TORONTO — The old baseball mantra cautions against fully buying into what you see in spring training or September.
But unlike spring training, when results do not mean anything, Aaron Boone believes that September still offers an important month of games as the Yankees try to evaluate what some of their younger players can do and how they might fit into future plans.
“That’s a fun narrative that everyone loves to throw out,” Boone said of the spring training/September adage. “These games matter. We’re playing playoff teams. I find it a little funny that because somebody came up with the cliché of, ‘You can’t trust spring training and September,’ everyone just runs with that.
“I would disagree with that. Sure, you gotta take it all in and everything doesn’t fall into a certain month. But it’s all part of the important evaluation, especially when you’re talking about young players.”
Of the Yankees’ nine series this month, five are against teams fighting for playoff spots, including the one they started on Tuesday at Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays.
That ups the ante, because even if the Yankees are not competing for anything in the postseason, their opponents are, which gives those games some extra significance.
“Even though we’re out of it now, we have a lot to play for and a lot to prove over this final week of the season,” Boone said Tuesday, two days after the Yankees were officially eliminated. “I feel like guys are of that mindset.”
Then again, the Yankees were playing for plenty last September when it looked like Oswaldo Cabrera was primed to play a key role in 2023 and Oswald Peraza was setting himself up to be their starting shortstop — neither of which ended up coming to fruition.
A year later, Cabrera and Peraza are again trying to use September to finish the season strong and establish roles for themselves moving forward.
Austin Wells and Everson Pereira (plus Jasson Dominguez before he tore his UCL) are also in that same boat with their first big-league cameos over the final month of the season.
“Of course you’ve got to take it all in and a grain of salt with certain things,” Boone said. “But if you’re telling me it doesn’t matter, OK. I think that’s probably just an old baseballism. Of course you’re evaluating all things. You’re evaluating the season — in young players’ case, the minor league season they’ve put together.
“Now getting to be here, playing in these games, how do they respond in different atmospheres and environments? It’s all part of their development process.”
The Yankees entered Tuesday with the best record in baseball since Aug. 28 at 17-9. Each of their young players has shown flashes of his potential during that stretch.
In 19 September games, Peraza was hitting .274 with a .741 OPS.
Cabrera had put together his best stretch of at-bats in a mostly tough season, hitting .271 with a .735 OPS in his last 13 games. Wells was hitting .280 with a .948 OPS across his last seven games.
Even Estevan Florial had looked better at the plate than he had in any of his previous call-ups.
Of course, deciphering September results is not just about young players.
The Yankees are also trying to get a read on whether Michael King could be a full-time member of the rotation next year and have Carlos Rodon finish a mostly lost season with some momentum heading into the offseason.
Is it all a sign of things to come or just a good few weeks at the end of a long season with the pressure turned down?
“I’ve heard that [saying] forever,” Boone said. “And not that there’s not some merit to it. Of course. It’s not like, ‘Oh, this guy was great in September, here we go.’ Of course. But to say it’s not an important part of everything and development and gathering of information and gathering thoughts and opinions about people — it is important.”