Yankees couldn’t have made a worse left field decision ahead of ALDS opener

The New York Yankees might've gone 94-68 and clinched the No. 1 seed in the AL, but that does not mean that they don't have any flaws as a team. Their rotation has big names, but outside of Gerrit Cole, is shaky. Their bullpen has underwhelmed virtually all season long. The first base position leaves a lot to be desired especially with Anthony Rizzo's injury. Left field might be the biggest problem of them all, though.

Yankees left fielders ranked 24th in the majors with an 86 WRC+ and 21st with 0.9 fWAR in the regular season, leaving a whole lot to be desired. The only other team that made it to the ALDS and ranked lower in both of those statistics in left field is the Kansas City Royals, the team New York is set to face on Saturday.

Knowing how dire the left field situation is, Aaron Boone's decision in terms of who to start there was not an easy one to make. There was, however, a very clear choice. To the surprise of nobody, Boone made the wrong one, choosing Alex Verdugo to start in left field in Saturday's series opener according to Andy Martino of SNY.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Yankees decision to start Alex Verdugo in ALDS opener makes no sense

Boone had three choices to choose from in regard to who starts in left field. He could've chosen to prioritize offense and upside by starting Jasson Dominguez. He could've chosen to prioritize defense by starting Trent Grisham. He could've chosen to prioritize none of those things by starting Verdugo. Guess what Boone chose?

At this point, it's safe to ask the question of what does Alex Verdugo actually do to warrant starting in a playoff game for the New York Yankees. The answer is really hard to find.

Since May 1, Verdugo ranks 133rd out of 136 qualified hitters with a 72 WRC+. He ranks 132nd among those same 136 qualified hitters with -0.1 fWAR. He has been not only one of the four worst hitters in the majors since the start of May, but he has been one of the five worst overall players judged by fWAR. That factors in his overall output as a player, not just as a hitter.

If the Yankees wanted to prioritize offense and upside, they could've started Dominguez in left field. Sure, he didn't hit much in his short stint since being recalled on September 9, but the potential is abundantly clear, and he even stole five bases in his brief action. Verdugo offers next to no offensive upside, and stole two bases all year.

Dominguez's defense is shaky at best in left field, but Verdugo ranked in the 50th percentile with 0 OAA according to Baseball Savant, making him an average defender. Dominguez is not an average defender right now, but wouldn't you take his offensive upside and speed over Verdugo being a clear negative as a hitter and only a decent defender? New York's shortcomings in October have had a lot more to do with their lack of hitting rather than their subpar defense. Dominguez can prove to be a major spark plug for the Yankees in October. There's a reason he was such a highly-regarded prospect that the Yankees have held out of trade talks.

Even if the Yankees wanted to prioritize defense over offense, why couldn't Trent Grisham start? Grisham, a two-time Gold Glove winner, doesn't offer much with the bat, but neither does Verdugo. He does, however, offer more with the glove than Verdugo. What makes matters worse is that Grisham had a higher WRC+ for the full season (91) than Verdugo did (83) by a fairly sizable margin. Verdugo is the hitter with a much better track record offensively, but if Grisham is hitting better right now and is a better defender, what is Verdugo's argument?

If the argument is that Verdugo should start because he's a left-handed hitter with the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium, both Grisham and Dominguez can hit left-handed (with Dominguez being a switch-hitter). Verdugo also has a higher road OPS (.665) than home (.628) this season. If the argument is that Verdugo has seen Royals starter Michael Wacha more than the others, that's true, but he has three hits in 11 at-bats against him, nothing extraordinary.

If it were up to me, starting Dominguez would be a no-brainer. The Yankees are at their best when their lineup is deep and not everything revolves around the duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. By inserting Verdugo over Dominguez, they're taking away some of their offensive upside. Defense is a concern, and can be mitigated by taking the youngster out of games in which they hold late leads. That's when Boone can insert a guy like Grisham or Verdugo into the outfield.

Verdugo starting in Game 1 does not mean that he'll be starting every day. There's a good chance Boone will tinker with this until something sticks. The fact that he's starting with Verdugo, however, suggests that he has little to no faith in the others, which, when looking at how bad Verdugo has been for much of this season, is a problem.

None of the three options are ideal, but Boone chose the third-best one.