Yankees Lineup In Flux: What Will Be The Fallout?

The Yankees lineup heading into the series opener in a battle for first place with the Baltimore Orioles looked like this. Does it look a bit different? They’re not done yet, though, as there’s another change coming soon.

The Yankees have reached the pinnacle of an early season record of 13-7 without the services of Didi Gregorius for all twenty games and Gary Sanchez for nearly all of them as well. And beginning tonight, Joe Girardi is faced with the challenge of injecting each into the Yankees lineup without causing any hiccups in what has been a well-oiled winning team.

Courtesy of ESPN, the Yankees new lineup as of tonight looks like this.

The top of Girardi’s lineup remains intact. But, look down below where you see Greg Bird buried in the eight hole and Aaron Judge, who has been the Yankees most prolific power hitter to date in the seventh spot, with the new guy, Didi Gregorius, presumably having to bat somewhere in the sixth place.

Far be it from me to question what Girardi is doing, and what he’ll need to do again when Sanchez returns. Which, by the way, is going to happen sooner rather than later as Sanchez is scheduled to begin playing rehab games later this week.

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And Who Moves Where When Sanchez Is Ready?

And where Sanchez is placed in the lineup is anybody’s guess, with the only certainty being that Austin Romine finds himself with a seat on the Yankees bench.

With or without either Gregorius or Sanchez how in the lineup is not the relevant question. Which should be their re-entry into the lineup affects the team as a whole.

On the surface, one would say hooray, we have our team back together again and let’s get it on. But baseball is not always about numbers, which Gregorius and Sanchez most surely will provide. Because numbers do not take into account the intangibles that are so important when it comes to building a team.

Neither guy is the kind of player who is going to come in to upset the chemistry in the Yankees clubhouse following their absence. But at the same time, things will be “different” in the clubhouse with Ronald Torreyes and Austin Romine taking a back seat with their energy and yes, numbers, on the wayside. And these figures need to be reproduced.

I wouldn’t put this at the top of the Yankees “panic List” as Greg Bird easily qualifies for that. But it’s something that we should observe as time moves forward further into the season.

The Yankees have gelled with the team they are now. And while there’s no question that better players are replacing those who have filled their shoes, chemistry and the repetition in winning, which the Yankees have done, is often far more important sometimes than merely numbers.

Yankees And The Mets: A Tale Of Two Diverging Organizations

As the 2017 season reaches the end of its first month, the Yankees and Mets are clearly to diverging organizations. And it's not only about their records.

And therefore, it’s just something to watch and observe as we move in May and beyond.