With a likely Wild Card matchup against the Red Sox looming on Sept. 29, the Yankees are already staring at the kind of roster puzzle October can create. If they don’t erase a 4 1/2-game gap behind the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays in the final stretch, the season points toward a best-of-3 series against Boston, most likely at Yankee Stadium.
That setup could force Aaron Boone into some uncomfortable choices against a Red Sox pitching plan that may lean heavily on left-handers. Ranger Suarez and Payton Tolle could start two of the three games, with Sonny Gray, a right-hander, handling the other. That kind of alignment immediately raises questions about how the Yankees would line up a left-handed heavy offense.
On YES Network during the Yankees’ 5-4, 13-inning loss to the Twins on Wednesday, Michael Kay brought those questions to former Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Girardi didn’t dance around it. He said Boone should turn to the right-handed hitting Paul Goldschmidt at first base against lefties, with Luis Garcia Jr. available later as a pinch-hitting option.
“The one thing you could do [with Garcia] is you could put him in when it’s a favorable matchup in a big part of the game, which I like because Goldschmidt is a plus-defender,” Girardi said. “He’s really good against left-handed pitching.”
Garcia has put together a strong season, hitting .283 with 30 homers, 91 RBI and an .853 OPS. Goldschmidt is at .253 with 19 homers, 50 RBI and a .773 OPS.
Girardi also pointed to a World Series precedent from his own playing days as a way to frame the decision.
“It is a tough decision but Joe Torre had to make the decision between Cecil Fielder and Tino Martinez [in the 1996 World Series] and he went with what the numbers told him,” Girardi said.
In that case, Martinez was the club’s RBI leader at the time but was scuffling in the postseason, batting .205 with no RBI. Torre wanted right-handed power against Atlanta lefty Tom Glavine, and Fielder was hot.
Girardi acknowledged that Garcia’s current form doesn’t make the comparison exact, but the broader point remained: matchups matter.
The same logic, in his view, would favor Ben Rice at designated hitter against left-handed pitching. Girardi said Rice would be the better choice there because he has had more success against lefties than Garcia.
“They’ll play Rice because has had more success off of left-handers than Garcia as well,” Girardi said
Rice is batting .254 with 10 homers, 29 RBI and a .784 OPS against lefties this season. Garcia is hitting .238 with 3 homes and 13 RBI and a .636 OPS versus lefties.
Kay also asked Girardi about third base, where Ryan McMahon bats left-handed and Jose Caballero hits right-handed. Girardi said Caballero could be the choice depending on the matchup, and he likes what Caballero brings defensively.
“I think you could see Caballero at third, depending on the matchup,” Girardi said. “But I like Caballero at third, too.
I think he’s got really good range. I think he gets the ball in the air really quickly.
I don’t think the double-play is a problem.”
Kay also raised the possibility of Amed Rosario, another right-handed bat, getting time at third if he’s on the postseason roster. Girardi said that could work too, especially if the Yankees want to shift back to defense after grabbing a lead.
“You could do that and then once you got a lead go to defense [with McMahon],” Girardi said.
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