Yankees elimination game lineup sets table for one final Aaron Boone mistake

Objectively, it isn't Aaron Boone's fault that the New York Yankees have the difficult task of needing to beat the Toronto Blue Jays twice without losing to advance to the ALCS. The Yankees have gotten poor starting pitching, and for the first two games of this series, their timely hitting was mostly lacking.

With that being said, Boone is far from flawless as a manager, as Yankees fans know all too well. His lineup in Game 4 could lead to a familiar mistake.

Most of this lineup makes sense. I especially like that Boone alternated left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters from top to bottom, making life incredibly difficult for Blue Jays manager John Schneider in what's a bullpen game for Toronto. There is one notable omission from the lineup, though - Ben Rice.

Rice has sat once in this year's postseason, and that proved to be a mistake. Boone could be making another mistake by leaving him out with the season on the line.

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Aaron Boone's Ben Rice gamble could backfire on Yankees

This is, unquestionably, a risk. Ben Rice is in the middle of a rough stretch, recording two hits in his last 14 at-bats with seven strikeouts, but he hit 26 home runs and had a 131 OPS+ in the regular season. He was, undeniably, one of the best bats in New York's lineup all year.

The reasons he's out of the lineup are threefold. He's struggled lately, benching him allows them to be more balanced in the lineup, and benching him keeps his big bat on the bench, able to be used at any moment. While these all make some sense in theory, what if the perfect moment never arrives?

We saw this happen in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.

Aaron Boone is repeating a familiar Ben Rice mistake

Rice sat in New York's postseason opener against Boston Red Sox Cy Young candidate Garrett Crochet. The rationale behind that decision was not wanting to play Rice, a left-handed hitter, against Crochet, one of the best pitchers in the game, who dominates left-handed hitters. Boone's goal with that decision was to find a spot for Rice to do damage on the bench. Unfortunately, that moment never came, as Crochet dominated the Yankees through 7.2 innings, and then left-handed reliever Alex Cora recorded the final four outs. Rice never appeared in the game.

It's more likely that Rice will appear in this game, but is that really a guarantee? The Blue Jays are running a bullpen game, but the bulk reliever is expected to be Eric Lauer, a left-hander. They have three other left-handers in their bullpen. Their best relievers are right-handed, but who knows when or even if they'll enter the game? Who knows what the score will be if or when Boone has a chance to hit Rice against a righty?

There are only certain players Boone would use Rice as a pinch-hitter for, and it's impossible to know if the right moment will ever come up. If I'm managing an elimination game, I'd want to make sure my 26-home run hitter appears in the game when it's within reach, even if he has to have an at-bat or two against a left-hander (Rice isn't a terrible hitter vs. LHP either).

It'll be fascinating to see how this game unfolds. If the Yankees lose without Rice playing a role with the game within striking distance for a second time this postseason, that'd be a bad look for Boone.