Yankees lineup: What will it look like throughout the season?

In 2017, the Yankees finished the season with 858 runs scored. Of those, 285 were driven in by outfielders. So, what did GM Brian Cashman do? He went out and added 132 RBI from Giancarlo Stanton.

The problem is where does manager Aaron Boone shoe Giancarlo Stanton into the Yankees lineup? The plan has been for Aaron Judge and Stanton to split the DH and right field duties, with both of them, set to work on playing left field in Spring Training to increase their versatility.

However, this still begs the question of where to place them in the lineup.

Last year, Judge anchored himself into the No. 2 spot with Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius right behind and Brett Gardner at the top.

This gave the top four of the Yankees’ lineup a lefty/righty balance. However, moving Gregorius out of the cleanup spot in favor of Stanton would put three righties all in a row.

Another problem this could cause would be all the lefties coming in a row. The next three spots in the lineup could be Gregorius, Greg Bird and then the switch-hitting Aaron Hicks.

As such, batting Judge, Sanchez and Stanton two-through-four might not be the best idea. Perhaps a better way to examine this would be to take a look at the spots in the lineup one by one.

No. 1 spot

Last year, all but 11 of Brett Gardner’s at-bats came from the leadoff spot. His ability to grind out AB’s and get on-base is one of the big reasons he begins each game for the Yanks’ offense.

Because of this, Gardner is likely to be the first to the plate on March 29 in Toronto. His gritty ability to make a pitcher work gives him the top spot.

However, Gardner’s designation in the lineup might not be as much of a given as the season progresses.