Aaron Boone still has plenty of confidence in Trent Grisham despite production dip

Trent Grisham was always bound to cool off at the plate after his red-hot start. 

But Aaron Boone believes his at-bat quality has remained just as high despite the results dropping off in recent weeks. 

The center fielder was batting .294 with a 1.025 OPS, 12 home runs, 13 walks and 23 strikeouts through 35 games.

In 20 games through Friday, he was batting .155 with a .519 OPS, one home run, 14 walks and 23 strikeouts. 

“Really good — for me, not much has changed,” Boone said before the Yankees beat the Red Sox 9-6. “Generally speaking, gets deep in the count, not chasing. 

“Just hasn’t got a lot of results lately hit-wise, but I think at-bat quality’s been there the entirety of the season, really. On those days where you don’t get hits, you can still be on base a couple times each in the last two days. A testament to the quality of at-bat he’s given day in and day out.” 

Grisham continued that trend Friday, going 1-for-4 with a walk that led off the Yankees’ five-run first inning. 

Grisham’s underlying numbers largely support Boone.

Before he led off Friday against Walker Buehler, he ranked in the 98th percentile in chase rate (16.3 percent), 89th in barrel rate (15.3 percent) and 85th in walk rate (12.8 percent). 

Boone indicated Grisham’s case was similar to Ben Rice, whose surface numbers have also taken a bit of a hit despite continuing to hit the ball harder than almost anyone else in the majors. 

“Both of those guys, we’ve seen their averages come down a little bit, but to me, both of those guys are still really putting together good at-bats,” Boone said. 

Devin Williams converted his seventh save of the year Friday, a drama-free ninth inning in which he hit Jarren Duran on a 3-0 pitch but was otherwise sharp. 

Luke Weaver received a PRP injection to help his strained hamstring heal, and the early results have been promising. 

The reliever threw on Thursday and did so again on Friday, keeping his arm active after landing on the 15-day injured list Tuesday.

His injury came with a reported four-to-six week timeline, though the Yankees have not committed publicly to that. 

“He’s doing quite well,” Boone said. “Like the early stages of where he’s at and how he’s expressing to me how he feels. He’s pretty encouraged and optimistic considering the injury and the timeline with it. So hopefully he does better than that.” 

Giancarlo Stanton remained in Tampa on Friday to take more live at-bats with a full workout that included running.

He is likely to stay there through the weekend before the Yankees finally make a call on what’s next. 

“I still think a rehab’s in play next week,” Boone said.