Yankees: Selecting the ideal Opening Day lineup

The ideal Yankees Opening Day lineup, fully healthy, is pretty simple

Every MLB team has an ideal lineup, that when everyone is fully healthy, they would unleash the most fury on an opposing pitching staff. The 2019 New York Yankees never were able to throw out their “optimal” starting nine, yet still managed to reach Game Six of the ALCS.

Injuries, unsung heroes, and some coaching decisions led to a plethora of different New York lineups, so many so, that by the time the Yankees suited up for their final game in Houston, only four players remained from the Opening Day group. To put things in perspective, DJ LeMahieu, who wound up being the best Yankees hitter, was viewed as a platoon player on Opening Day.

Let’s take a look at the vast differences between the two batting orders, starting with Opening Day’s card:

Next, we have the last Yankees lineup of the season, from October 19, 2019:

Without seeing the logo representative of those two lineup cards, one would think that those are two completely different teams. When the 2020 season finally gets underway (we here at Yanks go Yard are taking an optimistic approach) the Yankees would like to put their best possible unit out on the field.

So with that being said, what is the ideal Yankees lineup when they have all their options at full health?