Yankees Facing Lineup Decisions Ahead of Opening Day

The New York Yankees are looking to compete during the 2026 MLB season. While they are returning a fairly similar roster to last year's squad, New York expects to make a deep postseason run. Lineup placement will be of the utmost importance for the ball club in order to maximize position players' abilities at the plate.

Manager Aaron Boone has a number of different lineups he could realistically go with. The lineup will be built around superstar Aaron Judge. In all reality, having Judge hit in any three of the top lineup spots makes sense. Of course, having a star behind him for lineup protection will be important.

Looking beyond Judge, there are other crucial decisions that Boone and the Yankees will need to make.

Yankees' Potential 2026 Lineup

Judge is capable of batting leadoff. Having him hit second could make more sense, though. Perhaps a player such as Trent Grisham will lead off. Cody Bellinger, who is the second best hitter on the Yankees, will follow Judge in the lineup.

Having Grisham, Judge and Bellinger lead the way would give the Yankees a left, right, left look to start the lineup. That would cause matchup concerns for opposing teams late in games.

Giancarlo Stanton is a candidate to bat clean-up. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice may bat fifth and sixth. The bottom of the lineup will likely include Austin Wells, Jose Caballero and Ryan McMahon in some order.

McMahon is especially interesting. He has displayed signs of stardom in the past. If he can start the year strong, it would not be surprising to see him moved up in the batting order. If he struggles, McMahon could see an overall decrease in playing time at some point during the season.

Boone will be able to mix and match depending on the opposing ball club's pitcher as well. Players such as Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario will probably start some games. If a tough left-handed pitcher is on the mound, Boone may turn to Goldschmidt at first base over Rice.

New York features a respectable amount of versatility in the lineup. Boone can try different things. The lineup on Opening Day does not have to stay the same all season long.

As for Opening Day, The Yankees will start the new campaign on Wednesday night against the Giants in San Francisco. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM EST.