Last season, the New York Yankees were asking “How will I fill these positions?”, this year they’re asking “How can I fit so many players in these positions?”. In one of the most electrifying upgrades, the Pinstripes have managed to turn their entire outfield around. Now with Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo joining the captain Aaron Judge, what is the Bronx squad’s plan? 

While there were some questions regarding the offensive lineup of the Yankees, most already knew that it would be a combination of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in 2 and 3. The real confusion was regarding the defensive lineup in the outfield. With both Soto, Judge, Verdugo, and Trent Grisham competing for similar spots, how would Boone fit all these players? 

New York Yankees have a solution to their defensive arrangement

During an appearance in the Foul Territory Show, manager Aaron Boone cleared the air regarding the Yankees outfield. “Yeah, I’m planning on playing Judgy in the center a lot and he’s preparing for it…I’ve even talked to Judgy about playing a little bit of left field on certain days, when I want to get Grisham and him in the outfield. I’ll probably have Verdugo in the left and Juan in right,” Boone shared his planned defensive arrangement with the team.

There have been speculations regarding Judge moving to the center and Boone has just confirmed it. Between Soto and Judge, the latter seems to be much more versatile in the field currently. But this would be quite a drastic change for All Rise.

According to Baseball Reference in Judge’s 697 games in the major league, he has started as a Center fielder in only 112 games. In right field, Judge has 57 runs saved while in Center he has minus 1. But this could benefit the team as in the left field there’s Verdugo, a player who can play in all three positions. His left-field performance is a bit underrated.

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Verdugo has 21 defensive runs saved in the left field, a big number for a player who has spent just around 30% of his career there. Even then, Boone has more options.

The extensive depth in the Pinstripes

Apart from these four players, there’s also Jasson Dominguez, who is expected to return soon. Then there’s Oswaldo Cabrera who can fill in the ranks, and so can Giancarlo Stanton. Boone was quick to point out these names and expressed his happiness with the current wealth of depth that the Yankees possess.

With things slowly clearing regarding the lineup of the Yankees, it’ll be interesting to see how these superstars will co-exist on the field. With sky-high expectations on them, things are surely intense in the Bronx.

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