Yankees’ Josh Bard sticks with ‘process’ as one-day manager, key moves backfire in loss

A couple of important in-game decisions by Yankees interim manager Josh Bard didn’t work out in Sunday’s 11-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

NEW YORK — Joe Torre made a Sunday morning decision to use his MLB disciplinarian powers and suspend Yankees manager Aaron Boone for a game for accidental cap-bill contact with an ump during an in-game argument two nights earlier.

No surprise there.

Torre had to do it.

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And, really, it was no surprise that bench coach Josh Bard ran the Yankees dugout similarly to Boone during his one-game promotion to interim manager because, well, all of that outside assumption that decisions are being made based on what the team’s analytical staff comes up with was all but confirmed.

Bard’s short presser included a little grilling for two dugout decisions that didn’t pay off in the Yankees’ 11-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers, his call to pinch-hit Greg Bird instead of resting homer and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth with the tying runs on base and then sticking September call-up reliever Stephen Tarpley into his first big-league game instead of warmed-up Chad Green for the ninth with Detroit up three runs.

After explaining his decisions without so much of a hint of regret, Bard was asked one final question:

What was this managing experience like considering the kind of game it turned out to be?

“Really no different,” Bard answered. “Our process stays the same and … So, yeah.”

That’s how Bard’s presser ended.

“Our process,” of course, is the semi-new Yankees’ way of trying to win games.

When Torre was managing the Yankees to four World Series titles from 1996-2000, he did it the old-school way by looking over available statistics and then making decisions with his gut.

To a little lesser degree, Joe Girardi was the same after replacing Torre in 2008, and that’s believed to part of the reason why GM Brian Cashman opted to make a manager change after the 2017 season, one in which a Yankees ballclub with a lot of young talent exceeded expectations by playing its way to Game 7 of the ALCS.

Boone was hired out of the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball booth with no managing or coaching experience at any level partly because he’s a smart guy with an engaging personality that allows him to build better relationships with players than Girardi.

Another reason Boone was hired, most everyone in baseball believes, is he’s willing to make out lineups and use his bullpen going frequently by what the data says.

And so, that’s why Bard admitted the Yankees’ switch to a new manager on Sunday was “really no different.” After all, he just followed the “process.”

Apparently the Yankees’ process indicates their best relievers shouldn’t be used if the opponent is ahead three runs headed to the ninth inning.

The process didn’t take into account that the Tigers bullpen nearly blew an 8-3 lead in the eighth. After Bard passed on Stanton with the score 8-5, two down and the bases loaded and Bird flied out to the right-field wall for the third out, Tarpley got the ball instead of Green for the Tigers ninth.

“Down three in the ninth, we’re not going to bring in one of our high-leverage guys,” Bard said.

Three hits and two walks allowed by Tarpley later, the Tigers’ lead was up to 11-5, which meant the Yankees’ two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth really didn’t give Detroit a final scare.

Ten days earlier, Boone managed similarly during a game in Miami. With the Yanks down 5-3 after seven innings, Boone opted for Chance Adams to pitch in his second career game (and first in relief) even though the Marlins’ had the highest bullpen ERA in the majors. The rookie was hit around and the Yankees ended up losing 9-3.

The process didn’t work in Miami and it didn’t work Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.