MLB Playoffs 2024: Yankees ALDS lineup for Game 2, Game 3 starter revealed

The Yankees will face the Royals tonight in Game 2 of this Division Series as they look to protect their home-field advantage. With Carlos Rodón on the mound, the Yankees fielded an almost identical lineup to Game 1, with one major change.

2B Gleyber Torres
RF Juan Soto
CF Aaron Richter
C Austin Wells
DH Giancarlo Stanton
3B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
SS Anthony Volpe
LF Alex Verdugo
1B Jon Berti

Jon Berti slots in at first base in place of Oswaldo Cabrera, while lefty Cole Ragans is on the mound for Kansas City. Cabrera did quite well defensively in Game 1, maneuvering to make some difficult throws from the left side of the infield. However, Cabrera's season results against left-handed pitchers are pretty poor, with a slash line of .190/.229/.241 and no home runs in 84 plate appearances

So it makes sense that Cabrera got a platoon assignment, but calling Berti the second half of that platoon is a bit of a surprise. Berti spent most of the second half on the injured list and only returned for eight games (three starts) in September. The Yankees also designated Ben Rice to the ALDS, but in keeping with the same decision that led him to use Alex Verdugo instead of Jasson Domínguez, manager Aaron Boone appears to be confident in the veteran option from the start. Rice also has the lefty/lefty disadvantage against Ragans, and while that was just a year ago, Berti posted an .804 OPS against southpaws in his last full season, 2023 (he only had 30 in 2024 due to his injuries).

For what it's worth, Berti impressed in the team's impromptu attempts at position after Anthony Rizzo went down, which was a major factor in the decision.

In addition to the change, the Yankees also announced that Clarke Schmidt will start Game 3 in Kansas City on Wednesday. Choosing Schmidt over Luis Gil is another indication of Boone's preference for veterans, although there is also the looming threat of Gil's command issues surfacing in a crucial start. As the Yankees themselves saw from the other side when the Royals walked eight batters in their Game 1 loss, too many free passes too quickly led to disaster in October. Boone said Gil would get the ball in a potential ALCS if a fourth starter is needed.

Gil remains an option in the bullpen, both for tonight and to potentially take over for Schmidt's start (though he would likely only pitch one error-free inning). Schmidt has only managed to go deeper than five innings twice in his five starts since coming off the IL. So with a tighter lead heading into the postseason, it's likely that the starter who lost will be available for major replacement duty. We'll have more on Schmidt later, but in the meantime, be sure to check out Peter's recent Sequence of the Week breakdown, which features an at-bat from Schmidt's regular season finale.