The New York Yankees take on the Minnesota Twins in Grapefruit League action on Thursday afternoon, and they are rolling out a lineup very similar to the one that we could see on Opening Day (March 27).
The Yankees have catcher Austin Wells hitting leadoff, with Aaron Judge serving as the DH. Cody Bellinger is in right field and Paul Goldschmidt is at first. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is playing second base with Anthony Volpe at shortstop and Jasson Dominguez in left field. Trent Grisham is in center with Oswaldo Cabrera at third.
Giancarlo Stanton is battling injuries to both elbows and will begin the year on the injured list and DJ LeMahieu has been shut down from baseball activity.
According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, if this is the Yankees Opening Day lineup, it will make team history.
This may be the Opening Day lineup … and the Yankees have never had a regular season lineup with a catcher batting in the leadoff spot.
Wells, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Yankees (2020) out of Arizona. He made his major league debut in 2023 and became the Yankees primary backstop in 2024.
He played in 115 games as the Yankees got to the World Series, hitting .229 with 13 homers and 55 RBI. He posted a .322 on-base percentage.
After acquiring Goldschmidt, Bellinger, Max Fried and Devin Williams this offseason, the Yankees have lofty goals again this season. They were beaten in five games last October by the Los Angeles Dodgers.