did not do a good job of taking care of the ball.” There is no way that we are capable of playing at the level that we have been playing at. At the end of the day, it was simply too much to overcome.

José Caballero, whose defensive versatility was one of the things the Yankees were seeking for when they acquired him from Tampa Bay the previous season, was one of the individuals responsible for the incidents.

Since Judge and Trent Grisham have been injured, he has been forced to play in left field five times over the course of eight games. However, they probably did not anticipate his starting in that position.

But Caballero’s errant throw on Jarren Duran’s very shallow fly ball two innings earlier allowed Ceddanne Rafaela to score, which helped Boston regain control of the game. Caballero avoided committing an error and made a terrific running catch on Wilyer Abreu’s fly ball to deep left to open the bottom of the seventh. However, Caballero is responsible for the error that allowed Rafaela to score.

The fact that Rafaela even attempted to score on the play was an indication of how the Red Sox felt about Caballero playing left field of the field.

Caballero, who has started eight games in left throughout his career, stated, “I try to help the team as much as I can.” Caballero has an impressive resume. “At the moment, we have a great deal of requirements in the outfield.”

When Caballero was asked if he was shocked that Rafaela was dispatched, he responded that he had anticipated it.

Caballero stated: “They’ve been challenging me a lot,” referring to the clubs that are competing against him and trying to take advantage of his lack of experience at the position. “They are aware that I am new to playing outfield. I anticipated that he would go, and he did.

Caballero provided the following statement after his throw home, which resulted in Austin Wells being removed from the plate: “I put good velo on it.” It was just a tiny bit out of line all the way. And blunders are inevitable.”

Prior to the game, Boone expressed his consideration for Jason Domínguez to play left field and acknowledged Cody Bellinger as their finest left fielder. However, the Yankees ultimately decided to go with Caballero in front of the Green Monster and Amed Rosario performing the position of third base.

During the fifth inning, Rosario committed a two-base mistake by allowing Willson Contreras’ rocket grounder that traveled at 112 miles per hour to pass through his legs. This error allowed Cam Schlittler to score the first of four runs that were not earned.

As a result of Judge and Grisham being placed on the injured list, the Yankees are currently in a difficult situation.

Not only were the problems confined to the outfield, but Wells was also punished with an error on a catcher’s interference that resulted in the groundout that Abreu had attempted in the first inning being destroyed.

In the second inning, Schlittler made a decision to throw a pickoff attempt at second base, but it traveled into center field, resulting in an error. Additionally, the right-handed pitcher watched Caleb Durbin’s pop-up drop in front of him, resulting in an infield single.