Former New York Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey doesn’t need to see membership captain Aaron Choose patrolling middle discipline on a full-time foundation after the Bronx Bombers acquired All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night time.
“No. No. No. No. No. I don’t want Judgie as my middle fielder,” Casey stated in the course of the newest version of his “The Mayor’s Workplace” podcast, as shared by Matt Ehalt of the New York Submit. “I simply assume middle discipline is so demanding, dude. It’s so demanding, and he’s such an enormous man, and to need to demand him to go thus far within the gaps and be on the run — you must cowl extra floor as a middle fielder. The wear and tear and tear on his physique — I don’t prefer it.”
The Yankees beforehand landed outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Boston Crimson Sox forward of Wednesday’s blockbuster deal. Edward Sutelan of the Sporting Information is amongst these predicting that Choose will start Opening Day 2024 as New York’s middle fielder, and supervisor Aaron Boone informed reporters earlier than the Soto commerce was finalized that “[Judge] in middle is actually in play.”
Casey, who served as Yankees hitting coach all through the second half of this previous season, stated in the course of the podcast he thinks Boone would not “like” Choose enjoying middle discipline.
Choose already had a worrisome injury history earlier than he missed time this 12 months attributable to a right hip strain and a torn ligament in his huge proper toe. Whereas the toe difficulty arose after Choose slammed his 6-foot-7, 282-pound frame right into a fence at Dodger Stadium, Casey’s general level concerning the Yankees needing to do every thing doable to maintain the 2022 American League Most Priceless Participant wholesome stays legitimate.
The 2023 Yankees by no means absolutely recovered from Choose’s absences and missed the playoffs.
“You begin asking your self too with [Los Angeles Angels superstar center fielder Mike Trout],” Casey continued. “We discuss, he hurt himself on the bases, he harm his calf, he harm his hamstring, effectively how a lot is that from having to go get a ball within the hole, having to get a ball over your head, having to go as much as the fence? How a lot is the wear and tear and tear in your legs?”
For a chunk printed Thursday morning, Matt Snyder of CBS Sports activities defined that nothing about Choose’s damage historical past suggests the 31-year-old “ought to be avoiding middle discipline” all through the upcoming season. Snyder additionally talked about that accidents to others coupled with scheduled defensive off-days will permit Boone to handle how a lot time Choose spends in middle discipline in the course of the grueling summer season months.