The Yankees will move forward into the 2020 season with a very similar batting order from this past year, featuring a slew of premium-level sluggers than can change the course of a game at any given time. However, they have also infused some of the game’s best contact hitters into the mix to ensure they maximize the home-run totals they’re predicted to reach every season.
The first four batters in the Yankees’ projected lineup are stellar, and any opposing pitcher will have an incredibly difficult time working through them. Taking pitches, swinging at pitches in the zone, and remaining patient are all mantras for the Bombers’ hitters in 2020, especially Gary Sanchez, who swung at more ghosts than baseballs in 2019.
Here are the projected top four for the New York Yankees:
Leading off, Dj LeMahieu will once again be the primary option, as he logged an incredible 85.5% contact rate last season with the Yankees. A majority of his at-bats (539) came at the leadoff spot, where he earned a .325 BA and 25 homers. There’s no question he will once again slide into that active role once more, as setting up Aaron Judge to utilize his high home run percentage is the priority.
That leads us to Judge, who spent a fair amount of 2019 on the injured list, recovering from multiple ailments, notably a wrist injury he suffered on a hit-by-pitch. Judge featured in the two-hole for almost all of his at-bats (373), earning a 2.76 batting average with 27 homers and 55 RBIs. Believe it or not, his HR totals took a dip in 2019, as he missed 63 total games. Theoretically, if Judge had started every game, he would have earned 44 homers.
If The Judge can remain healthy next season, he is set to have another behemoth campaign, and while he wasn’t playing at peak performance in 2019, he still managed to claw his way to a productive campaign.
In the third spot, Gleyber Torres is expected to move up the batting order. Torres logged a .278 BA and 37 homers last season, solidifying himself as one of the top hitters for the Yankees. His 72.9% contact rate isn’t even in the same stratosphere at LeMahieu’s, but he’s still a quality hitter that’s always growing. I believe his contact percentage will take a nice jump next season, but he must remain disciplined at the plate. Nonetheless, his power has been exciting, and slotting him in between Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will be intimidating.
As for Stanton, who will bat cleanup, it’s unfair to use his 2019 totals as a testament to his abilities. Having earned just 59 at-bats, we can backtrack to his 2018 season to project what he’s capable of.
Stanton’s 37.9% contact rate was abysmal in 2018, but the highest its ever been was 42.8% in 2015. The Yankees didn’t trade for him to remain disciplined in the strike zone, they brought him in to hit home-runs and swing at pitches in the dirt as a consequence of his long-ball eye. Stanton is two years removed from a 59 home-run season, and if he can even come close to replicating that number in 2020, the Yankees will be in good shape.