BRONX, NY — Aaron Boone had the long flight from Los Angeles back to New York to consider potential changes in his lineup after his Yankees fell behind the Dodgers 2-0 in the 2024 World Series.
Potentially shifting Aaron Judge down the lineup was not one of those options.
“It’s the World Series. That’s our guy,” Boone said on Monday ahead of Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. “There’s pressure in the series wherever spot you’re hitting. He’s our guy, and I’m confident he’ll get it going.”
The wait for Judge to click has been an excruciating one for the Yankees and their fans. The likely 2024 American League MVP is batting .150 this postseason, including a timid 1-for-9 with six strikeouts across the first two games of the World Series.
Judge said himself that this sort of slump is something that “definitely eats at you.”
Yet Boone will remain steadfast in penciling the slugger in at the No. 3 spot of the Bronx Bombers’ lineup, even though he has slowed down multiple rallies in recent nights batting behind Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto.
Giancarlo Stanton is the logical choice to move up into Judge’s spot. The ALCS MVP has six home runs and 14 RBI across his first 11 postseason games this October. To ensure a lefty-righty split, Boone could dispatch either Jazz Chisholm or Anthony Rizzo into the cleanup spot with Judge batting fifth.
“I considered a couple different things,” Boone said. “But that was not one of the iterations.”
The message is clear-cut: Boone will live and die by the star that got him here in his designated spot in the lineup. But the Yankees’ toes are at the edge of the cliff and the abyss of a World Series loss is staring back at them.
Getting to the World Series is fine for some teams, but that is not good enough for a Yankees franchise that has gone 15 years without a title.
“It’s what you know being here. It’s a part of the beauty of it. There’s tremendous expectations for good reasons. You try to run to those and embrace it and work really hard to have an opportunity to do this and compete for a world championship. When you’re in it, you’re nose down trying to achieve that ultimate goal.”
