Yankees reportedly pondering massive ALCS lineup change thanks to senseless inaction

The New York Yankees have a 2-0 ALCS lead over the Cleveland Guardians and the next three games are coming on the road. In all honestly, for as satisfying as it is to be in this position, the Yankees still have yet to deliver a win that makes fans feel comfortable about the longevity of the playoff run.

There are defensive concerns. There are countless baserunning gaffes. There are situational hitting woes. There are inflated strikeout numbers. There's an inability to break the game open at opportune times.

The offense has really been the problem if we were to identify one root cause. New York has failed to get out to early and/or comfortable leads, which has put a massive strain on the pitching staff. Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver have pitched in all six playoff games so far. Tommy Kahnle has pitched in five of six. The rotation has only gone deep in two games. It's not sustainable.

Part of the blame on the offensive end has fallen on Austin Wells, who is 2-for-24 during the postseason. He has struck out 10 times and has killed the momentum in the middle of the order. Yet, Aaron Boone has kept him there despite a horrendous 8-for-72 run in September.

Wells missed some time last month after getting hit by a pitch on the hand, but that's still no excuse for what's transpired. In the end, Wells is a rookie faced with a ton of pressure as the team's starting catcher. Is it really necessary to increase that burden by maintaining his position as the team's cleanup hitter when he's not producing?

In short, Boone's failure to make lineup adjustments now has the Yankees seemingly pondering a drastic switch that nobody wants. Michael Kay is reporting Wells could be removed from the lineup come Game 3 on Thursday, with Jose Trevino taking over at catcher and Giancarlo Stanton moving into the cleanup spot.

Yankees reportedly pondering massive ALCS lineup change with Austin Wells, Giancarlo Stanton

For over six weeks, Boone has refused to move Wells out of the No. 4 hole, apparently stressing the importance of lefty-right-lefty-righty, especially for the heart of the order for later in games when teams start going to their high-leverage relievers. Now that's getting thrown out the window?

The simpler fixes would have been to mix in another lefty into the cleanup spot as early as late September. Why not Jazz Chisholm? With Anthony Rizzo emerging as a presence at the plate, why not him right now? Why are we potentially going from "Austin Wells is the full-time starting catcher and cleanup hitter" to "Austin Wells is not starting anymore"?

It's possible this is a one-time fix for Game 3 with lefty Matthew Boyd on the mound, but the Yankees have faced plenty of lefties since the beginning of September and no changes were made to address the issue.

Again, the Yankees have largely handled their business, for as unsatisfying as it's felt. And while alterations to the lineup definitely need to happen, swinging this abruptly in the other direction after being stubborn for so long will only drive fans more crazy.

We'll see what the lineup card says on Thursday, but we're inclined to believe Kay based on how the Yankees have handled their decision making this year (Clay Holmes, Alex Verdugo, Jasson Dominguez, Marcus Stroman, etc.)