By Sal Maiorana
February 2024
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Sal Maiorana, a friend of the site, shares some of his thoughts on the Yankees.
For honest, unfiltered analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.
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One of the hot topics that has been dominating conversation ever since the Yankees acquired Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo is the batting order. I offer my take knowing that Boone changes the lineup almost every day based on matchups but even more so because guys are always hurt. But if the Yankees can somehow stay healthy and send their best nine players onto the field for the first game and hopefully well beyond, here’s what I think is the most functional and dangerous order.
DJ LeMahieu 3B
Juan Soto LF
Aaron Judge CF
Anthony Rizzo 1B
Gleyber Torres 2B
Giancarlo Stanton DH
Alex Verdugo RF
Austin Wells/Jose Trevino C
Anthony Volpe SS
LeMahieu is so important in this scenario and he really has to get back to the type of hitter he’s been in the past, a guy who can get on base and set the table, though I certainly have my doubts about that.
He has been in steady decline since the short 2020 Covid season when he led the AL in average (.364), on-base (.421) and OPS (1.011). To that point in his career - 10 years in, two with New York after eight in hitter-friendly Colorado - his slash line was .305 average/.357 on-base/.430 slug for a .787 OPS. In the three years since, it has plummeted to .258/.345/.375 for a .720 OPS.
However, he finished 2023 well and that at least provides some hope for 2024. At the All-Star break, LeMahieu was a disaster as he was hitting .220 with a .643 OPS. Then Sean Casey replaced Dillon Lawson as hitting coach and over his final 60 games LeMahieu hit .279 with an .809 OPS. That’s what the Yankees need.
“If we can solve that leadoff spot … look, I want it to be DJ and hopefully it is,” Boone said last week. “If that leadoff spot gets settled, then we have a chance to be a really special offense.”
For me, Soto is No. 2 for two reasons: He’s an on-base machine who can also drive in runs, and he’s a lefty in between LeMahieu and Judge. Judge is a better power hitter than Soto so No. 3 in the lineup is the perfect spot, especially if LeMahieu and Soto are on base in front of him. Here’s what Judge had to say about that:
“I may be old school in that fact, but all the great hitters when I was growing up watching, you want to be a three-hitter,” Judge said. “You want to be that guy coming up third, the big heavy hitter in the back. We have so much depth now. There’s not an easy part of our lineup now. I’d love to hit third, especially with how much Soto gets on. Plus the power, he’s going to give you 30-plus homers every year. But when he’s walking over 100 times and driving in 100, that’s who you want to hit behind. I might be fighting him (for third). I want to hit behind him.”
And then you come back with lefty Rizzo in the cleanup spot and righty Torres so that will prevent opposing managers from finding a suitable lane for a reliever who can work on either a string or righties or lefties.
Torres is a better hitter than Stanton which is why he’s fifth, plain and simple. In fact, I would consider bumping Stanton down to No. 7 because Verdugo is another lefty who could continue the righty-lefty switching. As for the catchers, there’s nowhere else to put them. Trevino is a mediocrity as a hitter and I’m not sure what Wells is going to be. And then with Volpe, if he can stop swinging for the fences and start putting the ball in play, he could become the perfect guy who turns the lineup over for the big guys at the top.
