Yankees: Did Phil Nevin make the wrong call sending Aaron Judge?

Another ball off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton that every New York Yankees fan thought was gone somehow ended up smashing off the Green Monster and turning into a momentum shift for … the Boston Red Sox.

A nightmare game. But what did you expect? You were optimistic coming into this one?

In the top of the sixth inning, the Yankees were down 3-0 but found some life in the form of an Anthony Rizzo solo homer. Then Aaron Judge hit an infield single. OK! Red Sox manager Alex Cora removed Nathan Eovaldi from the game and the Yankees had gotten to the bullpen.

It was Stanton vs Ryan Brasier. And again, we all thought we were witnessing a drastic turning point for the Bombers.

Instead, Stanton’s second hit of the night hit the top of the Green Monster, fell back into play, and two on-the-money throws got Judge at the plate as he was trying to score from first base.

But should he have been sent in the first place? He was out by a mile. Is this third base coach Phil Nevin’s fault?

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1445571141972545542?s=20

Phil Nevin may have screwed the Yankees by sending Aaron Judge.

If you saw the overhead replay, Nevin doesn’t signal anything to Judge until he arrives at third base. At that point, it appeared as if Judge was confused whether or not to keep going. He slowed for a second and then picked up the pace, but Kiké Hernández and Xander Bogaerts orchestrated a perfect relay to catcher Kevin Plawecki.

There is room for some debate here, however. It’s important to test the opposing defense (and put on the pressure) to make a play. But was this the time to do so? If Nevin doesn’t send Judge, it’s runners on the corners with one out for Joey Gallo, who ended up popping up to end the inning. So then it would’ve been runners on the corners with two outs for Gleyber Torres.

But in the end, this comes down to Nevin’s hesitation. If you’re sending him, send him. Let him know when he’s halfway to third base so he continues churning the jets. You definitely send him with two outs. You definitely send him in a tie game. Down by two, though? With one out? And not that fast of a runner? Just hold him, probably.

And guess what? The Sox scored a run in the bottom half of the inning, regaining their three-run lead. Just like that, a game that was looking like 3-2 pressure-cooker turned into a 4-1 exhaler.

Nevin couldn’t even execute a poor decision properly. That’s the 2021 New York Yankees for ya.

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