Yankees: What should the lineup look like when Aaron Judge comes back?

On Monday the Yankees added some more firepower to their lineup with the addition of Edwin Encarnacion. On Tuesday they welcomed back Giancarlo Stanton from the IL and as early as Friday Aaron Judge could make his return as well. Once the offense is back at full strength, how will Aaron Boone construct his lineup moving forward?

The Yankees lineup is going to put up a ton of runs regardless of what the batting order is once Judge makes his long-awaited return. However, deciding who hits where won’t be the easiest task for Aaron Boone.

Without Judge, Stanton and Didi Gregorius for the majority of the season, the Yankees offense has still been one of the best in baseball so it will be interesting to see how Boone rearranges the order. Over the past couple weeks, the most common lineup has featured some variation of DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit, and Gary Sanchez as the top four hitters in the order. You’d figure that’s going to change now with Stanton back in the fold and Judge soon to follow.

I doubt we’ll see LeMahieu moved from the leadoff spot nor should he be because he’s thrived since Boone inserted him there back in mid-April. He’s been the Yankees most consistent hitter all season long as well as their most clutch, hitting a major league-leading .462 with RISP. Moving him down in the order would be a big mistake. Moving Hicks down in the order, however, is something that needs to be done.

Hicks has gotten off to a slow start since his season debut in mid-May and honestly doesn’t deserve to hit second or third in the order based on how he’s produced thus far. I know Boone loves to have him hit up there because he’s a switch hitter with power and he has a great eye but right now he’s hitting .198 and slugging .356.

In a lineup with filled with All-Star talent from top to bottom Hicks is the weakest link right now and there’s no way to justify him batting near the top of the order when the offense is at full strength. The guy who should bat second is Judge. It’s where he’s most comfortable and it’s where he’s hit for most of his young career and will continue to do so for the next decade plus.

As for Voit, I’m fine with him batting third for now but as the season progresses I’d like to see him switch with Didi in the order when a righty is starting so they have a power left-handed bat in between Judge and Sanchez. Since coming off the IL on June 7th Didi’s been hitting sixth and he’s swung the bat well (.294 AVG). However, he’s yet to find his power stroke so once he does he should be moved up to the same spot he’s hit for the majority of the past two seasons.

Giancarlo Stanton has mostly batted third or fourth throughout his career but based on how productive Sanchez has been in the cleanup spot I’d bat him in the five-hole, just as he did Tuesday night. Stanton has only played in four games this season and he’s got some rust to shake off so he shouldn’t just be handed a spot in the top third of the order.

I know that contradicts with where I’d bat Judge but he gets on base at a much higher clip than Stanton and is an ideal two-hitter in today’s day and age. Besides it’s not like batting fifth in this lineup is some sort of demotion or punishment.

With Didi batting sixth I’d have the newly acquired Encarnacion bat seventh to add some serious pop to the bottom third of the order and split up the lefties and righties. To continue that trend rounding things out would be Hicks batting eighth and Gleyber Torres with his 16 HR and 40 RBI batting ninth.

1. 3B DJ LeMahieu
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. LF Giancarlo Stanton
6. SS Didi Gregorius
7. DH Edwin Encarnacion
8. CF Aaron Hicks
9. 2B Gleyber Torres 

This is obviously a very right-handed lineup but that shouldn’t be a concern because the Yankees rank second in the AL in OPS with a .815 clip and in batting average at .266.  After the addition of Encarnacion and the returns of Judge and Stanton, they should also handle left-handed pitching. Didi would be the only left-handed hitter in the lineup but over the past three seasons, he’s combined to hit .289 against southpaws so no one will be neutralized.

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Again, no matter how they lineup from top to bottom this offense is going to be relentless and incredibly difficult for opposing pitchers to navigate through. They proved that during the sweep over Tampa and their great pitching staff without Stanton for two games and Judge for all three.

When you can bat the AL Leader in home runs seventh and an emerging star like Gleyber Torres ninth it shows that there isn’t any room for error and there’s nobody to pitch around. And that’s not even including bench guys like Gio Urshela and Cameron Maybin who are both hitting over .300 and played a huge role in the team’s success up to this point.

It’s truly an embarrassment of riches with this Yankee offense and the crazy thing is we haven’t even seen them play a game with everyone healthy. Let that sink in for a minute and then imagine just what they’ll all be able to accomplish from here on out.