The Yankees Lineup Today Was Inexplicably Laughable

The New York Yankees have dealt with the injury bug every year -- literally setting the MLB record in 2019 -- and this year has been no exception. However today it had a healthy Aaron Judge just returning from the injured list and Gerrit Cole on the mound yet manager Aaron Boone shocked the world with the worst lineup we've ever seen.

It is worth noting that Aaron Boone still finds a way to get Brett Gardner in the line up over a hot-hitting Clint Frazier.

He also had Luke Voit (the hottest hitter in this lineup) hitting in front of Aaron Hicks and his massive .200 average. The Yankees' evaluation on Hicks is that while he hasn't actually hit the baseball, he knows how to draw walks and get on base. Fair. If that's the case, he should be hitting at the top of the lineup for the power guys to do more damage.

To absolutely no one's surprise this group Boone threw together were on the brink of being no-hit.

I almost wish they did.

Where was Aaron Judge?

Evidently the plan was to have him play in the second game of the double header. So that posed the obvious question: Why would your best player sit the game of a double header that your ace is throwing?

Boone and the analytics department actually thought throwing the B-team out behind their ace was a good idea. Very scary that these same people will be responsible for making lineups in key postseason games in the coming years.

Judge told the Yankees he was 100% healthy BEFORE his stint on the IL, so there's no reason he can't participate in a double-header, especially this year when the game are only seven innings. His playing both games is a little longer than an extra inning game.

My point is simple: an attempt to throw out a pathetic lineup with a dominant starter to "win a low scoring game" was a stupid play. It backfired and now the team need a big start from Masahiro Tanaka in Game Two to pick up the staff's shortcomings.

We'll see if the Yanks can turn it around for game 2 where a .200 hitter hits leadoff instead of inexplicably third.