Yankees drop first spring training lineup of 2025 and heat up early storylines

New York Yankees fans won't see Aaron Judge or Austin Wells in spring training action until the calendar flips, and they will not be seeing Giancarlo Stanton at all. But that's not what the people came for heading into 2025.

There are a lot more battles/storylines to sort out before Opening Day that do not concern those three. Even though the front office was active this offseason and properly addressed (for the most part) Juan Soto's departure, a number of questions must be answered, and soon.

Who will be the team's leadoff hitter? Starting third baseman? Backup catcher? Starting DH in the event Stanton isn't ready to start the year? How will Jasson Dominguez handle left field? What will the team's bench look like?

The Yankees kick off their spring training action on Friday, and the lineup reveal for the first game already guides us in that direction. We have regulars Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe in the lineup, but the rest gives us food for thought.

Dominguez leading off. JC Escarra starting at catcher. Pablo Reyes in right field. Oswald Peraza at third base. Everson Pereira at DH. Time to get to work.

Yankees Spring Training: First lineup of 2025 released for game vs Rays

Anybody in the lineup have a beard after Hal Steinbrenner's announcement Friday? That could answer another storyline for us.

Aaron Boone alluded to experimenting with Dominguez in the leadoff spot due to his ability to switch hit coupled with his athleticism. But some fans are wary because they saw how that pressure affected Volpe atop the lineup the last couple seasons. Dominguez just came off a rough September run in 2024 and needs to rebuild his confidence. The good news is that he's been working on his defense and has looked good in BP early, so perhaps this ends up being a viable solution.

As for the others, this is probably Peraza's last chance to make an impact with the big-league team. He has no minor-league options left and there's a position battle to be won. Using him as an infrequent bench piece doesn't seem like a realistic option.

Escarra seemingly had a path cleared for him after the trades of Jose Trevino and Carlos Narvaez. The 29-year-old is still looking to make his MLB debut, and the time is now to make an impression.

Pereira is coming off Tommy John surgery — yet another Yankees position player to suffer that fate. It feels impossible. But he'll be limited to the DH role for the time being. He's in a similar boat as Peraza, though he does have one minor-league option left.

Then there's former Red Sox utility man Pablo Reyes, who could be a valuable bench piece if he happens to recreate his 2023 season. He only appeared in 64 games, but he hit .287 with a .716 OPS and logged reps at every infield position. It's unlikely, but we will see.

Gametime is set for 1:05 p.m. ET and can be viewed on YES Network. Happy spring training, Yankees fans. The road begins now.