The Yankees come into play on June 17 with the division lead 15 games over .500. After 70 games, the team enters a new portion of its season as Edwin Encarnación joins the fold.
The slugger comes from Seattle for a cheap price and immediately adds a ton of power to the lineup, even while displacing young gun Clint Frazier. Tomorrow, Giancarlo Stanton rejoins the Bombers. Within a week, hopefully Aaron Judge. The Yankees have an opportunity to go from very good to great on the backs of the awaited reinforcements.
The first game of the new-look Bombers comes against the division-rival Rays, who sit just 0.5 games back heading into Monday’s game. If Tampa Bay takes two of three, the Yankees enter the weekend looking up in the standings. I previewed the Rays earlier today.
Here’s Monday’s lineups:
Rays (43-28)
- Austin Meadows, DH
- Tommy Pham, LF
- Brandon Lowe, 2B
- Avisaíl García, RF
- Ji-Man Choi, 1B
- Kevin Kiermaier, CF
- Willy Adames, SS
- Joey Wendle, 3B
- Mike Zunino, C
RHP Yonny Chirinos
Yankees (43-27)
- DJ LeMahieu, 3B
- Luke Voit, 1B
- Aaron Hicks, CF
- Gary Sánchez, C
- Edwin Encarnacion, DH
- Didi Gregorius, SS
- Gleyber Torres, 2B
- Cameron Maybin, RF
- Brett Gardner, LF
RHP Masahiro Tanaka
Notes
- Encarnación expressed his immediate excitement to joining the Yankees, telling reporters: “We’re going to hit a lot of homers and win a lot of games too.” Love it. I feel sorry for the baseballs.
- Brian Cashman discussed the trade, saying that while it wasn’t an area of need for the Yankees, “it was an upgrade.”
The game is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start on YES and MLB Network for those out of town. There’s rain in the forecast for later in the evening, but it should be dry for first pitch.