New York Yankees’ regulars will do some sitting in the early going

While some teams will prioritize their star power to take advantage of the short schedule and win critical games, the New York Yankees will use their incredible depth to their benefit, especially in the position player side of things.

It is a wise decision given that some of the Yankees’ stars, including Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks, are coming back from long-term injuries that have a certain re-aggravation risk.

New York Yankees’ skipper Aaron Boone said that, with 60 games in 66 days and only 17 days to get ready for the season, he will sit regulars in the early going and insert them progressively with each passing day.

“As much as there’s the urgency of a 60-game season, an injury can wipe out a season in a hurry if you’re forcing a guy more than they’re probably ready for early on in the season,” Boone said “You have an injury in a 60-day season, now all of a sudden maybe it cost them half a year, or the season for that matter.”

That likely means that players such as Judge, Hicks or Giancarlo Stanton will take some games off in the early going or occupy the designated hitter position, while outfielders such as Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman stand to benefit from the situation and play a lot in the early going. You can throw Miguel Andujar into that group, as well.

The Yankees’ depth will help

It also means that Andujar could spell Gio Urshela at third for a start or two, Mike Ford could play some games in first base in the early going and Tyler Wade’s name could appear at shortstop instead of Gleyber Torres’. By that logic, Kyle Higashioka will catch more than a couple of times per week.

The Yankees are going to open their summer camp on Saturday, at Yankee Stadium. The season for them will start on July 23 against the Washington Nationals in the nation’s capital.

“The bottom line is we’re going to try and make evaluations on an individual basis about where we think guys are physically,” Boone said. “If we feel like they’re ready after this three-week stretch to go and do their normal workload and play every day, so be it.

“But we also know and trust in our depth. If you look at our team, and if we’re fortunate enough to be healthy at the end of this camp, we feel like we have a lot of players that are capable of being everyday players that won’t necessarily be that. We’ll lean on those guys, especially in the early days, to make sure we’re building guys up properly.”