A Look At The Yankees 2020 Roster: Outfield, DH
By: Sarah Krulicki
Let’s take a look and breakdown the Outfielders and Designated Hitters for the 2020 Yankees.
Left Field: Giancarlo Stanton
Stanton is typically placed in the DH spot; however, the plan is play Stanton more in Left Field. Although Giancarlo only played 13 games in the outfield, he had a fielding percentage of .938 with 15 putouts and just 1 error. Stanton’s size and strength and athleticism is comparable with Aaron Judge, and the Yankees should run him out to Left Field at minimum a couple of times per week. In 2018, Stanton played 72 games in the outfield and had a fielding percentage of .992 with 111 putouts and one error. A healthy Stanton should also be a 35–100 threat.
Center Field: Brett Gardner
Aaron Hicks is still recovering from the Tommy John surgery he had in the offseason, and is expected to be out until at least June. It’s likely Gardner plays a lot of Center Field until Hicks returns. Gardner still has pretty good speed, compared to his younger teammates, which will help cover a lot of ground when Stanton is in LF. Gardner also had one of his better years at the dish in 2019, with a batting average of .251 with 28 homeruns, 74 RBIs and .325 OBP.
Right Field: Aaron Judge
Judge will be in Right Field, and will arguably remain in this position for the foreseeable future. Judge still impresses with his swing, sporting a batting average of .272, 27 homeruns, 55 RBIs and .381 OBP. Considering the abdominal injury Judge had in 2019, which many Yankees fans thought would cause him to miss remainder of the season, he certainly showed his athleticism by coming back strong and playing well down the stretch. Judge also had a fielding percentage of 1.000, with 177 putouts and no errors.
With Aaron Hick recovering from Tommy John surgery, Mike Tauchman is a near shoe-in as the fourth outfielder. Tauchman will more than likely rotate between Left and Center Field. Tauchman’s performance in 2019 was very impressive, with a batting average of .277 and a fielding percentage of .994 with 156 putouts and only one error. Cashman originally sought out Tauchman for his defensive skills, no one quite anticipated his offensive skills too.
DH: Potentially Giancarlo Stanton or Luke Voit
The Yankees will rotate Stanton in the DH spot, which makes plenty of sense considering his powerful bat; however, don’t be surprised to see Voit playing in the DH spot as well. Last year, Voit’s defensive numbers dulled compared to Edwin Encarnacion or DJ LeMahieu; however, Voit finished his 2019 season with a .263 batting average, with 21 homeruns, 62 RBI’s, and .378 OBP. Although Stanton did not play much in 2019 due to injury, he did finish 2019 with a batting average of .288
It’s not clear who will take over the DH spot for majority of the 2020 season, as the plan is to likely rotate it among several regulars.
The Yankees outfield/DH is pretty set and should put up impressive numbers in 2020.
