Aaron Boone's Yankees vs. Rays Game 2 lineup proves he's either confident or stubborn

Aaron Boone's in a true no-win situation. He's had a largely effective year, transitioning the Yankees through injury after injury to collect 93 wins (better than most best-case projections). He defeated - no, destroyed - the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. But after being shut down in Game 1 by Drew Rasmussen of the Tampa Bay Rays, the boo birds are back anyway - and they won't be changing their tune unless things flip on a dime.

One specific area where Boone will never be able to win his haters over is lineup construction. For years, certainly folks have dug their heels in that if only Boone could keep his lineup consistent, his Yankees would finally be able to get in an offensive rhythm. Now, after Boone's announcement of his Game 2 lineup ahead of Yankees-Rays, the same people are almost certainly yelling, "No, not consistent like THAT, you clown!" blaming Boone for allowing the Rays' righty starter to get in a comfortable lane with the same eight lefty batters.

Yup, you heard that right. It's the same starting nine from Game 2 against Boston (massive blowout win) and Game 1 against the Rays (depressing, dispiriting loss). What's on the horizon for Boone's Yankees? Dunno. Probably one of the two.

Remember when Heliot Ramos was going to be huge for the Yankees with Aaron Judge out? Anyway...

It's on Yankees players to step up and learn changeup recognition in Game 2 vs. Rays

There's something to be said for a little bit of variance. If I made the lineups - I don't, but... - I would've started Jose Caballero, who is on record as wanting to make the Rays "suffer," and benched Trent Grisham. Seven lefties, two righties. Caballero has a two-homer game against his old team at The Trop this year. It's not much, but it's a little something.

That said, there weren't many different overly creative directions for Boone to go here - and, of course, he gets guff whether he keeps the lineup consistent (stubborn!) or switches it up (panic!). The onus is on the players, who must work the count early against Peralta, drive up his pitch count, and lay off the changeup.

Otherwise, it's going to be a true "Run it Back" scenario, where both Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage were able to dominate the Yankees with the exact same gameplan back-to-back nights to start off last year's ALDS in Toronto. And if Boone's players have another negligent game, he'll be blamed instead of them for doing what the fans regularly ask him to.

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