New York Yankee fan favorite Brett Gardner has suffered a bit of another blow and sign that his days in Yankee pinstripes may be coming to a close as was previously reported by The Inquisitr . Gardner has been mired in a season-long funk that has been present in almost every aspect of his game as can be seen at Baseball Reference . Heading into the playoffs, the Yankees need all the best pieces available to them in order to get past Oakland to get a five-game series with Boston.
Right now, neither manager Aaron Boone nor Gardner seems to think the career Yankee is the best piece. In a recent interview with The New York Post , Gardner admitted that he knew he hasn’t earned a spot in the lineup ahead of the newly acquired Andrew McCutchen. Gardner said all the right things about how he recognized that the team was more important than his individual desire to play every game, and that he was willing to accept whatever role Boone wanted to use him in.
So far, that role has been as the fourth outfielder, and it has translated to Gardner being ready to go every game, but mostly riding the pine. In an interview at Yankee Stadium yesterday, NJ Advance Media reported that Boone broke his silence on the Gardner/McCutchen logjam stating that he was going with McCutchen, but that he would find ways to try to give Gardner an opportunity to get hot before heading to the postseason.
“He’s going to be a dude for us. I see (Gardner) still playing a lot for us. He’ll probably be in there (Friday night against Baltimore) in some way shape or form. What he brings defensively, he always becomes an option for us late in the game. He’s a guy we wouldn’t hesitate to put in and feel good about giving us an at-bat in certain situations.”
Don’t count out Brett Gardner yet https://t.co/RLiBecODlP
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) September 21, 2018
Boone then went on to praise McCutchen and talk about how impressed he has been by his ability to control the strike zone and get on base. He then discussed the way he wants to make sure that all of his outfielders are getting a day off, but also getting Giancarlo Stanton some time out there as well instead of being the DH most every night. If Boon plans to use Stanton at DH, that actually makes Gardner the fifth outfielder, and far less likely to see any action when October baseball rolls around.
