Amed Rosario will start at third base and bat fifth Wednesday against the Red Sox, keeping him in the Yankees lineup for a sixth straight game. Ryan McMahon is getting the night off.
The move is the latest sign that Rosario has carved out a temporary hold on a regular role, helped in large part by the Yankees facing five left-handed starters during this stretch. The 30-year-old has made the most of it, batting.250/.302/.500 with three home runs, nine RBI and five runs across 53 plate appearances this season.
Rosario has mostly worked in a part-time role this year, so this run of starts has been tied closely to the matchup. That makes Wednesday's lineup choice less about a permanent shift than about a player staying in place while the schedule and opposing pitching break his way.
The next test is whether Rosario can keep producing once the left-handed starters disappear from the other side of the matchup. If he does, the Yankees will have a harder choice than the one they made for Wednesday night.