Yankees Making Lineup Change For Game 3 Of The World Series
10/28/2024 04:45 PM
The New York Yankees tweaked the bottom half of their lineup for Monday's pivotal Game 3 of the World Series.
New York trails 2-0 following a pair of heartbreaking road losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Freddie Freeman ended Game 1 in extra innings with the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. The Yankees had a chance to retaliate the following evening, but pinch-hitter Jose Trevino flew out with the bases loaded to end a 4-2 loss at Dodger Stadium.
Trevino will get more chances on Monday night. He's starting at catcher over Austin Wells for the first time since Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. The 2022 All-Star will bat eighth.
Shortstop Anthony Volpe also moves up to sixth ahead of Anthony Rizzo against Dodgers starter Walker Buehler.
Wells registered a .761 OPS and all 13 of his home runs against right-handed pitchers during his rookie season. The 25-year-old swung a scorching hot bat during the summer, but he batted .111/.217/.194 in September
That slump has carried over into the postseason, where Wells is batting 4-for-41 with 18 strikeouts. He notched one hit (a single) in two World Series starts.
The Yankees will instead turn to Trevino, a former Platinum Glove winner who can help starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt behind the plate. Yet the 31-year-old slashed .215/.288/.354 during the regular season and has just three plate appearances this postseason.
Aaron Boone benched Wells, but the manager didn't move a reeling Aaron Judge from the No. 3 spot. This year's presumptive AL MVP has struck out three times in each World Series game and has gone the last four games without an extra-base hit.
While it happened to the Yankees 20 years ago, no other team has ever squandered a 3-0 series lead in MLB history. They'll try to avoid that dire scenario when hosting the Dodgers for Game 3, which starts at 8:08 p.m. ET on FOX.
Related: Alex Rodriguez Proposes Yankees Lineup Move To Help Aaron Judge
