New York Yankees: Girardi faces difficult decision as Ellsbury returns

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi has a tough decision to make coming up. Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury returns to the lineup, and the skipper will have to find where he fits in.

For the better part of his decade-long tenure as manager for the New York Yankees, Joe Girardi has done about as good a job as can be done when it comes to resting players and balancing playing time.

He’s had to pay special mind to his talented crop of outfielders. He’s had to figure it out between Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury, all of whom could start on any other team in baseball.

Since a team can only start three outfielders, and with Judge, Gardner and Hicks playing so well, the Yankee skipper faces a tough decision on who, if anyone, sits once Ellsbury returns.

The only outfielder out of the three currently healthy that has no chance of being removed from a starting role is Aaron Judge. The right fielder is almost a guaranteed All-Star player at second place in voting for the American League. His production has been incredible for someone his size.

Everyone talks about his 17 home runs and 39 RBI, good for first and third in the American League respectively. However, an overlooked story is his third-best OPS of .420 and OBP of .427 in the American League. He also has an American League-leading 41 runs scored. This has made him the most important player in this Yankee lineup to date.

Last night marked a milestone for Brett Gardner, who collected his 1,000th career hit and continued his unprecedented run through May into the month of June.

Gardner already has 11 home runs, two more than his nine in 2016, and his .278 average and 25 RBI have given the Yankees great production from the leadoff spot. He’s fourth in the American League in runs with 37, and 11th in slugging percentage at .528.