If what you were missing in your life was a 2,000-plus-word deep dive into the Yankees finding a righty bat, do I have a column for you.
Let’s start here: Do they actually need two righty bats?
1. The ideal would be someone who could play multiple positions among first base, third base and the outfield while limiting strikeouts. Fully healthy, the Yankees’ primary lineup is going to have six lefty bats, including at both corner infield positions (Ben Rice/Ryan McMahon) and two in the outfield (Cody Bellinger/Trent Grisham). McMahon and Grisham, in particular, are players unlikely to start against many lefties.
2. Last season, with Rice, J.C. Escarra and Austin Wells, the Yankees became the first team in MLB history to have every plate appearance from their catchers come from the left side. All three are back — though Rice is earmarked to play as the primary first baseman. A righty bat to team with Wells would offer better balance and allow them to use Escarra in a trade or put him at Triple-A for depth.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
