Yankees bump struggling Aaron Judge to No. 2 in lineup

CLEVELAND — For one game at least, Aaron Judge's time as the Yankees' leadoff hitter is over.

Judge was penciled into the No. 2 slot for the Yankees in the pregame lineup turned in by manager Aaron Boone for Game 3 of New York's ALDS series against the Guardians on Saturday.

Boone said he is merely trying to change things up.

«I just wanted to flip that and it's something I woke up to,» Boone said "[Judge] has hit a lot of second in his career, and just wanted to shake that up a little bit."

The change was made after Judge started the series in a 0-for-8 slump that including seven strikeouts over two games. The series is tied 1-1 entering the pivotal third contest at Progressive Field. Second baseman Gleyber Torres will bat first in the revamped lineup.

Perhaps baseball's preeminent power hitter, Judge is a non-traditional hitter to say the least. He batted in the leadoff slot 34 times during the regular season, hitting a robust .366 with 13 homers in that role. The frequency with which he appeared in that slot increased as the season progressed, generating a few extra plate appearances for Judge during his successful chase of the American League home run record. Judge was batting leadoff on Oct. 4, when he hit his record-breaking 62nd homer, breaking a tie with Roger Maris.

Injuries to DJ LeMahieu and Andrew Benintendi played into the decision to use Judge in the leadoff spot, but overall the Yankees went 23-11 with him batting first.

LeMahieu and Benintendi are still injured and New York struggled to score against a formidable Guardians pitching staff over the first two games, at least in part to Judge's slow start to the series.

«I think he's just a tick off, timing wise,» Boone said. «I'm looking forward to him going