Baseball Chat

[BullNBear52]

Yankees make lineup change
Boone said Tuesday that he wasn’t in a hurry to move Volpe to the leadoff spot in the Yankees’ lineup. But the manager acknowledged that “when we look up in 10 years, that’s where his future is going to be.”

One day later, Volpe was leading off against the Marlins. Boone said his reasoning for moving Volpe up and Torres to the sixth spot was more about the performance of the team’s second baseman.

“I feel like Gleyber’s on the verge of really getting it going,” Boone said. “I do feel the at-bats have been good, but I feel like he’s pressed a little bit to get it going in that (leadoff) spot.”

Anthony Volpe on hitting in the leadoff spot: "Definitely not uncomfortable."#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/r1ITlCh6f6

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 11, 2024

After being one of the Yankees’ best hitters in 2023, Torres has started this season slowly. He’s hitting just .192/.295/.231 with zero home runs. Torres’ underlying metrics have not been encouraging for either. Entering Wednesday’s game, he ranked in the 30th percentile in xwOBA and the 11th percentile in hard-hit rate.

Torres has struggled in the leadoff spot throughout his career. Statistically, it’s been his worst spot in the batting order. In 55 career games leading off, Torres has posted a .631 OPS.

“Wherever Gleyber is hitting, he’s gonna get it rolling and be a big part of this offense,” Boone said.

“I feel like if I left him there over time, he’d be Gleyber Torres and we’d see the results. I do feel like he’s close to taking off.”

Boone wouldn’t say if the expectation is Volpe continuing to be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, but it makes sense to have him get as many at-bats as possible with him being as hot as anyone across MLB.

There wasn’t necessarily a need for the Yankees to make a lineup change. They currently have a top-five offense. But putting Volpe in a top spot and Torres in the middle of the order makes sense with their skillsets. — Kirschner
https://theathletic.com/5407394/2024/04/11/yankees-takeaways-giancarlo-stanton-trent-grisham/?source=nyt&access_token=11932965