The New York Yankees made a notable decision involving Paul Goldschmidt before Tuesday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, offering another clue about how Aaron Boone plans to navigate a pivotal stretch of the season with three-time MVP Aaron Judge sidelined by a rib injury.
With the Yankees navigating life without Judge and trying to maintain their position in the AL East race, the move could be seen as significant as New York opens a crucial series against Cleveland.
The lineup card announced by the Yankees moved Goldschmidt into the No. 3 spot against the Guardians. It was just his fourth start batting third this season.
Goldschmidt brings a .275 average, seven home runs and an .865 OPS into June, numbers good for a 140 OPS+.
New York Yankees
| Starting Pitcher: Will Warren, RHP — 7-1, 3.22 ERA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot | Player | Pos. | AVG/SLG |
| 1 | Trent Grisham | CF | .222/.401 |
| 2 | Ben Rice | 1B | .299/.640 |
| 3 | Paul Goldschmidt | DH | .275/.511 |
| 4 | Cody Bellinger | LF | .273/.476 |
| 5 | Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 2B | .234/.396 |
| 6 | Spencer Jones | RF | .250/.286 |
| 7 | José Caballero | SS | .257/.394 |
| 8 | Ryan McMahon | 3B | .208/.346 |
| 9 | J.C. Escarra | C | .177/.258 |
Cleveland Guardians
| Starting Pitcher: Gavin Williams, RHP — 9-3, 3.20 ERA | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot | Player | Pos. | AVG/SLG |
| 1 | Travis Bazzana | 2B | .271/.444 |
| 2 | José Ramírez | 3B | .238/.427 |
| 3 | Chase DeLauter | DH | .256/.405 |
| 4 | Kyle Manzardo | 1B | .230/.399 |
| 5 | Daniel Schneemann | CF | .231/.355 |
| 6 | Angel Martínez | RF | .232/.420 |
| 7 | Steven Kwan | LF | .220/.271 |
| 8 | Patrick Bailey | C | .144/.224 |
| 9 | Brayan Rocchio | SS | .280/.406 |
Goldschmidt’s Surprising Move to No. 3
The lineup move would have looked far-fetched two months ago. Goldschmidt opened the year in a deep freeze, starting just seven of the Yankees’ first 27 games and limping to a .125 average with one homer and three RBI across 29 plate appearances, according to stats compiled by Pinstripes Nation‘s Inna Zeyger.
Then Goldschmidt’s bat woke up. Once Giancarlo Stanton’s calf strain pried open regular at-bats, Goldschmidt hit .305 with five homers, 14 RBI and a .952 OPS over his next stretch of starts, according to Pinstripes Nation. He has punished left-handers all year, batting .340 with four homers against them, though his .196 mark versus righties is exactly why a full-time job once looked out of reach.
“He’s been huge,” Boone said, as quoted by Pinstripes Nation. “When [Stanton] goes down, you’re looking for someone to step up and Goldie certainly has done that.”
“He’s guaranteed to always have just such a professional at-bat,” teammate Ben Rice said, as quoted by Pinstripes Nation. “He goes up there with a plan. He hits the ball hard.”
Yankees Adjust Without Judge
Judge has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side and will be reimaged in four to six weeks, which points to an August return in the best-case scenario, according to Bleacher Report‘s Zachary Rymer.
Judge had been out of the lineup since early June, sidelined by the rib injury first attributed to a bone bruise in the rib area that set off right shoulder pain. He exited in a 1-for-24 slump that dragged his average to .246, a startling dip for the man who won last year’s batting title at .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBI, a report from ESPN noted.
“We’d love to have him in the lineup for this team; he’s the captain for a reason,” Goldschmidt said, as quoted by MLB.com. “But if he does end up missing time, whether it’s short or long, the guys that are here are going to have to step up and play well.”
New York sat at 37-25 and a half-game out of first place in the American League East when Judge went down. Much of the offensive load now shifts to Rice, who has broken out as one of the game’s premier hitters this season.
New York Yankees Announce Paul Goldschmidt Decision Before Guardians Game