Aaron Boone Announces Lineup Change

The New York Yankees are set to take on the Cleveland Guardians in Game 3 of the ALDS.

Aaron Judge, the soon-to-be AL MVP, needs to start hitting if the Yankees have any chance of winning.

So far this series, Judge is 0-8 with seven strikeouts.

He has looked bad in a series for the first time all season, but the opponent deserves credit for that.

The Guardians have elite pitchers in both their starting rotation and bullpen, giving the Yankees no room for error.

So Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, decided to make a lineup change.

Boone announced that Judge will bat second in game 3.

Aaron Boone said moving Aaron Judge back to the No. 2 spot was something he “woke up on.” Usually he’d text Judge about a change; this time he did not. “I knew he’d be OK with it.”

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) October 15, 2022

Judge was the best hitter in the American League all season.

Despite the change, he spent plenty of time batting second during the regular season.

He had 419 at-bats and 47 home runs while batting a .294.

But, in games where he led off, the slugger hit .366 with 13 home runs.

This change should not have any ill effect on Judge in this game.

It will be interesting to see if this change can help get Judge out of his slump.

Facing a good right-handed pitcher in Triston McKenzie, the Yankees will have a tough time scoring runs.

In a five-game series with it tied 1-1, game 3 is the most important.

Taking a 2-1 advantage has been the best indicator of which team moves on in recent years.

Boone realized that if he was going to make a lineup change, it had to be in game 3.

Judge also seems like a player that will do whatever his team needs.

No matter where he bats in the lineup he is expected to have an impact.