The New York Yankees are gearing up to face off against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at 4:05 PM. After escaping opening day with a close win in 11 innings, the Bombers will feature Luis Severino on the mound to start Game 2 of the regular season.
However, the Yankees have already made some changes to their batting order, giving some insight into how they will deploy certain players.
Yankees’ lineup on Day 2 of the regular season:
1.) DH: Josh Donaldson
2.) CF: Aaron Judge
3.) 1B: Anthony Rizzo
4.) RF: Giancarlo Stanton
5.) 3B: DJ LeMahieu
6.) LF: Joey Gallo
7.) 2B: Gleyber Torres
8.) C: Kyle Higashioka
9.) SS: Isiah Kiner-Falefa
On opening day, Donaldson featured at third base, Judge in right field, and LeMahieu at second base. However, Gleyber Torres was left out of the starting lineup, but he will receive his first starting action of the season on Saturday afternoon, featuring at second base.
In the extra-inning win over Boston, Torres played an instrumental role, tallying a game-tying pop-fly in the 10th inning to keep the Bombers alive. The Yankees had to utilize a ton of players to get the job done, but it was a fantastic way to get the season started, and the strategy worked to perfection, thankfully.
In addition to Torres getting the start, Aaron Judge has shifted over to centerfield, a position he played last year over a small sample size. The big-time slugger has just 166 innings of total action in CF, but the Yankees know they can use him interchangeably given his phenomenal athleticism and big arm.
Management and Judge’s representatives were unable to come to an agreement on a big extension, but they will have next off-season to get it done despite being far apart.
The biggest concern for the Yankees is their starting pitching, especially not having a legitimate No. 2 option behind Gerrit Cole, who struggled in the first inning of yesterday’s win.