Tiki sounds off on Aaron Boone's lineup mistakes, lack of production behind Aaron Judge

Evan opened Wednesday’s show by pointing to Juan Soto’s quiet night at the plate and Aaron Judge’s ninth-inning strikeout as the place where the Yankees lost Tuesday’s game to the Mets, but Tiki wasn’t having it.

In response, Tiki fired off on Aaron Boone’s lineup construction, specifically leaving minimal protection behind Aaron Judge.

“Aaron Boone simply cannot construct lineups that way. You can’t have zero protection behind Aaron Judge,” Tiki said. “If Ben Rice is batting cleanup in the first six innings, do I believe that he knocks a base hit or moves someone to third base or gets an RBI? Yes I do. Based on the fact that he takes a good approach at the plate. J.D. Davis’ first at-bat was literally the most discouraging thing I’ve ever seen…he was terrible.

“To me, if you’re gonna just throw somebody in there to bat behind Aaron Judge, make it someone who just might happen to run into something.
That person is not J.D. Davis.”

Evan pointed out that Ben Rice has been in an ice-cold slump since his three-homer game against the Red Sox earlier this month, but Tiki says having Rice in the cleanup role, regardless of how he has been swinging the bat, is a clear improvement over Davis.

“It’s not the lineup,” Tiki said. “It’s the cleanup hitter who is protecting your two best hitters.”