Yankees superstar and 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge has been a right fielder throughout his MLB career. He dabbled some in center field before 2022 and then last season played 78 games there. Still, he's never appeared even an inning in left field in his major-league career.
That could change in 2023, according to Judge and the Yankees. Specifically, now with Harrison Bader as their everyday center fielder, playing Giancarlo Stanton in right field could help maximize the New York offense.
"I did mention it to him, if we need to get Big G in right field at Yankee Stadium, put me in left," Judge said, via ESPN. "I don't mind it. I don't mind switching around so we can have (Harrison) Bader, me, and Big G out there. So, we'll get some reps in spring training and (get) comfortable out there"
"I'm open to things like that, especially in the home ballpark. So, we'll see." manager Aaron Boone added. "I would say I'm at least considering it. We'll just kind of see how that goes. No decision on that yet but it's something on my board."
Judge's starts last year broke down as follows:
74 in center field54 in right field25 at designated hitterPrior to last season, however, he had only started 22 games in center. The move was a necessity, basically, due to covering for various injuries. With a fully healthy Bader and Aaron Hicks back in the mix, there shouldn't be a need for Judge in the middle. The odds are he'll mostly stay in right field, but it's entirely possible that Judge seeing time in left field -- especially in Yankee Stadium, as Boone mentioned -- would benefit the club.
As we all know by now, left field in Yankee Stadium is much more spacious than right field with that short porch. If Stanton needs to be used in the outfield, that's the best spot to limit his activity. Stanton will be the everyday designated hitter, of course, but a possible infield glut might push the Yankees to use Stanton in the outfield.
A possible, regular infield could be Anthony Rizzo at first, Gleyber Torres at second, Oswald Peraza at shortstop and Josh Donaldson at third. That leaves no spot for D.J. LeMahieu. If everyone is healthy and hitting at his full capacity, it probably makes the most sense to DH LeMahieu. As such, plugging Stanton in right and Judge in left would be the play.
After seeing how well Judge adapted to center last season, there shouldn't be much issue moving to left. His only professional experience in left is seven Triple-A games in 2016, so it would be a bit of an experiment. The time to try it would be in the next few weeks in spring training.
