Decisions, Decisions
Girardi has tough choices to make in lineup
BENCHING Jacoby Ellsbury two years ago? That was easy. Announcing extended Yankee Stadium netting for 2018 should be easy, too, though for some reason it has proven not so. What Joe Girardi faces now is hard. The Yankees’ manager will opt for his current dilemma, no question, because it emanates from a bona fide surplus rather than an awkward shortcoming. Yet whereas he shouldn’t have lost a wink of sleep over the Ellsbury situation, if Girardi doesn’t toss and turn over the decisions that await him, he’ll be doing something wrong.
And if his choices don’t pan out, no matter how sound his reasoning, he’ll get some heat.
As the Yankees exemplified Wednesday night with their third straight victory, cruising 6-1 over the Rays at Yankee Stadium, they possess more quality position players than the maximum nine you’re allowed to start. They have five everyday infielders and four everyday outfielders, plus designated-hitter Matt Holliday, who still provides potential against lefty pitching. That means two from this group will be sitting each night.
“I think you’ll look at some matchups going into October,” Girardi said Wednesday. “Your lineup could change depending on if it’s right-handed or left-handed, obviously. But you’d like to have some consistency.”
Even though the Yankees’ last postseason voyage didn’t last long enough to create consistency or a lack thereof, Girardi nonetheless heard about it for a long time. Against Dallas Keuchel, the Astros’ southpaw ace who proceeded to receive the American League Cy Young Award, Girardi started the lefty-hitting Brett Gardner in center field and the righty-hitting Chris Young in left field, leaving Ellsbury a healthy scratch.
It didn’t work. Nothing worked. Keuchel allowed three hits, all singles, and a walk (to Young) over six innings. The Yankees went down quietly, 3-0.
Maybe Ellsbury would’ve carved up Keuchel as if he were Roy Hobbs in “The Natural,” after spotting Iris at Wrigley Field. Don’t bet so much as the price of a 1984 movie ticket on that, however. Keuchel limited lefty hitters to an awful .177/.201/.260 slash line that year, and Ellsbury hit lefty pitchers at an underwhelming .253/.327/.325 pace. Only Ellsbury’s $153 million contract made that a controversial decision. This time, Girardi has a resurgent Ellsbury, Gardner, MVP candidate Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks, who homered Wednesday, in his outfield. He has Greg Bird (who also homered), Todd Frazier and Chase Headley to man the infield corners alongside the double-play duo of Starlin Castro (who homered, too) and Didi Gregorius.
Assuming the Yankees play the Twins in the AL wild-card game Tuesday, and the Twins start their veteran right-hander Ervin Santana —a likelihood that gained steam Wednesday with the Red Sox’s 10-7 victory over Toronto, putting the Yankees in a three-game hole with four to go — you probably cross off Hicks first, as he’s 0-for-6 lifetime with three strikeouts against Santana. Then you eliminate Holliday, whose strong career numbers (.417/.417/1.083 in 12 at-bats) versus Santana belie the reality that the batter and pitcher haven’t faced off since 2014.
That leaves an outfield of Gardner, Ellsbury and Judge, left to right, and an infield of Frazier, Gregorius, Castro and Bird, with Headley as your DH. If the Yankees survive the wildcard game and play the Indians in the AL Division Series, then Holliday will be relegated to pinch hitter thanks to Cleveland’s all righthanded rotation, and Girardi will choose among Hicks, Bird and Headley for outfield/first base/DH opportunities. If the Astros jump over the Indians for the top seed, the presence of Keuchel should give Holliday a start and land the leftyswinging Bird and either Ellsbury or Gardner on the bench.
If it’s a Yankees-Red Sox AL Championship Series? That’s as many as three more lefty starters in Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale. A World Series berth would feature potential lefty foes as the Dodgers’ Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw, the Nationals’ Gio Gonzalez, the Cubs’ Jon Lester and Jose Quintana and the Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin and Robbie Ray.
The more good lineups Girardi constructs, the more tough decisions he’ll encounter deeper into the playoffs. It’s how he wants it. Superb roster depth, at this time of year, can be a curse as well as a blessing.