The Yankees are stacking their righties against left-hander Payton Tolle, which means Jazz Chisholm Jr. being out of the lineup for Game 1 of the AL wild-card series.
Anthony Volpe is starting at second base against Tolle, with Amed Rosario at third base, with the Yankees turning to both righty bats to give them a boost to begin the series against the Red Sox.
Chisholm said on Monday he expected to be in the lineup and indicated he would not be happy if he was out of it, which was the same case as last year when he did not start against lefty Garrett Crochet in Game 1.
Aaron Boone, though, hinted at this happening as he said playing the platoon game at second base was in play, after Volpe had looked the part at his new position after being called up earlier this month to replace the injured Chisholm (right thumb sprain).
Chisholm, a pending free agent who has had a mostly rough season despite getting hot before he got hurt, only played three games after coming off the IL.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are banking on Rosario’s track record crushing lefties compared to his numbers this season, when he hit just .208 with a .606 OPS in 160 plate appearances against them. They could have started José Caballero at third base, but they seem to prefer him as a 10th man off the bench to pinch run as needed and offer defensive versatility.
Yankees lineup
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Ben Rice, DH
Heliot Ramos, RF
Cody Bellinger, LF
George Lombard, SS
Amed Rosario, 3B
Anthony Volpe, 2B
Spencer Jones, CF
Austin Wells, C
