The Yankees are running out of room for error, and Aaron Boone is running out of reasons to keep the lineup the same.
After a sloppy Game 2 in which New York made four errors and had several other defensive miscues in a 5-2 loss at Tropicana Field, Boone said Tuesday he is weighing changes for Wednesday’s win-or-go-home Game 3 against the Rays. The bigger problem, though, has been at the plate.
The Yankees have been blanked for long stretches all series, nearly got no-hit by Drew Rasmussen in Game 1, and managed only four hits in Game 2. Their only runs in the series have come on Ben Rice solo homers.
“I’m considering a couple things,” Boone said Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters, “but I haven’t settled on anything. I’ll kind of work through that through the day and talk to some of my coaches and make a decision hopefully tonight on which way I want to go.”
That decision could lean toward more right-handed bats. The Yankees will see right-hander Nick Martinez in Game 3, and Martinez has reverse splits, with righties having more success against him this season. Boone has options if he wants to shake up the middle of the order, which has offered nothing through the first two losses to Tampa Bay.
Luis Garcia Jr., Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham are a combined 0-for-33 with 11 strikeouts. That’s the kind of dead weight a team simply can’t carry in October.
Boone can move pieces around in a few different ways. Paul Goldschmidt is a candidate to start at first base instead of Garcia.
Grisham could sit, opening a path for Jones to slide to center field and Heliot Ramos to move into right. At second base, Jose Caballero or Anthony Volpe are alternatives to Chisholm.
Boone could also use Caballero or Volpe at third.
Third base is one of the spots that already bit New York in Game 2. Boone had considered Volpe there, but stuck with Ryan McMahon, and the move backfired immediately when McMahon booted a routine chopper on the first play of the game. McMahon is hitless in the series and has not given the Yankees much offensively all year.
Boone has gone this route before, at least in part. In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox last week, he started Goldschmidt, Ramos, Volpe and Amed Rosario, who was not on the Yankees’ ALDS roster. That lineup produced nine runs, though Boston had left-hander Payton Tolle on the mound that night.
Giancarlo Stanton is another name in the mix. If Boone starts him, Stanton would have to be the designated hitter, which would push Rice to first base and leave the Yankees with a less-than-ideal defensive setup. Even so, with elimination staring them in the face and the offense stuck in the mud, Boone may decide it is time.
Stanton is 0-for-1 in the series with a strikeout as a pinch hitter in Game 1, his first at-bat since April. If Boone keeps him out of the starting lineup, he could still be more aggressive about using Stanton in a key spot off the bench.
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