The much-anticipated beginning of the 2018 season for the New York Yankees is a day away and now we know what they will look like on Opening Day.
The New York Yankees released their 2018 Opening Day lineup and it is everything we could have dreamed of and more.
It's official. The New York #Yankees 2018 Opening Day lineup. pic.twitter.com/0y4IAb3IIt
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) March 28, 2018
The lineup consists of some familiar faces as well as some new faces that we have seen throughout Spring Training.
Brett Gardner will lead things off for first-year manager Aaron Boone. Gardner will be in is familiar spot while in playing his familiar position in left field. Some thought that there was a chance that Aaron Judge would bat leadoff against a left-handed pitcher. Boone experimented with it once in Spring Training but decided to stick with Gardner at the top of the lineup.
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Yankees lineup is how would Boone slot Judge and newly acquired Giancarlo Stanton. With the lefty J.A. Happ going for Toronto, Judge and Stanton will be hitting back-to-back with Judge hitting second and Stanton third. Gary Sanchez will be in the cleanup position with a chance to make some real damage.
New Yankees Brandon Drury and Neil Walker will be making their Yankee debuts when they take the field Thursday in Toronto. Drury will man the hot corner and bat seventh, with Walker playing second on Opening Day. Walker along with Tyler Wade will split time at second, but since the lefty Happ is starting for Toronto, Walker gets the start.
With Greg Bird out of the lineup, Tyler Austin will make his first Opening Day start of his career. Austin had an impressive Spring, where he hit .222 with 4 home runs and 6 RBI. Austin hasn’t seen significant playing time in the Majors since he made his debut in 2016.
On the mound, Luis Severino gets the ball after having a rebound season in 2017. Severino finished third in the CY Young voting, where he posted a 2.98 ERA going 14-6. In an effort to keep him healthy, the Yankees only started him three times this Spring. In those three starts, he pitched to a 3.38 ERA while striking out 17 batters in 13.1 innings.
Opening day is less than 24 hours away. The lineup is out, all that’s left to do is player introductions.
