Yankees Rumors: Predicting the Opening Day lineup

We’re just a month away from Opening Day in the Bronx when the Yankees will take on the Baltimore Orioles on March 28th. Heading into the season we have a pretty good idea of the players who will be in the Yanks starting lineup, but what will the batting order look like?

The Yankees added veterans Troy Tulowitzki and D.J. LeMahieu during the offseason but for the most part, this is lineup is going to feature the same players we saw for the majority of last season. With the exception of Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, everyone we saw in the lineup down the stretch last season is back for 2019.

Even though Didi Gregorius will miss a large chunk of the first half recovering from TJ surgery this Yankees lineup still projects to be one of the best in baseball. Last year’s club set the all-time record for home runs in a single season with 267, but this year they could shatter that record if everyone else can stay healthy.

Right now the only position that doesn’t have a clear starter heading into the season is at first base. The battle between Greg Bird and Luke Voit is already heating up and whoever wins that competition is definitely going to earn it. That bodes well for the Yankees offense because both players already look like their in mid-season form. With that being said the favorite is Voit and if he continues to be steady offensively from here on out the job should be his.

As for the rest of the regulars, there’s a chance Clint Frazier could win the starting LF job over Brett Gardner, but he’s likely to start the season at Triple-A. Gardner is the longest tenured Yankee on the team and he wasn’t re-signed to sit the bench so he’s likely to get the first crack at starting. However, don’t be surprised if Frazier takes the job from him for good sometime during the season.

At shortstop, Tulowitzki figures to get most of the reps to start the season but given his injury history, he’s not going to play every day. Gleyber Torres will see some time at short as well while LeMahieu will fill in at second base.

Aaron Boone said the Yankees look at LeMahieu as an everyday player who can play at first, third or second. He also said he doesn’t think he’ll have a hard time getting him into the starting lineup five to six times a week. Giancarlo Stanton will once again be the primary DH but in order to get LeMahieu’s bat in the lineup, he’ll get some starts in left field from time to time. On those occasion’s Miguel Andujar will probably be the DH and LeMahieu will play third.

Now that we’ve gone through which players we’ll see in the lineup here is my prediction on where they’ll be placed in the batting order.

1. CF Aaron Hicks
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Giancarlo Stanton
4. C Gary Sanchez 
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. 1B Luke Voit
7. 2B Gleyber Torres/ D.J. LeMahieu
8. SS Troy Tulowitzki/Gleyber Torres
9. LF Brett Gardner

At first glance, the main thing that sticks out from this lineup is it’s very right-handed heavy. Seven of the nine players bat from the right side. Brett Gardner is the lone primary left-handed hitter and Aaron Hicks obviously switch hits. That might concern some people but it’s not like any of these guys are platoon players who can only hit lefty pitching. They’re all going to hit in bunches regardless of which arm the pitch is coming in from.

The top of the order was easy to predict because Hicks is the best option to hit leadoff and Judge has been outstanding in the two hole over the past couple seasons. Stanton batting right behind him was an obvious choice as well especially with Didi out to start the season.

Even though Gary Sanchez had a miserable 2018 season, I truly believe he’s primed for a huge bounce-back season and so do the Yankees. Now that his shoulder is fully healed and the rest of his body is in great shape he should get the first crack at hitting cleanup.

With Judge and Stanton hitting in front of him and Andujar right behind him batting fifth Sanchez is going to get a ton of good pitches to hit. When he’s at his best he can be one of the best run producers in the league let alone on the team so he should bat in a spot where he’ll have the most opportunities to do some damage.

After watching Voit put up huge numbers down the stretch last season he should continue to hit near the middle of the order so he gets plenty of RBI opportunities with RISP. He batted third for the Yanks in last year’s Wild Card game, but since there’s already enough pressure on him this season to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke batting sixth is a good spot for him to start.

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LeMahieu might be the best contact hitter on the team which is something the Yankees need more of and that’s why Boone is going to do his best to play him as often as he can. This Yankee offense is going to strike out a lot so it’s important to have contact guys who can hit for a good average and bring some balance to the bottom of the order.

As Torres gets older he’s eventually going to hit near the top of the order, but he can be just as big of a threat near the bottom like he was during his rookie season. I wouldn’t have any problem with him batting fifth or sixth, but he’s still so young and Boone loves having him lurking near the bottom of this stacked lineup.

Tulo has batted in the heart of the order for most of his career, but on this Yankees team, eighth is a fair spot for him. I don’t think the Yanks are expecting all that much from him offensively but if he’s healthy he can still provide some pop at the bottom of the order.

To round things out Gardner essentially serves as the second leadoff guy hitting ninth. That’s a perfect spot for him because he still has the ability to work deep counts and get on base at a decent rate.