Calls for Yankees to bench Isiah Kiner-Falefa reach boiling point after latest miscues

We like to think Isiah Kiner-Falefa knows that every time he botches a routine play, Oswald Peraza is one step closer to taking his job. But you wouldn’t know that based on Kiner-Falefa’s performance over the last few weeks … and you wouldn’t know it based on New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s continued support of the everyday shortstop.

It’s pretty obvious Kiner-Falefa isn’t the Yankees’ main pitfall. The offense regressing to one of the worst in baseball and the injuries to the starting rotation and bullpen are far more worrisome and detrimental to their title hopes.

But continuing to trot out Kiner-Falefa at shortstop day in and day out puts the team in a compromised position. And given the offense’s Aaron-Judge-or-bust tendencies these days, the Yankees can’t afford to keep giving away outs.

Unfortunately, the trend continued into Sunday’s “must-win” against the Rays.

In the bottom of the first — not long after Judge gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead with his 53rd home run — Kiner-Falefa bobbled a routine ground ball that would’ve given Frankie Montas a 1-2-3 inning.

Yankees fans have lost their patience with Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Before Yankees fans could even blink, Manuel Margot was standing at second base with two outs after a Montas wild pitch. Luckily, the veteran right-hander induced an inning-ending ground ball from Randy Arozarena to escape unscathed.

Of course, Montas never should’ve been in that situation to begin with.

Fast forward to the third inning, and Kiner-Falefa got another case of the yips. This time, though, it wasn’t his glove that betrayed him. If not for DJ LeMahieu making an acrobatic catch and tag on a high throw, IKF would have two errors to his name.

What on earth is that release point? Luckily, LeMahieu landed right in the path of the runner and tagged him out.

While (Aaron Boone’s) advanced metrics would suggest Kiner-Falefa is one of baseball’s premier defensive shortstops, there are several stats that suggest he’s a middle-of-the-pack defender. Over the last few weeks — essentially crunch time for the free-falling Yankees — he’s been a full-blown liability and fans are at their wits end.

There have been several “final straws,” but the Yankees don’t have the guts to make a change.

It seems THAT obvious to everyone but the Yankees.

We’re not saying Kiner-Falefa shouldn’t have a role on this team. He’s fundamentally sound at the plate and isn’t a poor fielder. But the shortstop experiment must end. Give him a rotational role at his preferred position (third base, where he won a Gold Glove) or even second base when Gleyber Torres needs a day off and see if Peraza is up for the challenge at short.

We wouldn’t get out hopes up, though.

Yankees debuting Oswald Peraza in disrespectful manner proves they’re lost

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