1. Top of the order
The Yankees have made comments about the need to change the top of the order and separate Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury yet they haven’t shown that they will do it.
In 19 games so far for spring training, Gardner and Ellsbury have batted 1-2 in nine of those games. Keeping the two of them together hasn’t worked for the past two seasons, so why aren’t the Yankees seriously testing other options when it isn’t the regular season?
The Yankees have experimented by putting Gary Sanchez second in the line-up, they even tested Didi Gregorius in the spot before his departure for the World Baseball Classic. However, when Gardner and Ellsbury are in the game, they are in the same spots.
Why not at least try and move Ellsbury down in the line-up, at the six or seven spot? Why not make that effort to see if they can find a better rhythm?
They aren’t doing anything to remedy that so we can only imagine that if both Gardner and Ellsbury play, it will be in those two coveted spots. The definition of insanity is trying something over and over again and expecting different results.
See where I’m going with this?
