The New York Yankees play their home opener on Friday, taking on the Miami Marlins in a matchup of two of the only three MLB teams to boast 5-1 records after their first six games of 2026. On Friday morning, the Yankees announced their starting lineup for the game, the 18th home opener at the New Yankee Stadium, and the 126th in franchise history.
Despite getting off to one of the slowest starts of his career, Yankees captain Aaron Judge was scheduled to be in the starting lineup. Judge would announced to hit in the coveted No. 2 spot in the New York batting order, his usual spot.
Judge Has Struggled in the Early Stages of the 2026 Season
Though the Yankees come into their home opener off a near-perfect six-game road trip to start the 2026 season, Judge, the reigning back-to-back American League MVP, was one of the weak spots in the New York batting order. Coming to the plate 25 times, he managed just three hits and a walk, and even got himself caught stealing in his lone attempt, while striking out 11 times.
Obviously, the Yankees will need to get Judge on track if they want to maintain their torrid pace to open the season. Philip Martinez of the New York sports network SNY lists “Can Aaron Judge get it going?” as the No. 1 item on his “5 things to watch” in the three-game series against the Marlins.
“Judge has two home runs in the early going, but the reigning AL MVP has done little else for the Yankees,” Martinez wrote. “Perhaps some home cooking can help Judge get his bat going. Judge getting off to a slow start isn’t new, but coming back to the Bronx could be just what he needs.”
Judge has not hit safely since his final at-bat against the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
Yankees Announce Batting Order for Home Opener
The Yankees will be facing 22-year-old Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez, who is now two years removed from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season. Pérez was the Marlins’ No. 1 prospect, and No. 13 overall according to MLB Pipeline, before making his major league debut in 2023 at age 20.
Nonetheless, Judge will be right back in the lineup in the two-hole against Pérez.
Here is the Yankees’ announced batting order for Friday’s home opener. The final, official order will be posted here as soon as it is released by the Yankees.
1. Trent Grisham â L, CF â AVG .200 / OBP .304 / OPS .654
2. Aaron Judge â R, RF â AVG .125 / OBP .160 / OPS .535
3. Cody Bellinger â L, LF â AVG .286 / OBP .400 / OPS .781
4. Ben Rice â L, 1B â AVG .412 / OBP .524 / OPS 1.289
5. Giancarlo Stanton â R, DH â AVG .500 / OBP .500 / OPS 1.250
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. â L, 2B â AVG .174 / OBP .208 / OPS .382
7. Austin Wells â L, C â AVG .188 / OBP .235 / OPS .423
8. José Caballero â R, SS â AVG .190 / OBP .227 / OPS .417
9. Ryan McMahon â L, 3B â AVG .067 / OBP .176 / OPS .243
In two career plate appearances against Pérez, Judge walked once but did not get a hit.
Slow Starts Nothing New For Judge
Should Yankee fans be worried about Judge’s halting start to the season? History says no. Though Judge’s .125 batting average ties his career low through the first six games of a season, the last time it happened to the 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger he went on to win his second of three AL MVP awards, and the Yankees made it all the way to the World Series. That was 2024.
In the last six seasons, including this one, however, Judge has generally come out of the gate in solid form. He started 9-26 (.346) with two homers in 2021, 7-24 (.292) with one home run in ’22, 8-23 (.348) with two blasts in ’23, and last season Judge started at a scorching 10-24 (.417) with five home runs in his first six games.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Yankees Make Aaron Judge Announcement Before Home Opener appeared first on Heavy Sports.