The boss made the right call. The odd man out gracefully took the fall.
Now can the chosen ones stand tall?
All right, let’s not get too poetic over a decision that is anything besides revolutionary. But this constitutes Joe Girardi’s first major tactical decision of 2016, and rain postponed Girardi’s first game of 2016, so here we are. Given that the Yankees’ 2015 season ended with a meek, 3-0 defeat against these same Astros and their ace Dallas Keuchel, it would provide a boost of sorts for Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Hicks to lead the Yankees to an Opening Day victory.
“We didn’t have a lot of success off of him last year, so I thought I’d try something different, is really what it came down to,” Girardi said Monday morning in a Yankee Stadium news conference, before everyone went home with the intention of trying again on Tuesday.
You’d have to think it also came down to not wanting to royally diss Ellsbury, the $153 million man, for a second straight game (sandwiched around a five-month break). Yet the fact Gardner struck out all three times — twice swinging, once looking — against Keuchel in the Oct. 6, 2015, American League wild-card game provides the manager with sufficient coverage that he needn’t admit that.
It helped, too, that Gardner already was at the Stadium when the Yankees announced the schedule change and, fitting of his gift for saying the right thing, fell on his sword.
“I wasn’t too good against him in the wild-card game, in case any of you guys didn’t notice,” said Gardner, who is 0-for-7 lifetime against Keuchel. “Obviously, Hicks swings the bat well versus lefties. I wasn’t expecting to be in there.”
Hicks has to be in this lineup. You don’t trade a promising catcher like John Ryan Murphy to the Twins for Hicks and then not play him against the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Keuchel, a lefty, because “It’s Opening Day!” Not when Hicks put up a .307/.375/.495 slash line against southpaws last year and has two hits, including a homer, in five at-bats against Keuchel (thanks, Baseball-Reference.com).
“If it’s the second day of the season, it’s not a big deal,” Girardi said. “But because it’s Opening Day, and what Gardy has meant to this organization, it is a big deal. I feel for him. But this is the reason we traded for Hicks.
EllsburyAP“On days we face lefties, Ells or Gardy, one of them will get a day off. It keeps them fresh and strong, and obviously you don’t worry about where they are physically because they haven’t played 100 games. But it’s why we went and got him.”
Don’t forget that the switch-hitting Carlos Beltran, who turns 39 this month, also figures to accrue some bumps and bruises that will keep him out of some games against lefty pitchers.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Gardner said. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I don’t want to start Opening Day because obviously I do. But I understand where Joe’s coming from and respect his decision. If I was better against lefties … if I had looked better against him, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about that. So I can handle that. It’s on me.
“If I want to play every single day and not come out of the lineup, play a little better.”
This lineup will feature a quartet of changes from last October’s: Ellsbury for Gardner, Hicks for Chris Young, Mark Teixeira for Greg Bird and Starlin Castro for Rob Refsnyder. On paper, the changes give the Yankees a better chance against Keuchel. Can they honor their improved odds? For a franchise that has lost four straight season openers, affirmation for even just one game would feel pretty good.
