BOONE HAS TO GO WITH HIS GUT WHEN IT COMES TO CLOSING OUT GAMES

Aroldis Chapman is still and will always be my closer in the modern era of the New York Yankees. That being said, the dude's got problems... and going on an 11 game winning streak, and Zach Britton now out, Aaron Boone has to earn his money now and really and truly manage.

The New York Post writes:

"With Zack Britton all but announcing he was done for the season with a sprained elbow (more clarity on that is expected early next week), the Yankees are already down one elite reliever late in the season.

After Aroldis Chapman failed to close out a game again, Tuesday in Atlanta, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the team would have “to figure it out” when it comes to finishing games.

The manager wasn’t ready to make — or at least make public — any decision regarding his closer in the immediate aftermath of yet another tense victory, but Chapman’s status will continue to be a topic for discussion as long as he pitches like he has lately.

His velocity was down again Tuesday and he walked two batters — the same number he retired before getting pulled for Wandy Peralta, who got Freddie Freeman to fly out with the bases loaded to end the Yankees’ 11th straight win.

Even before his recent problems, Chapman would have entered October surrounded by question marks, given that he has allowed crippling homers that helped end both of the Yankees’ past two postseasons — one to Tampa Bay’s Mike Brosseau in last year’s ALDS and the infamous game-winning home run by Houston’s Jose Altuve in the 2019 ALCS."

Chapman is 1 save away from 300.  Not easy to do and we should root for him to get that, but in the meantime, Boone needs to piece it together because, after all... that's his job. The Yanks have a bunch of guys in that pen that probably deserve a place on that stage and like Chapman's most recent scare, Boone's gonna have to go with his gut to figure out the best strategy going into the ninth.

Chapman's gonna want the ball... you gotta love that, but there will be times where he may not complete the job.  I mean, think about this... Mariano Rivera only blew 4 save opportunities in the post season ever. He also had 215 regular game saves when he blew his save against Luis Gonzalez against the Diamondbacks. You wanna talk devastating? That was. Now look... I know Mariano is sacred, he didn't get the job done in the biggest stage ever, Game 7 of the World Series after 9/11. And so my point is simply, closers aren't perfect. Closers make mistakes. You have to almost applaud Chapman for how far he's come in his career. Mariano blew a save and it was "OK, he'll get him tomorrow." Chapman blows a save and people panic. Don't panic... let the manager manage. Let the closer figure it out.

Let Boone do his job and figure out his personnel when Chapman can't do his... which is human nature... you can't be perfect all the time. Chapman will figure it out... and so will Boone. We need to have faith. We have some good kids in that pen that wanna make a splash and deserve a shot. It will get fixed. I really believe it.