The New York Yankees are turning to Amed Rosario on Tuesday as they open a series against the Athletics, with manager Aaron Boone saying on the Talkin' Yanks podcast that Rosario would be in the lineup for the series opener. Right-hander Cam Schlittler was scheduled to start for New York, while right-hander Aaron Civale was set to take the ball for Oakland.
The move comes with Ryan McMahon still searching for production. He had only two hits in 23 at-bats at the time, was hitting.087 with a 30 wRC+, no home runs and two RBI, and had struck out 37.9 percent of the time. Rosario, meanwhile, was hitting.167 with a minus-24 wRC+ in just seven plate appearances, but the matchup pointed Boone toward a change.
Gary Phillips wrote that Rosario made sense in the lineup because Civale has reverse splits for his career, with a.733 OPS against right-handed hitters and a.716 OPS against left-handed hitters. That matters because McMahon had been the Yankees' third baseman after being traded for last year, at least against right-handers, and the decision reads more like a temporary benching or a mental reset than a permanent one.
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The Yankees do not need a long-term answer on Tuesday night. They need a third baseman who can give them something against Civale, and Boone chose Rosario to try to do it.
