The New York Yankees made a change to Luis Garcia Jr. and their lineup ahead of their series against the Atlanta Braves.
New York is set to kick off a three-game home series against the Braves in a pivotal matchup. Ahead of the series opener on Friday night, the Yankees revealed their lineup, and Garcia is hitting cleanup and playing first base. He was hitting third in the team’s last game.
The Yankees lineup is as follows:
- T. Grisham CF
- B. Rice DH
- H. Ramos LF
- L. García Jr. 1B
- J. Chisholm Jr. 2B
- S. Jones RF
- G. Lombard Jr. SS
- R. McMahon 3B
- A. Wells C
Garcia has been a bright spot for the Yankees since the team acquired him at the trade deadline. He’s become the team’s regular first baseman, with Ben Rice taking over as DH and Paul Goldschmidt seemingly becoming a bench bat.
Garcia is hitting .283 with 24 home runs and 78 RBIs. With the Yankees, he’s hitting .273 with 1 home run and 2 RBIs in 3 games.
Garcia Making Immediate Impact for Yankees
New York acquired Garcia from the Washington Nationals, and he’s made an immediate impact for the team.
The slugger hit a home run in his first game with the Yankees, and he impressed manager Aaron Boone right away.
“In a lot of ways, it was good to see us swing the bat like this,” Boone said. “I thought we had a lot of good at-bats, obviously highlighted by Luis. Giving us the lead there, it was an awesome way to debut. Hopefully there’s a lot more of that to come.”
Garcia, meanwhile, was also eager to be traded to the Yankees and play for a historic franchise.
“I’m so fortunate for this opportunity,” García said through translator Marlon Abreu. “A lot of people know that I was born here in New York and that I spent a good chunk of my life here in New York. I was very happy to hear the news that I was going to come and join the Yankees.”
Garcia, however, also had plenty of expectations on him after the Yankees acquired him to bolster their offense.
“He’s been a wrecking ball in the National League this year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He becomes an instant presence in our lineup. We’ve had our struggles offensively for a good stretch now, and we think he helps that a lot.”
So far, Garcia has lived up to the hype, and he’s now batting cleanup.
New York Signs Veteran Catcher
The Yankees also made an intriguing move on Friday.
New York signed veteran catcher Mitch Garver to a Minor League deal, according to multiple reports.
Garver was released by the Seattle Mariners earlier this week and quickly latched on with the Yankees, who were searching for a catcher upgrade. The veteran has struggled to hit this season, as he had a .175/.302/.294 slash line with 4 home runs in 50 games.
Yet, Garver is a former Silver Slugger Award winner, so it is a low-risk, potential high reward move for the Yankees.
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