By Louis Addeo-Weiss
With the team expected to get back starting shortstop Didi Gregorius for this weekend’s series against the Cleveland Indians, manager Aaron Boone is going to be tasked with creating lineups based around giving guys days off.
To this point in the season, the team, despite injuries to nearly every spot on the roster, have a .639 winning percentage and lead the American League East at 39-22.
For Gregorius, who is returning from Tommy John Surgery, which he underwent following the 2018 postseason where the Yankees were defeated by the eventual world champion Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, Boone, who has already been creative with lineup construction this season, will have some decisions to make concerning the team’s infield makeup.
Gleyber Torres, who has served as the team’s primary shortstop in the Gregorius’ absence, will most likely move back to his natural second base where he’ll continue to receive regular at-bats. Torres, who finished third behind teammate Miguel Andujar and eventual winner Shohei Ohtani, has hit 14 home runs, 12 doubles, and posted a respectable 122 OPS+.
Gregorius’ return will have an effect on recently signed D.J. LeMahieu. The former Colorado Rockie and Gold Glove second basemen, who joined the team on a two-year/$24M deal during the offseason, has checked all of the boxes in his first season in pinstripes.
LeMahieu’s .323 average is tied with Gio Urshella, who we’ll soon touch on, for best on the club, and his 126 OPS+ ranks third behind first basemen Luke Voit (134) and catcher Gary Sanchez (152,) and his 13-percent K-rate is the lowest among all Yankees players with at least 175 at-bats.
Defensively, LeMahieu has appeared in games at second, third, and first base this season, and posted a respectable 5 defensive runs saved across all three positions. With Didi’s return, Yankee fans can expect LeMahieu to assume primary duties at third base, a position he has played 16 times this year, on the days in which Gregorius is in the lineup. When resting, expect Torres to move from second back to short and LeMahieu slot in at second.
And lastly, we have Gio Urshella.
Always known in Cleveland a terrific defender, Urshella’s bat never took off, as noted by an OPS+ of 56 in his time with the Indians. Since coming to New York though, he has seemingly transformed overnight into an above-average offensive talent.
Serving as the team’s primary option at third base in the wake of Miguel Andujar’s torn right labrum, Urshella has seized the opportunity given to him by Cashman and co., posting a career-best 122 OPS+.
While many don’t project that he’ll continue to hit at this level, Urshella has shown enough offensively and defensively to merit a spot on the roster moving forward. While baseball-reference notes that he has cost the team 5 runs according to defensive runs saved, his total zone rating tells us that he’s actually 2 runs above the average defender.
Days where Gregorius sits or DHs should see Urshella start at third, though he does have experience at the other three infield spots.
With all of these possible scenarios in play, the team will most likely have to cut ties with veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The once perennial all-star dubbed ‘Tulo’ has been out since straining his left calf in early April. Only appearing in five games with New York, Tulowitzki only hit .182 but posted a 121 OPS+ and .545 slugging percentage.
While it looked as if he was in store for a big comeback after missing all of the 2018 season, it is apparent that Tulowitzki’s best days are behind him, and his time in New York will likely be brief.
In the coming weeks, the team too should expect to see corner outfielders Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge make their way back.
Judge, whom many feel to be the most talented player on the roster, will reassume duties as their every right fielder. Prior to going on the injured list with a strained left oblique, Judge had already hit 5 home runs and posted a .404 on-base percentage, en route to a 145 OPS+.
The two-time all-star’s return will most likely move Clint Frazier to a reserve role. Frazier, who has produced offensively in Judge’s absence (.268/.320/.516, 118 OPS+), has experienced struggles defensively. Between right and left field, Frazier has been worth -7 defensive runs saved this season, though his offensive production should keep him on the roster moving forward.
Giancarlo Stanton, who first went down in late March with a left shoulder strain, was recently injured during a rehab assignment following a hit by a pitch, will most likely assume primary DH duties once he finally returns.
Stanton, who has primarily played left field since joining the Yankees due to Judge’s inhabitance of right, also started 85 games in 2018 as the team DH. Kendrys Morales, recently acquired from the Oakland Athletics, looks to be the odd man out here, as the team should release him following Stanton’s return.
Reports, however, state that once Stanton returns, he could platoon with recently acquired Cameron Maybin in left, while occupying the primary DH spot. The semi-benching of Stanton could be the Yankees way of reducing the level of swing-and-miss in their lineup.
In his first season with the Yankees, Stanton, in 705 plate appearances, struck out a career-worst 211 times, approximately 30-percent of the time, respectively. For his career, Stanton has struck out 28-percent of the time, while Maybin has struck out at a more reasonable 21.2-percent of his plate appearances.
Taking at-bats away from Stanton deprives the Yankees of one of their best pure power hitters. From 2017-18, Stanton’s 97 home runs were the most in all of baseball, with the Athletics Khris Davis trailing behind at 91.
And while Maybin has played well in his time with the Yankees, as he has shown by way of a .378 on-base and 104 OPS+, he’s in danger of losing playing time along with Frazier and veteran left fielder and Brett Gardner.
Should Maybin continue to play well, the Yankees could explore a trade for him, as he may bring back at least a B-Level minor leaguer.
Since the start of 2018, Gardner has just an 89 OPS+ (100 being league average), though he still provides plus speed, stealing 16 bases in 2018 and having already swiped 6 thus far in 2019.
Gardner will stay on the roster and most likely serve as a backup in left, where, even at age 35, he continues to be an above-average defender. In 2018, Gardner amassed 10 defensive runs saved between left and center field. For his career, he has a stellar 129 career defensive runs saved.
We’ll save the questions surrounding the Yankees pitching once the likes of Dellin Betances and Luis Severino find their way back to 161st St.
Until then…
