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

Brett Gardner

If Gardner struggles at some point in 2018, that leadoff spot could go to switch-hitting Aaron Hicks.

Aside from Aaron Judge, no one on the Yankees had a higher OBP than Hicks. Hicks’ power and the fact that he’s a switch-hitter could make him an intriguing option to leadoff.

No. 2 spot

In today’s analytics age, the honor of the team’s best player has slowly moved from the cleanup spot to the No. 3 spot, to now the No. 2 slot.

Here is where the debate over whether Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton is a better player comes into play. One could suggest that Stanton is more advanced based on his recent MVP Award and higher home run total from last year.

However, a closer look at their statistics might not tell the same tale. For one, Judge had a higher OPS in 2017. Judge hit 1.049 compared to Stanton’s 1.007. However, this minor disparity between the two OPS’ might not be enough to give Judge the advantage.

What will tip the scales is the fact that Judge gets on base more often. Judge’s .422 OBP means he’s more likely to be on base for Stanton to drive him home, rather than vice versa.

No. 3 spot

Putting Stanton here might make sense at first glance, but that would place three righties in a row. Because of this, the No. 3 hole will likely go to Didi Gregorius.

While Didi isn’t thought of as much of a power hitter, he did hit 25 home runs last year after missing the first month of action.