New York Yankees: Predicting the starting outfield on Opening Day

With Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both unlikely to be ready for the start of the regular season, what will the Yankees starting outfield be on Opening Day?

Losing Judge and Stanton to start the season is obviously a huge blow for the Yankees but the good news is they have some really good options to replace them until they’re both healthy.

With Aaron Hicks also set to begin the season on the IL as he recovers from offseason Tommy John surgery it’s safe to assume that Brett Gardner will be the starting center fielder until he returns. So over the course of the next three weeks, the Yankees will have to decide who is going to fil in for Stanton in left field and Judge in right.

In left field, I’d expect to see either Clint Frazier or Miguel Andujar get the start on Opening Day. With Judge now also out for the beginning of the regular season, Frazier should have a spot locked up on the 26-man roster. Between he and Miggy one of them is going to get the nod in left while the other will likely be the starting DH. It really depends on which player the Yankees believe is the better defender at the position.

We all know how much Frazier struggled defensively in the big leagues a season ago while Andujar just started playing the outfield this spring. Neither one projects to provide much of a defensive upgrade, but between the two it looks Andujar might have the early edge.

According to Aaron Boone, the Yankees are very encouraged with what they have seen from Miggy in left so far as he’s adapted very quickly to his new role. From the small sample size we’ve seen from him on TV, it looks like he’s capable of making this transition a smooth one. If that continues to be the case I think it’s an easy choice to have him out in left and Frazier at DH to share some of the at-bats with someone like Mike Ford.

Frazier will surely see some action in the outfield on occasion once the season begins, but if the Yanks are comfortable with Miggy in left that’s where he should play. Now that Gio Urshela has taken over at third base it’s in the best interest of everyone to have Miggy play left as often as possible to see if that could become his long-term position.

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As for right field, Mike Tauchman has to be the heavy favorite after the breakout campaign he had a season ago. Even before the injuries to Judge and Stanton, he was always going to be apart of the mix in the outfield because of his ability to play all three positions.

Now instead of splitting some of the reps with Stanton in left or filling in for Gardner in center to give him a day off, he’ll likely replace Judge until he returns. He’s the best option to fill in there because he’s an elite defender just like Judge is and he’ll add another left-handed bat to the Yankee lineup which they desperately need.

Even though I think we’ll see a lot of Miggy in left with Tauchman in right and Gardner in center to begin the season that doesn’t mean we’re going to see that same starting outfield every game.  Nothing is totally set in stone because the Yankees have so many different directions they can go in with their lineup thanks to how deep and versatile their roster is across the board.

We’ll only see Miggy in left and we won’t ever see Frazier in center, but all four guys could shuffle around between the outfield and DH.