Aaron Boone Considers Seismic Shift to Yankees' Lineup

Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted that he has considered a massive change to his team's starting lineup.

Jul 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) in the dugout against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Given that the New York Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the American League's best record, now may not be the best time for manager Aaron Boone to tinker with his starting lineup.

But amid the Yankees' 11-13 record in July, Boone considered making a massive lineup change to kickstart his squad's offense.

Boone spoke to the media before the Yankees' Wednesday doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels. At one point, he admitted that he "thought about" making Juan Soto and Aaron Judge his lineup's leadoff and second hitter.

"I thought about it over the last couple weeks a little bit," Boone said this potential lineup maneuver, per YES Network. "So I would never say never. Not ready to do it right now but it's something I'd at least consider."

Aaron Boone addresses the media on potentially switching Aaron Judge and Juan Soto's spots in the lineup. pic.twitter.com/VLDWscFdei

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 7, 2024

Judge and Soto have been the Yankees' two best hitters by far this season. In fact, in terms of OPS, Judge (1.157) and Soto (1.019) have been MLB's two best hitters.

Boone has had left-handed Alex Verdugo hitting leadoff of late. He puts Soto after that, Judge in the three-hole, and then catcher Austin Wells batting cleanup.

"I look at it as a lineup as a whole and what makes the most sense for us scoring runs,” Boone added of his lineup construction, per the New York Post. “Scoring runs, we’ve been doing a really good job of that, whether they’re putting on Judge or not.

"So it’s more just — I obsess on trying to have as much balance as I can. So that’ll factor in. Getting [Giancarlo Stanton] back into the mix and getting him going again could factor into that too, when you look at those first four or five hitters in the lineup," he said.

Stanton recently returned to the Yankees' lineup after missing about a month of action due to a strained left hamstring. His returning to the form he showed before his injury would add crucial depth to New York's lineup.

“All things I pay attention to," Boone said about how he can mix and match his Yankees hitters. "But I also feel like offensively we’re in a pretty good place right now that I don’t want to upset it too much. But being mindful of how do we optimize Aaron and Juan the best we possibly can.” 

New York currently has MLB's second-most runs per game in 2024, with 5.13. They'll look to increase that stat during Thursday's game against the Angels.