AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2025

Aaron Boone

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Yesterday was almost a tale of two mini games. In the first two games of the series, when the Yankees fell behind, it looked like the team was pressing a little bit to try to get out of that hole. Yesterday it looked like typical great Yankee patience at the plate. Was that a conscious effort for the Yankees to be a bit more patient and wait for their pitch, or was that just --

AARON BOONE: That's who we are. We're a team that typically works the count and is not going to chase a lot and going to make you earn it. That doesn't mean we don't have days where we go out there and we're attacking early because we think that's the way to go.

But in their DNA they do a really good job of making it difficult. I thought obviously the at-bats last night were really good.

Q. Judge and Stanton both talked about a moment last night before the three-run homer where Giancarlo was sharing his insight on Varland. I know that happens with a lot of players in the dugout. Just how much of a strength is that for this team? And are they the best at it with all the clubs that you've managed so far?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, they communicate really well with one another. I felt like they did that last year too, though, frankly. But there's no question that they almost overshare with each other. Lefties with lefties, righties with righties, typically just to see if things line up with what we talked about as far as what kind of pitches they have, what they're doing.

So they get real specific with one another, and I think it's a neat part of the culture that they've really fostered there.

Q. The rotation has been such a strength for you guys during the regular season and certainly towards the last month or so. How surprising is it to see the kind of performance these guys have done through the first three games and even to have another game to continue to play despite having an ERA of almost 17, I think?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, you're right. Our rotation has been huge for us this year and especially as we really started to play well in the final six, eight weeks of the season. It started with a lot with our starting pitching, being able to give us just -- whether it's a high end max six or seven inning or whether it was a five inning. Just our starting pitching was giving us a real chance to win ball games every day.

That's the nature of the postseason sometimes. It's not going to be perfect. The other guys are really good. The other teams are really good. And the Blue Jays have done a good job against our starters here these first three games of the series.

Hopefully we can turn that around with a good one tonight and push this thing back to Toronto.

Q. Stanton obviously arrived here as a, quote/unquote, franchise player, and now Judge is that figure for your team. What does it say about Giancarlo that he still has that kind of relationship with Aaron?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, G is such a stud person. He's different than a lot of guys, but he is really accountable, really thoughtful, all about winning. I have so much respect for the person and the way he goes about things and the thoughtfulness with which he goes about things.

Him and Aaron have obviously formed a tight bond over the years. They communicate really well with one another. I think they help lead this team in their own kind of way that's different. Even though they're big and they're both stars and power hitters and stuff, they are very different too in how they go about it and how they do it in their swings and their approaches a little bit.

But that being said, they can certainly relate to one another, and they share really well information with each other.

Q. Within the dynamics of a five-game series, when Guerrero's as hot as he is, when you have Aaron Judge who can counter that, how does that impact your team?

AARON BOONE: I mean, you're going to come across great players in the postseason. That's the reality of it. You've got to be able to navigate it. Obviously Vlad, who's hurt us over the years in the regular season, is off to a great start these first few games. We did get him out two times in a row, which was nice, to end that game.

Look, he's one of the great hitters in the game and someone that we've got to make sure we execute at the highest level if we're going to have success against him.

But that's the nature of the beast in the postseason. You're going to go up against great players. You're going to go up against hot players that are locked in and kind of feeling it. You've got to be able to navigate it to keep moving.

Q. What's your outlook on using relievers multiple times within a postseason series knowing that the more times the other team sees them, the more information they have in a short, concentrated span?

AARON BOONE: That's a factor on some level. How much, I don't know for sure. But the reality is you're going to have to get big outs with key guys down there if you're going to move on, if you're going to win games. So those are some uncomfortable situations sometimes, but battles you've got to win if you're going to move on.

Q. When Cam faced Toronto here in September, he had a little rocky outing, and we asked you what you saw out of him afterwards. You said same guy, couldn't tell any difference. How about after last week against the Red Sox, a performance like that. Do you notice any change in Cam? What are you expecting out of him tonight?

AARON BOONE: Regardless of what happens tonight result-wise, he's going to walk out there with a lot of confidence expecting to be successful. I know that, and I'm quite certain he probably slept really well last night and can't wait to go compete.

So from my standpoint, there's some comfort in that, in knowing that if he goes out and has his stuff and executes, he's got a chance to have a really good night.

Q. Last week we were talking about Cam having the type of postseason outing that Yankees fans remember forever. Obviously Aaron's home run last night. You have your home run. As you're going through these moments and things that kind of all last forever in a sense, as much pressure and as much intensity as there is, do you notice in that moment that you're seeing something super special as it's happening?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, to some degree. You are sort of locked into everything that's going on, but you're not completely unaware of meaningful things happening in big situations for important people, I think, on some level. I don't know if you appreciate it necessarily while you're going through it and while you're in it, but you have an awareness of it.