Yankees' ALDS Game 1 lineup revealed
Today at 02:21 PM
Aaron Boone makes some obvious calls and then leans on a couple more experienced players over rookies.
The Yankees are 11 wins from a World Series, and Game 1 of the American League Division Series starts tonight at 6:38pm ET. The rosters have been announced, and we have multiplepreviewarticles available on the site for you to peruse until the action gets underway!
To nail down the first win, the Yankees are sending out the big guns, though we can quibble on at least a few matters. Here's the starting nine, which the team just revealed:
2B Gleyber Torres
RF Juan Soto
CF Aaron Judge
C Austin Wells
DH Giancarlo Stanton
3B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
SS Anthony Volpe
1B Oswaldo Cabrera
LF Alex Verdugo
Since the calendar flipped to September, leadoff man Gleyber Torres has been torrid at the dish. Torres hit .333/.387/.472 down the stretch, consistently putting a man on in front of the All-World duo of Soto and Judge. Speaking of the latter, KC starter Michael Wacha has been the Home Run King's kryptonite thus far. Judge is 1-18 against Wacha with a lone single and 11 whiffs. This would be a great time to break out of that particular funk for Judge.
Catcher Austin Wells gets his first taste of playoff baseball hitting cleanup. Wells really struggled in September after hitting the cover off the ball in August and September. If he was just tired and wearing down, maybe the week off was what the doctor ordered. Batting fifth, DH Giancarlo Stanton has been excellent in October since donning the pinstripes. He enters this series with a career playoff OPS of .963, with 11 home runs in 27 games... that is a 66-dinger pace, if you're wondering. If October Giancarlo shows up, hitting behind the Yankees' big guns, the offense could be very dangerous. Trade deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm rounds out the middle of the order.
Shortstop Anthony Volpe anchors the bottom third of the lineup. Volpe scuffled at the dish in his sophomore season, but he brings 84th-percentile sprint speed and 98th-percentile baserunning value to a lineup that, to be charitable, ain't the best on the bases. Oswaldo Cabrera, filling in for the injured Anthony Rizzo, hits eighth. It was a toss-up as to who would start between him and the recently-recalled Ben Rice, but the Yankees are sticking with the bat that was a little better for them in the regular season (Cabrera has an 87 OPS+ to Rice's 72).
That leaves what may end up being the X-factor position in this series. Tonight, Alex Verdugo gets the start in left field while El Marciano begins the game on the bench. The Yankees are evidently prioritizing outfield defense, though they have indicated that Verdugo's starting role is not set in stone. There's no real reason to expect this, but if the Verdugo from the first month or so of the season shows up (.804 OPS) instead of what we've seen since, Aaron Boone will look like a genius.
What do you think of the lineup? Let us know and then tune in for first pitch with us!
