The New York Yankees are sticking to their plan at the leadoff spot in the batting order for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
After facing Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta on Opening Day in The Bronx, featuring a lineup that had Austin Wells in the leadoff spot, the Yankees are continuing their surprising experiment as they prepare to face former fan-favorite Nestor Cortes.
With Cortes throwing from the left side, the Yankees made some big changes to the lineup. The biggest notable move was putting seven-time All-Star Paul Goldschmidt in the leadoff spot, something he’s never done in his 14-year career.
Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge will switch spots, putting the latter in the three-hole while Jazz Chisholm moves to the cleanup spot. Wells moves down from leadoff to the six-hole while Trent Grisham gets the start in center field, moving Bellinger to left and rookie phenom Jasson Dominguez to designated hitter.
Putting Goldschmidt in the leadoff spot is certainly a peculiar move. The Yankees don’t have a typical leadoff hitter for the 2025 season, which is why having Wells hold that role was an unprecedented move on Opening Day. He rewarded the Yankees with a historic leadoff home run to spark a 4-2 win.
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The idea behind Goldschmidt hitting leadoff is his success against left-handed pitchers. Even in a down year in 2024, the former MVP still logged a .366 OBP and .839 OPS against southpaws.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but this is a move that will be heavily monitored to begin the season.
Yankees starting lineup
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Cody Bellinger, LF
- Aaron Judge, RF
- Jazz Chisholm, 2B
- Anthony Volpe, SS
- Austin Wells, C
- Pablo Reyes, 3B
- Jasson Dominguez, DH
- Trent Grisham, CF
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