The New York Yankees’ lineup gets better on Monday night, but it also leaves somebody out in the cold.
Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is slated to make his season debut after missing the team’s first 70 games due to double tennis elbow. He’ll bat fifth in the Yankees’ home game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Just as noteworthy as Stanton’s inclusion, though, is the exclusion of a seven-time All-Star.
Paul Goldschmidt, the Yankees’ most commonly used first baseman so far this season, is out of the lineup against right-handed Angels starter José Soriano. Goldschimidt, a righty himself, has hefty platoon splits so far this season.
On Monday, FanSided’s Rucker Haringey predicted that the Yankees’ latest lineup signals an upcoming trend, and that Goldschmidt will see significantly less playing time moving forward than he has all season.
“Expect Goldschmidt to get more days off than he’d like when Stanton comes back. It will be an easy decision for Boone to swap (lefty Ben) Rice for Goldschmidt whenever the team comes up against an elite right-handed starter,” Haringey wrote.
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“That might serve to depress Goldschmidt’s raw regular season numbers but it should increase the likelihood of him being healthy and at his best when the postseason rolls around. That’s what should really be important for both the Yankees and Goldschmidt at this stage of his career.”
The 37-year-old Goldschmidt, who has appeared in every game for the Yankees so far, owns a .677 OPS in 203 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers versus a 1.224 mark in 81 plate appearances against lefties.
While it could be seen as a slight to a veteran with the decorated resume Goldschmidt has, stripping him of at-bats against righties as opposed to Rice, whose OPS is .817 against them, probably makes sense.
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