NEW YORK – In opposition to the Red Sox’s lefty ace Garrett Crochet, Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone has some lineup choices to weigh in Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener.
Already, we all know he’s determined to begin lefty-hitting Austin Wells at catcher, and he’s leaning towards beginning Paul Goldschmidt at first base.
Goldschmidt owns a .336 batting common and a .981 OPS in opposition to lefties this yr, however he’s 2-for-15 lifetime in opposition to Crochet with zero extra-base hits.
Lefty hitters Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ben Rice, and even Trent Grisham may very well be on the bench to start this best-of-three collection at Yankee Stadium.
Right here’s our greatest educated guess at Boone’s Recreation 1 lineup:
Chisholm is nice to go, mentioned Boone, after taking a 97-mph fastball off his left forearm Saturday in opposition to Baltimore.
However Rosario is 6-for-9 with a house run in opposition to Crochet, and Boone would possibly choose having his Gold Glove caliber third baseman Ryan McMahon (1-for-3 vs. Crochet) within the lineup with lefty groundball specialist Max Fried beginning.
That leaves second base because the probably spot for Rosario, with Chisholm, Rice and Jose Caballero accessible on the bench.
Nonetheless weighing his lineup resolution Monday, Boone mentioned that “Max being on the mound elements in’’ to his defensive decisions.
Rice clubbed two house runs in Sunday’s common season finale. He’s 1-for-8 with a double in opposition to Crochet, whereas Wells is 2-for-9 with a double and a homer.
“Simply because Rice isn’t in there doesn’t imply he received’t affect the sport in a giant means,’’ mentioned Boone. “Generally you’re placing (reserve gamers) in a greater spot to affect the sport off the bench.’’
And that harkens again to Boone’s late entry into Recreation 7 of the 2003 AL Championship Collection, when his affect contribution was an Eleventh-inning, pennant-winning homer in opposition to the Crimson Sox.
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