Aaron Boone has offered some insight into the thinking behind his lineup plans for the Yankees this season, beginning with Thursday’s opener against Baltimore.
Boone listed designated hitter Luke Voit in the cleanup spot — behind Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton — and followed by Miguel Andujar (fifth) and Gary Sanchez.
Greg Bird will hit seventh in the order, rather than Boone inserting the lefty-swinging first baseman higher to split up the righty bats. Gleyber Torres and former All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, making his pinstriped debut after missing all of last season with injuries to both heels, were in the final two spots.
“Once I made the decision to go with Bird, I did consider anywhere in that fifth-to-seventh range. But I just felt that this was the way I wanted to go,” Boone said. “We obviously aren’t ideal in that we have the perfect balance of right and left, so anywhere you put him he’s splitting up some [righties].
“I just feel like I like the look of Miggy where’s he’s been all spring, hitting in that five-spot, when we’ve had all our guys. I like Gary there sixth, and then I felt like it was a good time then to split up Bird. There could be times when he moves into a different spot, but basically my decision was settling on anywhere from 5-to-7.”
Another player Boone believes he can move around the lineup is Torres, who finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 with 24 homers and 77 RBIs, while batting mostly at the bottom of the order.
“Obviously, Gleyber was so dynamic for us in that nine-hole, and I could envision him being there, but I feel like our guys by and large are in a really good place right now,” Boone said. “Gleyber’s a guy that I could envision hitting in a lot of spots this year, probably anywhere from first to ninth. … It’s one of those that I could’ve put him ninth, because I do like him in the spot, but I feel like we’re in a lot of ways maybe a little bit deeper this year.”
Part of that depth has Voit emerging as the cleanup hitter on Opening Day after starting last season in the minors before the Yankees acquired him from St. Louis in July. Voit broke out as an added power source for the Bombers down the stretch, clubbing 14 homers with 33 RBIs in just 132 at-bats.
“I think it’s just our belief in who he is,” Boone said. “Go back to when we kind of targeted him as an organization, that we felt this was in a lot of ways an undervalued player. And then once he got his opportunity here, he took full advantage, like a lot of our guys have, and he kicked the door in and took it. … It’s just my opinion, our opinion, of what we think he is, as a consistent player.”
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