Judge to play left field today; Boone ‘announces’ Yanks’ starting rotation
Aaron Judge will be getting a look at the other side of the field.
The new Yankee captain will be playing left field on Wednesday against the Cardinals and Thursday against the Red Sox, Boone said on the YES Network Sunday during their game against the Pirates.
Boone has been flirting with the idea since the beginning of spring to get Giancarlo Stanton more reps in right field which would open up the DH spot for one of the Yankees’ infielders (Gleyber Torres, Josh Donaldson or DJ Lemahieu).
“I did mention it to them about, ‘If we need to get Big G in right field at Yankee Stadium, put me in left,’ ” Judge said on Feb 21. “I don’t mind it. I don’t mind switching around so we can have me, [center fielder Harrison Bader] and Big G out there. We’ll get some reps, hopefully, in spring training and get comfortable out there.”
Aaron Judge will be getting reps in left field Wednesday and Thursday. (David J. Phillip/ap)
No. 99 hasn’t played left field since 2016 when he played seven games there for Triple-a Scranton Wilkesbarre.
The Bombers’ are trying to get more punch in their lineup on a regular basis by playing Stanton in the outfield. The 2017 NL MVP played just 38 games in the field in 2022.
“I think I have more of a flow when I’m an outfielder,” Stanton said. “Being an outfielder, you’re more engaged in the game, whereas [as the] DH, you’re inside a lot of the time staying warm and hitting, kind of watching the game from the TV...
“It’ll continue to be similar as last year,” Stanton said of his workload in the outfield. “I hit a road bump with the [Achilles] injury there [in July], but you’ve got to build up to a similar game plan and see what we can accomplish, putting us in the best scenario to win each night — wherever that is in the lineup.”
Starting up: Aaron Boone is already toying around with how to deploy his loaded starting rotation. The Yankees’ skipper made a not-so-official announcement to about how he anticipates opening up the season with his starters on Sunday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Gerrit Cole is in line to start Opening Day against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium followed by newly inked southpaw Carlos Rodon — who was roughed up in his spring debut — and Luis Severino closing out the opening three-game series on April 2. The winner of the Clarke Schmidt and Domingo German competition will open up the series against the Phillies on April 3 in the second half of the homestand with Nestor Cortes taking the ball behind them finalizing the fiveman rotation to start the season, Boone told reporters.
Cortes — who was arguably the Yankees’ most effective starter in 2022 with a 2.44 in 28 starts — is a bit behind schedule due to the hamstring injury that forced him to bow out of taking the ball for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. The 28-year-old has yet to appear in a spring game which would put him at least a game behind the rest of the starters in terms of ramping up for the start of the season.
Regardless of configuration, the Bombers’ stable of arms figures to be one of the most formidable in baseball — even after Frankie Montas went down with a shoulder injury on Feb. 21 — with four All-stars at the top.
“It’s [the rotation] going to be pretty good I would say,” Rodon said on Feb. 17. “A lot of good arms, quite a few All-stars it seems like. I think it could be something special if we all do our job and show up every five days and take the ball even though sometimes we don’t feel great, that’s just part of the game.
“If we show up and take the ball everything else will take care of itself.”
Trainer’s room: Tommy Kahnle is hitting the shelf with biceps tendinitis. The reliever has yet to appear in a spring game and may not at all after he signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract to return to the Bombers — pitched for the club from 2017-2020. The timeline for Kahnle’s return seems a bit shaky.
“We’ll see what happens,” Kahnle said on Sunday. “I’m going to take it slow just so I’m healthy and ready to go.”
The righty — who is being shut down from throwing for 10 days — has experienced this injury multiple times throughout his career. He missed approximately three weeks in 2014 and attempted to pitch through the injury but ended up getting sent back to the buses of the minor leagues.
Kahnle pitched in 13 games for the Dodgers in 2022 recording a 2.84 ERA. The 33-year-old missed the entire 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery and is about to enter his first full season since the elbow repair.