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Yankees Announce Aaron Judge Lineup Decision After Giancarlo Stanton Injury

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Feb 26, 2025 7:30 PM ET

If New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone ever plans on winning a World Series, at least he has Aaron Judge at his side.

The Yankees won only a single pennant in Boone’s first seven seasons. Judge, 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, and more return to a Yankees team favored to reach their second straight World Series.

Not included in that list, at least for now, is veteran designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. The All-Star slugger remains out with tennis elbow in both arms and recently returned to New York for personal reasons.

Judge hit third in every game last season. However, Boone told Foul Territory that Judge would have a different place in the lineup with Stanton out for the foreseeable future.

“Right now, I’m hitting [Judge] second,” Boone said.

Judge actually hit second more than any other spot in his first nine seasons. According to Baseball-Reference, Judge owns a .282 career average with 173 home runs, 381 RBI, and a stellar .992 OPS across 529 games in the two-hole.

Interestingly, Judge has only hit cleanup nine times in his career.

Boone added he might hit second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. or center fielder Cody Bellinger third, depending on who leads off. It’s unclear what that means for third-year shortstop Anthony Volpe, who hit leadoff 77 times last season.

Co-host Erik Kratz asked what Boone would say if another player volunteered to hit behind Judge.

“I think they all have that,” Boone replied.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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