Yankees' Josh Donaldson Benched for 'a Little Reset' amid Slump, Aaron Boone Says

New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson has been benched for three straight games as part of what manager Aaron Boone called "a little reset."

"I think he should be an everyday player," Boone told reporters Sunday morning, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. "This is a little reset that I decided, a moment in time, that I felt like a couple days were worth it."

Boone was late to the press conference because of a "long conversation" with Donaldson, Kirschner reported.

Donaldson missed over a month after suffering a right hamstring strain in April and is currently facing career-low production numbers with a .125 batting average and a .197 on-base percentage through 21 appearances.

The Yankees were hoping Donaldson would bounce back this season from under-producing last season.

In the third campaign of his four-year, $92 million contract, Donaldson slashed .222/.308/.374 and made contact on just 75.5% of pitches in the zone following his trade from the Minnesota Twins in 2022.

Following the season, Boone said Donaldson had come into the campaign "a little behind the eight-ball" because of the lockout-delayed spring training.

"I think you're crazy to think that a bounce-back is not in there offensively," Boone said in February, per the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "This guy still has bat speed and, again, is super talented. Physically, at this point, [he's] in a much better place than he was a year ago right now."

Boone stuck by that statement after benching Donaldson for the Yankees' Sunday game against the Texas Rangers.

"A little bit of it is small sample of the season," Boone said. "If you really sat there and watched each individual at-bat, I feel like, in a lot of ways, he's having better at-bats than at different points where he was scuffling a little bit last year."

The former three-time All-Star is hitting at an average exit velocity of 92.2 miles per hour, an increase from 91.3 mph last season, per Baseball Savant.

Donaldson, who declined to comment on his benching Sunday, will "get consistent at-bats" in the future, Boone said.

The Yankees defeated the visiting Rangers 5-3, with DJ LeMahieu (.228/.286/.384 through 63 games) at third base in Donaldson's place.