In his first season as manager, Aaron Boone has shown the ability to be patient but also take appropriate action when needed.
Baseball players go through slumps. Whether you’re a pitcher or hitter, you’re bound to hit some bumps throughout the course of a 162 game season. This is just the nature of the game.
As much as slumps need to be managed and fixed by the player themselves, it also is key that the manager of the team handles the player correctly in those tough times. Aaron Boone, in my opinion, has done a great job with this so far this season.
As mentioned in the title, I believe he has balanced patience and action perfectly. First, let’s talk about the patience. Dellin Betances is the prime example of this. He was struggling mightily at the beginning of the season, yet now he seems to be back to his normal self.
This could not have happened without Aaron Boone being patient and waiting his struggles out. The patience did not come without some action. Boone has limited Betance’s two-inning outings. This is putting his player in the best position to succeed, while also sticking with him through a slump.
Another example of appropriate action was with Didi Gregorius and Gary Sanchez. Didi came down to earth hard after playing like Mike Trout for the first month. All Aaron Boone did was move him down in the lineup a few spots here and there.
Gary Sanchez has struggled mightily all season and recently went through a horrid slump. Aaron Boone has moved him down in the lineup and even gave him three days off in a row and has seemingly worked for the time being.
I am by no means saying that these small choices are taking the players out of their slumps. That being said, it’s about managing them and putting the team in the best position to win. It can make it even harder when it’s your star players that are slumping.
Boone has done a great job of making small changes to help the player and the team. He has also shown patience in times that it is needed, whether the fans think so or not.
These are the traits that I want in my manager.