Yankees Lineup Ideas for Joe Girardi to Use In 2017

According to Fangraphs.com, the Yankees were ranked next to last in a category called “correlation of actual to ideal lineup” in 2016.

Basically, the man who contributed much to the above-mentioned article, Jonah Pemstein, who seems to be some sort of mathematician, calculated all 30 MLB teams’ ability to place the right hitters in their most suitable lineup spot versus where they traditionally are located. And unfortunately, the master juggler, Yankees manager Joe Girardi, finished higher than only Ned Yost of the Royals last season.

Girardi is used to the knocks against him at this point in his managerial career — entering his tenth season at the helm of the Yankees. The issue is, depending on the job he does this year, and the front office’s dedication to the rebuilding process, 2017 could very well be his final go-around with the club.

Whether you like Girardi’s managerial style or not, one thing is for certain, if you’re a daily reader of this site, you want to see the Yankees win ball games. To do that, Girardi will once again unveil a plethora of different lineup choices. But before he goes ahead and makes that happen for the Yankees’ first Spring Training contest on Feb. 24 against the Phillies, I figured I’d beat him to the punch and suggest a few different options depending on things such as pitching matchups, injuries, trades, and flat-out poor play.

I’m sure my theories as to why I feel these lineups would ignite a fire under certain players is bound to cause an uproar, but that’s cool. Because all I want is for this club to find an identity through the use of one or two steady lineups — not dozens like we’ve seen over the past few seasons. I truly believe that without consistency in the lineup, only uncertainty will be brought about.