Wednesday was the first time we saw the Yankees align their outfield with Giancarlo Stanton in right field and Aaron Judge in left, and it went off without a hitch.
Neither got much action, as Gerrit Cole struck out seven and Greg Weissert two in their 4 2/3 combined innings, so very few balls were put in play. Judge had to field two singles to left and Stanton one to right in the fifth inning, but that was it, as both were pulled after five.
An uneventful start…but one that was maybe Judge’s idea, at least in part?
As he told the media after the game, Judge is the one who actually volunteered to play left when manager Aaron Boone was talking to players about ways to get Stanton in the outfield more.
“He was talking about left field and trying to figure out ways to get G out in right, and I said, ‘Well, just put me in out there,’” Judge said. “‘If you want to give [Josh Donaldson] or DJ [LeMahieu] a DH day, I can play left like I played it in college. Let me take a crack at it.’”
Judge played left in college, but his only pro experience there was seven games in Triple-A in 2016 – “I think they were just trying to find a way to get me to the big leagues,” he smiled, remembering a team where the quartet of Brett Gardner (left), Jacoby Ellsbury (center), Aaron Hicks (utility), and Carlos Beltran (right) made 330 of 345 starts in the outfield before Judge was called up on Aug. 13 after Beltran was traded.
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Boone was good with it, though.
“He was into it; he said, ‘Let me think about this and get back to you,’” Judge said. “Then he came back to me and said, ‘I’ve got to get you in some games before I let you out there to try in a real game.’ Hopefully I don’t look too bad out there and he can keep me out there for a little bit.”
The Yankees’ outfield is in a bit of flux beyond nominal right fielder Judge and center fielder Harrison Bader; Boone believes he can get Stanton in the outfield 40-50 times and Aaron Hicks is penciled in as the starting left fielder for now, with out-of-options Estevan Florial, super utility man Oswaldo Cabrera, and non-roster invitees like Willie Calhoun and Rafael Ortega battling for that spot and/or a reserve role.
Stanton’s outfield starts in recent years have mostly come in spots that are less defensively challenging to play – left field in Boston and Houston, right field in Yankee Stadium. Judge, meanwhile, proved he was capable of playing center last year when the Yankees called upon him, so it’s not far-fetched to think he could at least occasionally thrive in the notoriously-difficult Yankee Stadium left field.
“You’re just dealing with right-handed, pull-side line drives; I think that’s the biggest factor,” Judge said. “Everything else is pretty much the same. You’ve just got to get used to a little different spin. When you have a Stanton 112 [mph] liner right at you, you don’t know if you need to come in or go back on it. Thank goodness he’s on our team, so I won’t have to deal with that, but you see a lot of guys, just those righty top-spinners. Just get your eyes on that a little bit and then go out there and be an outfielder.”
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Judge has been doing pregame work in left field for a few days, and will play there again Thursday, hoping to get a little more action to get into the flow of things.
“The only way you can do it is just getting reps in the game,” Judge said. “Hopefully get a couple balls that confuse you a little bit, make me look bad out there so we can get that out of the way.”
And, while Stanton could see time in left in those “easier” stadiums, depending on how well Judge picks up left, it’s within the realm of possibility that on opening day, a Judge-Bader-Stanton defensive alignment in the Yankee Stadium outfield could be a thing.
“I’d consider it right away, depending on how much we rep it here,” Boone said. “Hopefully he can get up to speed rep-wise, because it is something going to the other corner. It’s one thing going to center field, where guys tend to always feel a little more natural. It’s just that different look. The fact that he’s had a few days to rep it will serve him well.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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