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Yankees third baseman Phil Nevin said the best right fielder pitch ever in a minor league game was made a few years ago by Hunter Renfroe.
I’m still talking about it, Nevin said.
Renfroes’ name returned Friday afternoon when Yankees coaches and players reviewed the scout reports for that weekend streak at Fenway Park.
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Renfroe is the Red Sox right fielder and leads the majors in assists.
We talked about it before the game, Nevin said. He has one of the best arms in baseball.
Nevin, of course, was also keenly aware that Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela is normally a slow runner and wouldn’t be 100% Friday night for his first comeback after missing two with a sore back. tibia.
It was Nevin’s costly misread setup that was a huge game in the Yankees’ 5-3 loss.
With Boston leading 4-3 in the fourth inning, Urshela netted a brace on the left and was sent home when Miguel Andujar called with a ground single to the right.
With Renfroe in the right field, Urshela was a dead duck.
I saw a ball in right field and saw Gio had a good jump, Nevin said. Renfroe was sort of moving to his right and the way he was attacking the ball, I saw the way he was attacking balls, honestly I didn’t even think he was going to throw on this game, but he there is no excuse with no one outside. You can’t make a guy throw in there.
Renfroe charged forward, picked up the ball with his glove, then rolled up and whipped a perfect volley ball to the plate as wide receiver Christian Vazquez grabbed his chest about two feet from the line. third goal. At this point, Urshela was about to enter her slide and easily tagged.
It was the aid to field n ° 11 for Renfroe,
Why do the teams continue to challenge him?
You have to ask them, said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. (Renfroe) did a good job charging the ball and in this situation he had presence of mind. He didn’t need to keep that throw. He knew he had a chance to get (Urshela) up to the plate.
Nevin usually has great instincts, but not this time around.
Even if you think you see something, you have to err on the side of caution with no one outside and I certainly didn’t, Nevin said. Gio gets kicked out at the house, obviously I know he’s been out for a few days with a leg (injury), so a lot of things are getting complicated in that one.
If Nevin holds Urshela, the Yankees have Clint Frazier with runners in the corners and one out. Frazier quickly hit a flyball in the middle that could have been but wasn’t a fly sacrifice, then DJ LeMahieu bounced into an outfielder pick to end the inning.
The Yankees didn’t score the rest of the game and lost for the fourth time in four games with Boston this season.
We probably have to hold (Urshela) up there, but Phil is as good as he gets at third base, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. Probably at this spot it was a little too aggressive on the send, but there’s no one I want there to lead third as Phil.
Nevin laughed when he heard what Boone said.
Maybe not this sleeve he didn’t feel that way! Nevine said. I am proud of what I do. We make mistakes from time to time. There are times when I’m going to send guys and they get kicked out, and that was the right move. There are times when I hold the guys back and maybe they could have scored, but it’s the right decision. But that place was a bad place. I’ve watched Renfroe launch for years.
This bad send has come three weeks to the day since Nevin joined the Yankees on June 4 after missing 23 games in 3 weeks due to COVID-19 and a staph infection that caused him to lose 22 pounds. . His predicament was so dire that Nevin claims pitching coach Matt Blake saved his life when he fell ill while out for a walk in Tampa.
I feel good, Nevin said. (Friday) was the first day I went through a whole BP hitting fungos and everything. I haven’t started batting practice yet. The energy level is close enough (to be all the way back), but I work it out throughout the day. During the matches, I feel good.
But that (recovery in progress) has no role in what happened (Friday night). My mind is good. Believe me, I’ve been able to sit down and think about baseball for a while now. It was just a bad call in the wrong place. That’s all it was.
As for Booney, I appreciate this (support) right now from my boyfriend, but I’ll be thinking about this one for a little while.
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