Yankees Manager Flamed For Embarrassing Lineup vs. Mets

Aaron Boone cost the New York Yankees with his horrendous lineup against the New York Mets.

Jul 9, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees continued their recent tailspin on Tuesday, dropping their series opener against the New York Mets. Their offense was eerily quiet during the 3-2 loss, managing just five hits as their top four hitters (excluding pinch-hitters) went a combined 0-for-11.

Unfortunately, that lackluster performance was entirely predictable based on Aaron Boone's puzzling lineup card.

For starters, he had utilityman Jahmai Jones batting leadoff in the starting lineup for the first time in his career. A career .203/.263/.285 hitter coming into Tuesday's game, Jones belongs in the bottom third of a batting order and should never be allowed at the top of one. Not surprisingly, he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before Boone belatedly realized his mistake and removed him for Trent Grisham.

Boone's other boneheaded move was batting J.D. Davis cleanup behind Aaron Judge, guaranteeing that Judge wouldn't get anything to hit. Sure enough, the Mets walked Judge four times in his five plate appearances (once intentionally).

Aaron Boone is the only person in America that didn't know his lineup would take the bat out of his best player's hands. 4 walks for Judge.
He's been making imbecile moves like this daily for his entire tenure, yet keeps his job.
Make it make sense.

— rr (@rr2577) July 24, 2024

The Mets took the bat out of Judge's hands and dared Davis to beat them. Despite having Judge on base in all three of his plate appearances, Davis came up empty each time, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before he too was subbed out.

Davis, a 31-year-old former Met who was acquired from the lowly Oakland A's last month, hasn't resembled a cleanup hitter in years. He's 1-for-16 with eight strikeouts in six games since joining the Yankees.

Jahmai Jones and J.D. Davis are a combined 0-6 with 4 K and a GIDP. They've taken 14 swings and whiffed 9 times. These are the players the Yankees choose to bat around Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.

— River Ave. Blues (@RiverAveBlues) July 24, 2024

As usual, it's hard to see what Boone was thinking here. When two of a team's top four hitters are automatic outs, that team isn't going to score very many runs. This type of idiotic lineup construction is indefensible, especially in 2024 when managers like Boone have loads of data to help them optimize their batting orders.

Yankee fans were understandably furious with Boone for costing his team the game before it even started, squandering another good start from Luis Gil (5 IP, 1 ER) in the process. Boone's lineup was rightly savaged on social media before, during and after the game.

Start Spreading The Boos.

Yankees lose before the day started.

The lineup was horrific.

Jahmai Jones and J.D. Davis go 0-6 in the heart of the order.

This organization should be ashamed that Aaron Boone is still the manager.

Fire Aaron Boone.

— Jimmy Randazzo (@JimmyRandazzo) July 24, 2024

If Boone wants to keep his job, it would help if he starts writing lineups that actually make sense.