TAMPA, Fla. — Aaron Boone stopped Josh Donaldson in his tracks. Donaldson had just unloaded rocket after rocket in his first round of batting practice Tuesday morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. To Boone, Donaldson’s swing looked better than it had been at any time during his disappointing Yankees debut last season.
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“That’s it right there,” the manager told Donaldson, who nodded his head. The pair continued to talk hitting for several minutes, with each taking turns mimicking his ideal swings.
But as they split up, Boone offered some caution.
“Don’t get married to the result,” he said. “If you don’t get a result today, that’s the move you want.”
So much for that.
Donaldson put on his best performance of spring training Tuesday, clubbing two home runs in a 6-3 win over the Tigers. In the fourth inning, he crushed a 94.7 mph sinker from Spencer Turnbull 411 feet and 107.5 mph off the scoreboard in left-center field for a solo shot. In the sixth, Donaldson hammered a three-run homer to left-center, this time off a 95.2 mph four-seamer from Will Vest. He flew out to center field in his only other at-bat.
The afternoon juiced Donaldson’s camp OPS up from a paltry .603 to a robust .862 — a reminder that small samples can balloon spring statistics. But it reinforced to Boone that the 37-year-old wasn’t totally cooked despite his terrible 2022, in which he hit just 15 homers with a .682 OPS in 132 games and heard loud boos from the Bronx crowd in the American League Championship Series sweep at the hands of the Astros. The Yankees believe he’s still capable of being an impact bat in the middle of a championship-caliber lineup — and not just because they owe him $27 million this year.
“To go out and get results in the game is encouraging,” Boone said. “He’s capable of that. It’s absolutely still in there. He’s twitchy. He’s strong. He’s got power. He’s just got to get that — he got dinged a little bit last year. He’s just got to know that that’s still in there. Because it is.
“This is a guy who’s been an MVP and basically a stud throughout his career, and by his standard, (he had) a down year last year. That’s a little shot. But I think that I keep maintaining not only with you guys (reporters), but with him, it’s like, and even putting a scouting lens on it, he’s still got the tools to be a really good hitter.”
Earlier Tuesday morning, Donaldson echoed that confidence. Standing in front of his locker, he opened up to The Athletic about his mindset, proving he’s not washed up and how he would handle a repeat dose of vitriol from the fans.
What have you thought of your spring so far?
Well, there’s been some good as far as being able to put a lot of work in. Body’s bouncing back nicely. The games in the field have been going particularly the way that I wanted them to. At-bats are starting to come along. I feel like they’re starting to go in the right direction. I’m excited about what’s to come.
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What excites you?
Some of the mindset shifts that I’ve been able to take at the plate right now. Been working on mechanics for a while now where I’m not really as worried about the mechanics of it as I am being able to go up there and make decisions on pitches. Sometimes I’ve been wrong, I know. But a lot of times I’ve been on the money, and I’m looking forward to continually taking good at-bats.
Nobody doubts your defense with how good it was last year. But all eyes are on your offense right now. Is that hard for you?
No. I wouldn’t say it’s hard. That’s why I’ve put a lot of time into that, into trusting the process. It’s not necessarily the result right now that I’m looking for. It’s about how I’m going about it early on, focusing on stuff that I won’t be hopefully during the season and taking at-bats where I’m focusing on the mechanics of the swing. But I gave myself some time to think about that earlier in the spring, and now I’m trying to take my approach at the plate and make better swing decisions.
What’s different about where you are as a hitter now compared to the end of last season?
I think it’s just trying to make it as simple as possible. Make it simple, to where the focus and energy is able to be seeing the ball, making my decisions on that, and make the mechanic of it being simpler and feeling simpler and just allowing the work and stuff I’ve put in to come out. Not trying to force it. Not trying to do too much. Really just letting it come out and play.
You’ve had a long career, and for much of it, your status has never been questioned. Do you go into this season wondering, “How long is my leash?”
I haven’t thought about that. My goal is to be ready for whenever my name is called, wherever it’s called. That’s really what I can focus on. I plan on just allowing myself to go play and allowing that to speak for itself and hopefully putting that to sleep for people. For me, it’s just been more of a concentration of how I’m going about my business and how I am preparing my body to go for a 162-plus(-game) season.
Who have you leaned on in the clubhouse?
Everybody. Everybody’s been great. Just feel like through everything that happened as far as our team building last year, we really carried that into this spring training. We’ve gone through the worst together. Now we have that familiarity with each other and what it’s about and who’s there, and I think our coaching staff has done a good job with supporting us. The players — you’d be surprised by how much baseball talk is going on and trying to improve and trying to do better. It’s always about, how could we help our team win ballgames? That’s all we ever really talk about in this clubhouse.
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How much added pressure do you feel knowing this is the last guaranteed year of your contract, knowing that you’re coming off struggles you haven’t experienced before?
I don’t know necessarily if I feel pressure from that. But I do have my own expectations. I have high expectations of myself and how to perform, and I would say the reason as far as pressure is concerned, if I didn’t feel like I was prepared coming into it, then I would feel pressure. But I feel like I’ve been preparing myself physically and mentally for what’s to come at that time, whatever happens is going to happen. I can’t focus on something that’s in the future. I can’t focus on something that is not present today. The old adage is something like, we’re here to play and to get better today. That’s as simple as I can try to put it.
Last year, you were booed a lot toward the end when things weren’t going your way, even in the playoffs. That was new for you from a home crowd. How do you handle it if the boos start early?
At the end of the day, I’m not in control of other people and what they do. For me, I have to focus on, how can I help this team win? How can I best prepare myself? I can’t control those things (the booing). I can’t focus on that. If I focus on that, then I’m going to get wrapped up in something that I don’t want to get wrapped up in. I’m here to help our team win in whatever manner that is. I feel like I’ve prepared myself the best possible way for me to go about that. I feel good and I feel confident.
(Top photo: Kim Klement / USA Today)
