The New York Yankees have a pivotal Game 3 of the American League Championship Series ahead of them on Thursday afternoon. If they win, they will take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the best-of-seven set, and if they lose, they will be allowing a tough team to get back into things.
The Yankees, as a consequence of the importance of the game, are trying out a few changes that could be beneficial for their chances to win. Here is the full lineup, as the team announced via X:
The first three hitters remain unchanged in comparison to the first two games of the series: Gleyber Torres has excelled as the leadoff hitter, and Juan Soto and Aaron Judge won’t move from the second and third spots, respectively. The first big change is in the cleanup spot.
The Yankees are giving Stanton the cleanup spot for a game
Rumors about the Yankees bumping up Giancarlo Stanton to the fourth slot have been circulating for a couple of days now. The reports ended up being true — the veteran slugger moves up one spot from his customary fifth, as the Yankees try to take advantage of his excellent performance at the plate during the entire playoffs to this point.
Austin Wells, the regular cleanup hitter, gets a day off to clear his mind and work on some things offensively, as he is hitting .083 in 24 at-bats.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves up one spot to take over the fifth position, and first baseman Jon Berti takes over for Anthony Rizzo and will be the sixth hitter on Thursday.
Anthony Volpe remains the shortstop and seventh hitter on the Yankees’ batting order, and Alex Verdugo is bumped up to the eighth position to accommodate for new catcher (for Thursday, at least) Jose Trevino, who will hit ninth.
Clarke Schmidt will be on the bump as the Yankees try to take the first game in Cleveland.
