The Yankees don’t plan on making any changes at the hot corner.
Aaron Boone made that clear on Friday when he was asked about Josh Donaldson’s uneven October. The third baseman has struck out 11 times and has just one extra-base hit in 28 plate appearances, but Boone cited Donaldson’s .393 on-base percentage as a reason to keep him in the lineup.
“As we struggle for offense, period, it’s interesting that everyone jumps on him,” Boone said via Zoom. “He’s got on at a 40-percent clip in the postseason so far, for all his struggles.”
The skipper used air quotes around the word “struggles.”
Boone has also praised Donaldson’s defense, calling it “a joke” that the 36-year-old was not named a Gold Glove finalist.
While Donaldson’s defense has been award worthy all season, his first year in pinstripes did not produce the offensive output the Yankees were hoping for when they acquired him from the Twins last offseason.
A former MVP, Donaldson put up some of the worst numbers of his career, slashing .222/.308/.374 with 15 home runs, 62 RBI, a 94 OPS+ and a 2.4 bWAR over 132 games. His 148 strikeouts set a new personal worst.
While Donaldson doubled in New York’s Game 2 loss to the Astros, his signature moment of the postseason so far came in the ALDS, when he was thrown out rounding the bases on a ball he thought was a home run, but wasn’t.
But the Yankees have stuck with Donaldson all year. It would be a surprise if that changes in the postseason, even though Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oslwado Cabrera theoretically offer New York alternatives at third.
“We need him. We need him,” Boone said. “We need him to do something big within this series. We need to get that rolling, but that’s with everyone.”
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