 An 8-2 Yankee lead over the Nationals and in the top of the fifth and spring we get to talk to the Yankees skipper Aaron Boone All right Aaron First of all, what did you think of Masahiro Tanaka today two innings of work in his spring debut? Good. I thought he was overall pretty sharp Got hung the one split that he he gave up the Homer But I thought accomplished what he want worked in the cutter through some good splits A good day's work for him and kind of getting them up to that two innings and Onward and upward for Masa. We've heard a lot about the cutter in the implementation of it for Masahiro Tanaka How do you envision that? Amplifying his arsenal this season. Well, I mean if it if it can become more of a factor for him You know, it just gives him another weapon You know more against left-handed pitching to kind of give him a little bit of a presence inside part of the plate And should help, you know help his split play a little bit better as well to those batters Aaron obviously the devastating news yesterday with Luis Severino that he is gonna undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow I mean, what was the emotional reaction like of the club when you guys got that news? You know obviously I think you're Mind and your heart just goes to Luis and what it means to him and obviously last year missing as much time as he did And kind of fighting his way back and becoming a factor for us down the stretch and in the playoffs And just excited about what was ahead for him this year. So, you know, right now you just kind of hurt for him and you know You know know that this is another challenge for him and one that hopefully through this adversity Will be something that makes him just a little bit better when he does come back to us. Hopefully at some point next year, but Just feel for him right now as a team will we're equipped to handle this and we'll manage and we'll figure it out and It'll create another opportunity For someone else to kick that door in Yeah, Aaron, you know, it's obviously a transition on your pitching staff your new pitching coach Matt Blake You know, we're hearing a lot of grave reviews from the pitchers so far, you know How's that gone so far anybody else in the off-season you're interviewed that you might have been impressed with too No, but Coney was great in the in in our interview process It was it was a rigorous process when we went through we interviewed a lot of guys and Coney by the way You did you did great and and everyone feels that way about you and knows all the things that you bring You know just with with who you are and your knowledge of pitching But ultimately we did settle on that plate Sounds like the right choice to me. He's he's been great. You know, he's got his his understanding of You know, I think the delivery and pitching Obviously a lot of the new new things that are used in our game from a pitching standpoint He's very up to speed on and understands But he's he's he's really just got a good way about him that he's able to easily connect with people And I think that's really shown up here so far at camp and feel like we're off to a really good start You know as a result of him, you know, Aaron Do you see that it seems to me like the players are Getting more involved with some of the new data and technology more receptive to it even some of the veteran guys Is that a good read on my part? Yeah, I think that's kind of the the next You know as this continues to evolve, you know, these guys are more and more familiar about, you know How they're being measured and the tools used and and some guys you see more and more Incorporating these things on their own in the off-season So there is more of a not of a knowledge of it and it's been interesting to see our guys Kind of with amongst each other, you know when they're in there when they're in the bullpen and you know throwing throwing pens And there's four guys down there. They'll kind of communicate with each other What do you see in and they they have an idea what they're looking at and and looking for different things? From some of the informational things that we're able to bring them But that communication between players is happening a lot more than than even a year ago And we saw Brett Garner get here with a pitch in his second plate appearance How is he doing? Is there any you know, is he alright? Yeah, he's fine. He's fine He's he's playing his first back-to-back tomorrow So I was just gonna go shorter with him and you know just been with him being a little older I wanted to get him out of the ring. No, he's fine back to the pitching side of things What stood out to you thus far about Jordan Montgomery and camp? Velo first of all The Velo that we've consistently seen in all of his sides His his live BP's and then his his first game. He's been he's been 92 to 94 Consistently where you think about him in the past. It's been 89 90 So we've really seen his fastball play better here in the early going the change-up in the curveball Which are two really good pitches for him look the part and any sharp with them But we're really excited about the way Monty looks his body's in great shape. He's you know, I feel like Potentially taking it, you know to another level and I think if his fastball gets the kind of play that it looks like it's getting right now You know it that's an exciting prospect for him Yeah, and I know he was I think probably the best rookie pitcher in the American League a couple years back I mean if you stepped up well against the almost every other rookie starting pitcher I mean what is he gonna be ready for a full workload or is he gonna still require a little protection? Yeah, I mean we'll see I mean, you know Obviously at some point if everything's going well, there's probably some level of pullback or protection that he'll need But you know, he'll have a chance here out of the gates to just kind of continue to prove himself and show himself But you know, you talk about that rookie year. He had in 17 Goni, I mean he was doing that kind of typically pitching around 89 90 miles an hour where his Now if we're seeing this true bump in in Vilo I think it's I think it could be even more of a game changer for him to really highlight his his outstanding change up at curveball You know, it's I know you can probably work around the fifth starter role As you see Jordan Montgomery's numbers there in 2017 those 29 starts solid numbers. I mean What does a guy like a Debbie Garcia have to do to break through I mean I know that he's young He probably needs more time in the minor leagues. Is there a chance that somebody like that can explode on the scene here and change your mind? I think there's always a chance I think the biggest thing that we want to make sure you know because You know, obviously with Seve going down and with packs not being available to us probably the first month of the season Like we don't want to just force someone here Out of out of a short-term need so when you talk about a guy like David Garcia and some of our you know other guys Not that they can't kick in the door and potentially Impact is very early, but we don't want to do it just based on need and feel like we're rushing any kind of development Just out of the outstretched arm over Shella so first and second two out which gives us a little more time with Yankees manager Aaron Boone Aaron Miguel and do hard getting his first start in left field today I mean how at this moment in time obviously this is the first time we're seeing him in a game But I mean how realistic do you think it's going to be for you to feel comfortable trotting him out into the outfield early in this season? Well, I would say early returns on the work that we've seen Are really encouraging so I absolutely think it's possible You know now it's about doing it in the game and seeing what it looks like it feels like and So he's gonna get those reps down here as much as we can while while also being smart in the way that we build them up Knowing that he hasn't played in a year So we got to be mindful of that but the early retreat returns of how he's looked out there I've been really good, you know You had the first play in the game where Glaber's you know called for it and make he came in and Rightfully called him off and took charge out there. So that was good to see But you know the good thing is maybe he's healthy. He's physically in a really good spot and Just looking forward to seeing him play and be healthy and hopefully You know can can prove himself in a couple other positions and give us that option How about his work around first Aaron? How's that looked? No, we haven't seen that in a game yet But you know that's something he's flirted with a little bit in the past and been working a lot on you know backfields and stuff So we'll get him in there At first here again You know at some point probably in the next few days I think that his next time out will we'll have him back in the outfield again And then you know obviously we can neglect third as well So we'll continue to move him around try and be smart with it But but hopefully it's you know, he can continue to give us more and more options because obviously is that special The O2 from Tommy Cainley is fouled away Aaron, I know you get asked this on a daily basis, but our fans will always want to know So what's the latest on Aaron judge and when we might see him? Yeah, judge. He's doing good He's He's you know, we're kind of because of the calendar more than anything Taking it slow with him. So we're building them up. He didn't hit today. Today was the day off from from hitting He'll hit again tomorrow in the cage and throw I would say we have the off-day Monday will come out of there Tuesday and probably have a good idea that potentially Sometime in the middle later part of next week They'll probably debut and looks like he's on track for that but health-wise he's doing great All right, great stuff Aaron. Thanks for all the time as always. All right guys. Good to see you