Yankees’ Aaron Boone turns to Jose Trevino over Austin Wells in Game 3 shakeup: ‘It’s been a tough stretch’

Aaron Boone has shuffled the deck.

After lifeless offensive performances in Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, the skipper has turned to Jose Trevino for a spark at the bottom of the lineup in favor of Austin Wells. Wells has struggled mightily in the postseason as the backstop is slashing .098/.159/.171 in 11 postseason games.

“Just felt like Austin — really hard to take him out from behind the plate as well as he’s doing back there but, but obviously, it’s been a tough stretch for him offensively,” said Boone before Game 3 of the World Series between the Bombers and Dodgers. “So just feel like [the] game to kind of get a little more balanced in the lineup. Maybe it means a better leverage to bat for him later in the game. Just felt like Trevi[no] was the call tonight”

The offensive outage has been jarring for the 25-year-old who entered the postseason as the Yankees’ cleanup hitter, a role he had success in during the regular season. The neophyte owned a .760 OPS in 39 games as the No. 4 hitter entering October. However, his playoff numbers have dropped to a point where he has ended up on the bench in the most important game of the Yankees season.

“I don’t know [what to make of Wells’ struggles],” said Boone. “Because I think he’s a really good hitter, and even through this, I’ve seen that in the at-bats. But just obviously not getting results. There’s more swing and miss in there than he had, so I don’t know and I really do still have confidence, even moving forward in this series, that he’s going to have the right at bat, a big at bat and a big spot, because that’s who he is. I feel like his DNA is. He’s a hitter, but he’s gone through a little bit.”

The biggest concern with pulling Wells from the lineup is controlling the run game. Trevino was exposed quite a few times behind the plate for not having the strongest arm. The 31-year-old had the second-worst pop time in baseball at 2.07 seconds and the Dodgers can run rampant on the basepaths, having the 10th most stolen bases in the game — thanks in large part to Shohei Ohtani’s 59 swiped bags.”

“I just more feel like Trevi brings a lot to the table too, obviously, behind the plate,”  Boone said. “Hopefully, you know, provide a little balance, and hopefully we all do our part in helping shut down the running game a little bit.”

They’re a good team. They run the bases well,” Trevino said. “They like to go get the 90 feet. I feel like we’re just going to keep making pitches, do what we have to do. Pitchers are doing a good job.

“Obviously, Austin had a good throw last night or the night before. We’ll just keep going that way.”

Boone is searching for answers as the Yankees season is on the brink. The manager opted against more serious changes with the struggling Aaron Judge remaining in the three-hole and Alex Verdugo getting the start in left field. However, with Trevino in the eight hole, the manager is hoping that the extra balance will equate to a more difficult lineup to navigate for Dave Roberts’ bullpen.