The Yankees are expected to be one of the top teams in baseball in 2019, and their Opening Day lineup provided a few key talking points ahead of their game against the Orioles.
Your 2019 New York Yankees #OpeningDay lineup: pic.twitter.com/cyAoxNaMu6
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 28, 2019
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New shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, 34, is slotted to bat ninth in the order after not playing a game for 20 months as he dealt with foot and leg injuries as a member of the Blue Jays.
“I’ve been through a lot the last couple years and I’ve battled back from that,” Tulowitzki said Wednesday (via the team’s website). “To get a chance to take the field on Opening Day [Thursday] has a lot of meaning.”
Tulowitzki is expected to be pushed to the bench when Didi Gregorius fully recovers from offseason Tommy John surgery, but manager Aaron Boone is excited about putting a healthy version of Tulowitzki on the diamond.
"This is a guy that you can tell baseball means the world to him; it's what he knows, what he's lived," Boone said. "The fact that he's healthy, I do think that he's eager to prove that he's got a lot left in the tank. I'll still be cautious with him. He's going to have his days off, especially here early, but I feel as he walks in that clubhouse today, he's in a good place, a good frame of mind and eager to go prove it to the world."
Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star, had a nice spring training batting .242 with four home runs and eight RBIs in 14 games.
Yankees fans also got insight into how much Boone values the bats of Luke Voit and Miguel Andujar, placing them at fourth and fifth in the lineup, respectively, ahead of slugging catcher Gary Sanchez.
Voit is slotted to DH, while Greg Bird returns to first base (batting seventh) for the pinstripes after an injury-riddled 2018.
"Well, they're both going to play," Boone said of Bird and Voit (via WFAN). "I think they'll both be a part of that mix, along with DJ LeMahieu, where they're basically playing almost every day. Probably initially, Birdy will be out there against lefties. You spell Voit here and there. LeMahieu is going to bounce around all over the place.
"(We're going to) just kind of lay it out matchup-wise, trying to keep everyone playing regularly while also taking advantage of a day off here and there."
First pitch against the Orioles is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium.