Yankees release first lineup of 2021 ahead of spring training opener vs Blue Jays

It’s official. New York Yankees baseball is BACK and it’s not going anywhere for at least seven months.

On Sunday, the Bombers will open their spring training slate against the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, and fans will be in attendance.

We did have some information heading into the game thanks to a report from ESPN’s Marly Rivera early Sunday morning. Mike King is getting the start and we can expect to see DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Luke Voit, Miguel Andújar, Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres in action. But there’s nothing like seeing that fresh lineup card.

Those sluggers, plus more, will be going up against starter Anthony Kay, who is Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay’s son! What a world.

Oh, and surprise, surprise. George Springer, who is fully healthy, won’t be in the Jays’ lineup, which was made clear on Saturday. He’s not yet comfortable with his live batting practice reps and timing. A top-notch excuse for not wanting to be all over social media after getting booed throughout the afternoon.

Anyway, check out the FIRST YANKEES LINEUP of 2021!

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1366043793934417925

Would you look at that. The Machine leading off. Clint getting the start in left where he belongs. Judge hitting the ground running and not starting the spring off slow. Andújar with a chance to show us what he’s got at third base. Mike Tauchman in center field! Let’s see if Robinson Chirinos can make a good impression. Manager Aaron Boone is testing some things out early.

As mentioned earlier in the week, Boone said Giancarlo Stanton and Brett Gardner would be taking things easy for the first week, so don’t expect to see them in the next few games.

And here’s who the Yanks will be going up against:

King will certainly be challenged to kick off the spring with those first five Jays hitters, which include new addition Marcus Semien, who finished top-three in the MVP voting back in 2019 with the Oakland Athletics. It’s a big day for all involved.

Tune into the YES Network or MLB Network at 1:05 p.m. ET to see these AL East foes do battle in the first action of 2021.

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