Sanchez to hit 2nd, Ellsbury 5th in new Bombers lineup
TAMPA — Yes, the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup could have a unique look.
How about Gary Sanchez hitting second? Jacoby Ellsbury batting fifth?
Aaron Hicks in right. Ronald Torreyes at short.
Joe Girardi said that the lineup for Tuesday’s exhibition game against the Tigers “could very well be similar to” the lineup the Yankees use on Sunday against the Rays in Tampa.
“It’s not like this came out of the blue,” Girardi said. “We’ve been thinking about it. Do we have a traditional No. 5 hitter? Maybe not. But we have a couple guys that can really run, so you do things a little bit different.”
Maybe Didi Gregorius, coming off a career-high, 20-homer campaign last season, would’ve hit fifth in this configuration. But he’s expected to miss about six weeks with a right shoulder strain, so Ellsbury has been moved down. Girardi had been contemplating splitting up leadoff man Brett Gardner and Ellsbury for a while as a way to separate lefties.
Ellsbury, 33, has never started a game hitting fifth in his career. He’s started 822 games a leadoff hitter and 76 games in the No. 2 hole. Ellsbury, who hasn’t lived up to his $153 million contract in the Bronx, does have a career .302/.376/.402 batting line with runners in scoring position. Since joining the Yankees in 2014, he’s hit .264/.326/.382 with 32 total homers.
“I went to him before I did it,” Girardi said. “It’s something we’re going to look at. It’s almost like you’ve got another leadoff guy in the middle of the order, and that helps too.”
Girardi told Ellsbury not to change his approach at the plate. “I want him to try to hit the ball hard,” the manager said. “You don’t necessarily have to be a big home run guy to be a productive guy.”
The best part of this lineup is that Sanchez (.341, four homers) Greg Bird (.447, seven homers) and Matt Holliday (.311, four homers) are following Gardner with a lefty-righty-lefty-righty mix. Sanchez, Bird and Holliday have all swung the bat extremely well in the spring. And if they’re all productive during the season, the Yankees will finish higher than 22nd in runs scored, which was their rank in that category last season.
Sanchez, 24, who hit 20 homers in 53 games as a rookie, has hit second during the spring. “The focus is to be ready wherever you are in the lineup,” Sanchez said. “If the manager wants me to hit second, I have to be ready to do that.”
Starlin Castro hit sixth and Chase Headley hit seventh. Hicks and Torreyes rounded out the order.
BE THE JUDGE
The Yankees still have competitions in right field, shortstop and for the final two rotation spots that need to be settled. Aaron Judge is competing with Hicks in right, while Pete Kozma and Tyler Wade are competing with Torreyes for short.
Judge could get every day at-bats in TripleA Scranton if he doesn’t make the team. Neither Kozma, nor Wade is on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move would need to be made to get them on. Wade projects as the everyday shortstop at Triple-A.
Girardi did announce that Adam Warren will be in the bullpen, cutting another candidate from the rotation competition. Warren, who wanted to start, gives the Yankees versatility in a relief role.
Luis Cessa, who struggled in the spring, was already optioned to minor-league camp. Bryan Mitchell could still be in the mix, with youngsters Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino getting a chance to state their final cases on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Yankees will not require a fifth starter until April 16, meaning the No. 5 competition could extend into the season, Girardi said. “Our hope was that we’d have most of our decisions made, and we still don’t,” he said. “It’s not going as quickly as I’d like.”
Michael Pineda will get his final regularseason tune-up on Friday in Atlanta.