Yankees lineup shuffle sees Paul Goldschmidt get leadoff chance and he immediately homers
The Yankees’ experiment with Paul Goldschmidt hitting leadoff turned into more than a spring training one-off.With the Yankees facing their first left-handed starter of the season in Nestor Cortes when they resumed their series against the Brewers, manager Aaron Boone gave his Game 1 lineup a complete overhaul — and that included the 37-year-old Goldschmidt opening a game at leadoff for the first time in his career.And it immediately paid off.Goldschmidt homered to left field to start the game before Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge each homered for three straight homers to start the game.
Goldschmidt, who inked a one-year deal in the offseason to become the Yankees’ new first baseman, hit leadoff during a March 22 Grapefruit League game against the Phillies with lefty Jesús Luzardo on the mound, but Boone was noncommittal at the time about his plan for the regular season.On Saturday, that became clear — at least for one game.“Not necessarily,” Boone said pregame when asked if Goldschmidt will hit leadoff against all left-handed pitchers.“Kinda depends.
This is a little unique in who we’re facing and how they’re aligned and everything.… I mean, we could look up in a month or two and somebody else has kind of emerged to become the more natural leadoff spot, but we’ll see.”Catcher Austin Wells — a left-handed hitter — led off the Yankees’ season-opening win against the Brewers on Thursday, and he launched a homer during his first at-bat.
Boone said the Yankees would’ve hit either shortstop Anthony Volpe or Goldschmidt at leadoff Saturday, and he also considered stacking righties at the top of his order.He settled on Goldschmidt — even though Volpe started 76 games as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter in 2024 — and gave him a heads-up Friday night before sending out the order, which also included Volpe hitting fifth and Wells in the No.6 spot.
Pablo Reyes, who earned one of the final bench spots despite opening the spring as a non-ros...