Aaron Boone knows what lineup the Yankees will run out against the Red Sox on Opening Day Friday, but he is keeping that sealed until the morning of New York’s season opener.
“I have decided. So we’ll have that for you in the morning,” Boone said with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”
But Boone did give a little tease of what’s to come on Friday when discussing the team’s fluid lineup situation for the season, revealing that Josh Donaldson will make his Yankee debut in the leadoff spot to ring in the 2022 season.
“As far as leadoff spot, we’ll see. Every day will be a little different, because we’ll have a regular out of there,” Boone said. “We’ll have a regular out of there tomorrow, and that guy will probably be in the next day, so that changes it a little bit. But Donaldson will lead off tomorrow.”
With Donaldson leading off, that could shed some light on who may be left out of the Opening Day lineup. The infield will likely be Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Gleyber Torres, and Anthony Rizzo from left to right, while Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and Giancarlo Stanton could be the outfield trio, considering Aaron Hicks has struggled against Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi in his career (3-for-16 with three strikeouts), and with Hicks typically being a leadoff hitter in Boone’s lineups, he could start the season on the bench with Donaldson confirmed to be atop the batting order.
That could leave DJ LeMahieu as a DH to start the season.
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