Yankees make one lineup change that might irk fans for do-or-die Game 3 vs Red Sox

The New York Yankees will either win or go home on Thursday night. It's Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox. The first two games were as close as can possibly be, and the Yankees avoided elimination with a thrilling win on Wednesday.

Game 1, however, featured some lineup changes that upset a lot of fans. All of Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm and Ryan McMahon didn't start because left-hander Garrett Crochet was on the mound. Instead, manager Aaron Boone countered with righties Paul Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero, which wasn't exactly a sound strategy because both are significantly worse hitters than Rice and Chisholm.

The result? One run, four hits and zero walks after eight innings. That trio of righties went 1-for-10 against Crochet. Then the Yankees staged their ninth-inning faux comeback and lost after logging three hits.

They didn't quite do the same on Thursday, but they did make one change that fans may not be on board with. McMahon, arguably their best defender, is on the bench. The lefty slugger will not start against left-handed rookie Connelly Early.

Even though McMahon went 1-for-3 with a walk on Wednesday and was benched for Game 1 against Crochet, the Yankees seem to think Rosario's presence on the right side of the plate will be more effective against Early.

Yankees bench Ryan McMahon for Amed Rosario in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series

They could be right. Rosario mashes lefties, and Early is a bright-eyed rookie with only four starts under his belt. But Cam Schlittler is also a rookie with just 14 starts to his name. Yes, he's been tremendous, but he needs the best defense possible at his back.

The counter argument is that Schlittler induces grounders at a 36.4% rate, which is almost 8% lower than the league average. Fair. Fair.

But Rosario still feels like he's a luxury item off the bench for when the Yankees need to get flexible later in games. McMahon is a bonafide starter and should be seeing as many reps as humanly possible, especially against an inexperienced left-handed pitcher. Early is good, but if there was ever a lefty opponent for McMahon to capitalize against, it's this one. The Yankees won't be running into more players with just weeks of MLB action on their ledger.

Another counter argument? We'd much rather have McMahon at the hot corner in the late innings when there is no room for error. We're just hoping the Red Sox don't start roping shots down the line right off the bat against Schlittler.