Aaron Boone’s choice to hit Trent Grisham leadoff over Ben Rice in ALDS Game 3 turned into the kind of decision that gets replayed immediately after a season ends.
The Yankees manager said after Wednesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays that he stood by the move, even though the plan fell apart as New York was swept out of the American League Division Series.
Aaron Boone says he doesn’t regret hitting Trent Grisham leadoff instead of Ben Rice tonight: "I was pretty convicted on trying to find a way to be able to get Benny maybe a chance to come up with runners on or be in a position to do that more often tonight." https://t.co/41Gl2AOIeP
- SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 8, 2026
Boone’s thinking was straightforward: put Grisham at the top of the order and try to create more chances for Rice to bat with men on base. He said he was trying to give Rice better opportunities to hit in those spots, but the result was a rough night that made the strategy look even worse in hindsight.
Grisham didn’t deliver. He went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, and the Yankees’ offense couldn’t recover in a season-ending defeat.
The numbers behind Grisham’s regular season only added to the scrutiny. Among 28 players with at least 225 plate appearances while batting leadoff, Katie Sharp of Sports Reference noted that Grisham ranked 28th in batting average at .199, 27th in on-base percentage at .303, 25th in slugging percentage at .378 and 27th in OPS at .680.
During 2026 regular season, 28 batters got 225+ PA batting leadoff. Trent Grisham ranks among those batters: .199 BA (28th) .303 OBP (27th) .378 SLG (25th) .680 OPS (27th)
- Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) October 8, 2026
Rice did get something out of Game 3, finishing with one hit and an RBI, but that didn’t soften the frustration around Boone’s lineup card.
The loss also deepened a postseason trend that has become hard to ignore for the Yankees. Under Boone, they are now 1-7 in postseason games against teams that finished ahead of them in the standings.
New York’s exit marked a second straight ALDS elimination, but this one landed especially hard because it was a sweep - the first time the Yankees have been swept in a Division Series. The Rays, meanwhile, moved on to their first American League Championship Series since 2020.
In the end, Boone’s defense of the lineup decision won’t matter much to the people judging it by the box score. Grisham’s empty night and the Yankees’ season-ending loss made sure it became one of the defining talking points of the series.
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