WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The odd man out Sunday was Trent Grisham, who was not in the starting lineup against righty Luis Severino.
Every day the Yankees are sitting a player who deserves to start because of the so-called good problem: They have four outfielders and a designated hitter who are all hitting.
It is hard to bench Grisham, Jasson Domínguez or Cody Bellinger, and they cannot remove Aaron Judge’s bat.
If one of that group serves as DH, they would lose Ben Rice’s bat from the order (unless Rice moves to first base, which would push out Paul Goldschmidt).
Rice’s bat also is difficult to pluck from the lineup, a fact reinforced by his fifth-inning grand slam that added some separation in a 12-2 blowout over the A’s at Sutter Health Park.
The dilemma could be solved if, say, Rice (already playable at first and able to catch, subbed in to work with Tyler Matzek in Sunday’s ninth inning) mastered third base, but manager Aaron Boone said they are still not considering asking Rice to play another position.
At least not yet. If everyone stays healthy and Giancarlo Stanton returns, the Yankees would have one more bat to shoehorn into the lineup.
“When we get to a situation, if we got to get a little creative with things, we’ll do that,” Boone said when asked if they have thought about asking Rice or any outfielders to learn second or third base.
Boone has maintained that he is happy with the current configuration, which essentially means that he can afford to give everyone (with the exception of Judge) a day off each week.
“I think so far it’s worked out really well,” Boone said. “Keeping all these guys playing basically every day but also that one day they circle in and get some rest I think is hopefully something that’s valuable moving forward throughout the season and serves us well as we get deep into the season.”
Rice certainly looked fresh in smacking his first career grand slam. The first baseman/DH/catcher has taken pride in bouncing around to find any way into the lineup.
“It’s good to be as flexible as you can, make sure you can be plugged in wherever they need,” he said.
DJ LeMahieu went 1-for-4 with a walk in what may have been his final rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Boone said the infielder “could be” in Seattle with the team beginning Monday.
When LeMahieu is activated, he is expected to see most of his time at second base. Boone said “we’ll see” regarding how often the 36-year-old, who has been so ravaged by injuries the past few years, will play.
“I don’t necessarily see every day, but we’ll see how he’s doing and how he navigates it,” Boone said. “But I definitely see him as a piece of the puzzle.”
LeMahieu’s time will depend on how he is feeling and how he is hitting. After several rough, injury-plagued seasons — he has batted .232 with a .663 OPS since 2023 — he has encouraged during a rehab assignment that has had a hiccup (a hip injection that Boone called “preemptive”) but no true setback.
In nine games with SWB and Double-A Somerset, LeMahieu has gone 12-for-27 (.444) with a homer and a double.
“Hopefully he’s in the best position to give himself a really good chance to be successful,” Boone said.
Jonathan Loáisiga (right elbow surgery recovery) threw a scoreless inning with SWB. He is expected to pitch again Tuesday and could pitch back-to-back days next weekend as he completes a rehab assignment.
“That’s kind of the plan right now,” Boone said of Loáisiga, who has struck out nine and allowed one run in 6 ¹/₃ minor league innings. “But we also feel like he’s also close to ready.”
Boone said he still did not know when Stanton would begin a rehab assignment, but the slugger has been progressing. After taking live at-bats for the first time this year Tuesday, Stanton has been running and hitting off the high-velocity Trajekt machine.
“He’s been ramping up quite a bit this week,” Boone said.
