Yankees' Aaron Boone considering playing Aaron Judge in left, Giancarlo Stanton in right during some home games
Aaron Judge has played 729 regular season games in a Yankees uniform. Not once has he ever appeared in left field.
That could change in 2023, though.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Monday that he could potentially “get a little creative” in finding ways to get Giancarlo Stanton time in right field during games at Yankee Stadium.
On Tuesday, he elaborated a bit more on the subject by saying that he’s at least open to the idea of moving Judge from one corner outfield spot to the other, particularly in the Bronx, to get Stanton more time in right.
“I’m open to things like that, especially in the home ballpark,” Boone said. “So, we’ll see. It’s something that I would say I’m at least considering and is on the table and we’ll just kind of see how that goes and letting that play out, getting guys reps at different spots. No decisions on that yet, but it is something on my board."
Stanton has played both left and right during his major league career, though his time in left is extremely limited (60 games over the course of his 13 big league seasons, all of which coming during his Yankees tenure).
While he’s primarily served as the Yankees’ DH since being acquired from the Miami Marlins before the 2018 season, Stanton is willing to do whatever it takes for the Yankees to win in 2023.
“[It will] continue to be similar to last year,” Stanton said about getting some time in the outfield. “Obviously, road bump with the injury there, but I’ve got to build up to a similar game plan seeing what we can accomplish putting us in the best scenario to win each night, wherever that is in the lineup.”
The Yankees are no strangers to high expectations entering spring training, and 2023 is no exception, as the annual PECOTA projections expect the Yankees to have the best record in all of baseball.
Stanton is still in search of his first ring, and he knows the Yankees have the players in place to be the last team standing.
“We’re in a good spot. It’s very similar [to previous years], we have the pieces to get it done. So, we’re laying the foundation and understand that the ultimate goal is a championship, and we haven’t gotten there. One by one, a day at a time, we’ll have bumps in the road and we’ll have good times, but it will all set us up for October.”