Joe Ross, who is making his MLB debut after a 2021 absence, was faced by the lineup, which undoubtedly helped, but how can we ignore the Yankees’ offensive assault? They’ve been destroyed several times in the past by unknowns and inexperienced players. They haven’t scored 12 runs or more against a team other than the Athletics since April of last year.
It’s also difficult to overlook the lineup adjustments made by manager Aaron Boone on Saturday, which might have ignited the hints of life.
Boone moved Alex Verdugo to the cleanup position and demoted Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres down in the lineup since they both continue to perform poorly. Dugie’s maiden at-bat proved to be a huge success.
He hit a three-run home run over the right-center field wall on the opening pitch and ended the evening 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI.
With the significant Yankees lineup adjustment on Saturday, Aaron Boone disproved himself.
What more is there? Rizzo and Torres both had evenings with three hits. With a two-run home run and a bases-clearing double from Torres, Rizzo increased New York’s advantage to 6-1 in the first inning.
While no one has been requesting significant lineup changes, there is a general consensus that the Yankees’ offense could be significantly improved by making a few adjustments to struggling players. We’re not sure if this will continue until Saturday, but Boone showed he was mistaken when he denied that changes should be made when players are having early difficulties.
Boone and I had the following conversation on the Talkin’ Yanks podcast on Tuesday:
One of the hosts, Jomboy, stated to Boone, “You thought Gleyber was pressing at the leadoff spot when you moved him off, and you wanted to give him a new feel down in the bottom of the order.” “[Anthony] Volpe had some successful at-bats in Cleveland but some bad luck in Toronto. He is simply being attacked more frequently now that he has started swinging out of the zone a little more up top. What are your thoughts? Are we evolving? Is there anything unclear?
Boone’s reaction? “Yes, but no. I am not. Volpe was batting seventh, first, or sixth, so he hasn’t hit in the past two days. Volpe is doing good. To be honest, anytime you trade a player, you know there will be a narrative that explains why a player went 0-for-8 or 0-for-10. That’s just baseball, though.”
But to be fair, the justification you stated was Gleyber early in the season pressing in the leadoff spot, so I don’t believe it’s appropriate to question if you have the same feelings about Volpe,” Jomboy retorted, holding the receipts.
Although Boone’s actions weren’t as extreme as relieving Volpe of leadoff responsibilities, there was merit to the criticism that Rizzo and Torres significantly burdened the lineup, particularly while Aaron Judge struggles to emerge from the early-season slump.
Rizzo only has seven walks this year to go along with a pretty terrible performance, even with the explosion on Saturday.693 ops. Torres? With just one double, he reached 60% of his RBI for the season. He is still cutting, too.210/.294/.238. Such performances are not acceptable given the level of protection these players have in the lineup. After six weeks of play, the season is already half over. It’s enough.
Thus, it made sense that a lineup change was needed. Although Verdugo isn’t always a cleanup hitter, he has shown that he can step up to the plate in crucial situations. The Yankees need to take advantage of their current momentum and change things up a little. And it’s okay if doing so requires moving underperforming guys down the lineup.
When the AL postseason picture is so open in a World Series-or-bust season, there’s no time to spare.
