Mike Francesa isn’t here for Aaron Boone’s optimism.
Josh Donaldson, the Yankees’ struggling third baseman, provided the only run in a brutal 2-1 loss to the Oakland A’s on Tuesday night with a solo homer, but it was his first hit since June 16.
Boone was asked about Donaldson after the loss, and the manager defended his player again, despite him hitting .132 on the season.
“He’s got a lot of confidence because he’s capable of that right there,” Boone said, referring to the home run. “Hopefully, this is something that jumpstarts him this week, but we all got to pull our weight and get it going a little more offensively.”
Donaldson also added two strikeouts to his stat line on Tuesday, and his home run was not enough to convince many Yankees fans – including WFAN legend Mike Francesa — that he is ready to breakout.
“Boone: ‘Donaldson loaded with confidence’. Really. He is hitting .114 in his last 15 games,” Francesa tweeted bluntly.
Donaldson’s struggles in 2023 have been well-documented; he only has nine hits on the season through 22 games (with seven of those hits being home runs) and his on-base percentage and batting average are near the bottom of MLB.
Boone has also taken heavy criticism from fans throughout much of the season, having been booed multiple times at Yankee Stadium for his in-game management and use of the bullpen.
His seeming public support for Donaldson – though he was recently benched for three straight games in wake of his struggles – may remind fans of Aaron Hicks, who was the previous target of Yankees fans’ ire before he was eventually DFAed (and picked up by the Orioles, and in the midst of a resurgence).
During the stretch in which Hicks also hit below the Mendoza line in the Bronx, Boone said that the outfielder was having “mostly competitive at-bats” – which proved meaningless as the Yankees eventually cut ties with him.
Maybe that’s what ends up happening with Donaldson, who has posted career-worst numbers in the Bronx since joining before the 2022 season.
