Ever since Jorge Posada returned from his most recent stay on the DL, Joe Girardi has maintained a steady base lineup that he has tinkered with when players needed days off. The lineup:
Jeter R
Damon L
Teixeira S
A-Rod R
Cano L
Posada S
Matsui L
Swisher S
Cabrera S/Gardner L
When Damon gets a day off, as he is tonight, Swisher or Cano bats second, and when Matsui or Posada get time off, Gardner or Cervelli gets in and bats 8th or 9th. Although the order of your lineup might make a very small difference in the long run, even the slightest of advantages can help decide things in a division this competitive. Looking at the lineup, it seems clear that one glaring issue must be remedied. Robinson Cano, while having a solid season and typically a second half player, is last among Yankee regulars in OBP. The Yankees need to move him down in the order until he starts hitting again. This would be my lineup:
Gospel Hill divx Jeter R
Damon L
Teixeira S
A-Rod R
Posada S
Matsui L
Swisher S
Cano L
Cabrera S/Gardner L
This maintains the alternation of lefties and righties while keeping the better OBP guys higher in the lineup, as they should be. When Robinson Cano gets hot, he can certainly fill the 5 spot adequately. For now, however, he needs to be dropped.
What would your lineup be?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
4 Responses to Time To Tinker With The Lineup
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Your line-up looks good to me!
I would rest a few players here and now; Cano and Melkey, because they look a bit out of sorts. Jeter, Posada, Swisher and A-Rod because they have been playing most all of the games and two of them coming back from injuries.
Besides, the back-ups need some time to stay sharp. I mean, look at these last few games (to-nights also) mistake after mistake. Not bad brakes…one makes their own brakes!
One can say the BP has been bad…true but, they have been over used and most hitters are underachieving with runners in scoring position.
Time to take Melky out and put Brett back in.
How about A-rod bat 3rd and Tex bat 4th?
I would not touch the top 4 right now if my life depended on it. ARod is suffering, but 1-3 is fine, and I wouldn’t move Alex for fear of interfering with whatever has turned Tex into Gehrig. Cano has been miserable, and I would certainly drop him, if not bench him, so this lineup look good to me.