NEW YORK – Yankees manager Aaron Boone will arrive late Tuesday night for the start of a big series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Boone attends his son Brandon’s high school graduation ceremonies, temporarily leaving the coaching reins in the hands of bench coach Brad Ausmus.
A former major league catcher, Ausmus managed the Detroit Tigers from 2014 to 2017 and the Los Angeles Angels in 2019.
Boone told Ausmus to anticipate his return “a little later” Tuesday evening, but Boone did not have a specific time planned.
“He’s not going to come back for the start of the game,” Ausmus said of Boone. “I kind of expect it at some point, depending on traffic in New York, mid to late game.
“He wants to go to the graduation, be able to see his son after the graduation is over, take some pictures and then he’ll go back to the stadium. But he said he’ll definitely come back.”
That left Ausmus to draft Tuesday night’s lineup card, which included the MLB debut of first baseman/catcher Ben Rice, another Dartmouth College alum.
An exciting left-handed prospect, Rice, 25, was called up to replace veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a broken right forearm. That’s an eight-week recovery period, according to the Yankees.
Before the Yankees (50-24), owners of a 1.5-game lead in the AL East, left Boston to begin this three-game set against the second-place Orioles (47-24), Boone spoke of the completeness of the Orioles as a club. .
“They’ve had some injuries throughout their rotation, but their depth has served them well,” Boone said. “They continue to have good starting pitchers, they’ve been able to close out games and they have a versatile and dynamic offense.
“It’s a complete team, without a doubt.”
In their first game this season, the Orioles won three of four games against the Yankees at Camden Yards, from April 29 to May 2.
“Both teams definitely came out as really great,” Boone said. “At the same time, it’s a marathon, this cliché is really true and we have a long way to go.
“All I can say is that both teams are really good, very dangerous and with a lot of potential.”
