New York Yankees best starting lineup is very good

First Base

Coming out of last year’s spring training the plan was to alternate Luke Voit and Bird, with DJ LeMahieu occasionally filling in. It didn’t play out that way because of the many injuries which afflicted New York. For the majority of 2019, Voit held down first. A late-season hernia injury sidelined him and although he made it back, Voit wasn’t at full strength so the Yankees sat him for most of the playoffs.

One of the revelations from last season was Mike Ford. Seemingly out of nowhere Ford stepped up when others fell prey to the injury bug. His .909 OPS was second-best on the team. Ford could is the left-handed compliment to Voit that Bird couldn’t be.

1B – Voit/Ford platoon

Middle Infield

Ideally, the New York Yankees would bring back Gregorius. That is far from a gimmie after they let his contract expire. Didi missed the first half of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. Losing their incumbent shortstop wasn’t the problem it should have been. Gleyber Torres moved from second to short, while Gregorius was out, and made the AL All-Star team.

Meanwhile, LeMahieu came to New York and had an MVP-esque season. He hit .327 with 26 home runs, 109 runs scored, and 102 RBI. Three gold gloves at second means he is no slouch defensively. A middle infield of Torres and LeMahieu may be the best in the Majors.

2B – LeMahieu

SS – Torres 

Third Base

Miguel Andujar was the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2018. He made it three games into 2019 before a shoulder injury (torn labrum) took him out. The third baseman busted his tail to rehab and came back for a week in May. He was clearly not the same player. It was decided that surgery was the way to go and his season ended.

Meanwhile, Gio Urshela, a journeyman with 466 at-bats in three seasons and a career .225 batting average took over. Pinstripes must have agreed with him. Urshela put up a slash line of .314/.355/.534/.889. That was even better than Andujar’s outstanding season the year prior.

3B – Andujar. He has been the subject of many trade rumors. Since the Yankees have not made it public that they will definitely trade him, a move out of town isn’t a sure thing. It will be a heck of a battle, but Andujar is younger with more pop so he wins the job. Nevertheless, Urshela will make a couple of starts every week.