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The Yankees will send out one very interesting lineup tonight as we reach the end of this most recent road trip.
Tonight's lineup: Gardner 7 Roberts 4 Ellsbury 8 McCann 3 Murphy 2 Ichiro 9 Ryan 6 Johnson 5 Kuroda 1. Yes, that is McCann at 1B
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) May 28, 2014
Brett Gardner is leading off and with Derek Jeter sitting out, Brian Roberts will bat in the second spot. Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann, at first base, will follow. This is McCann's first start in his career at first base, a position he will have to get used to if Mark Teixeira's wrist inflammation proves to be something more worrisome. John Ryan Murphy is hitting fifth in the lineup, while Ichiro Suzuki is in right field, Brendan Ryan is at short, and Kelly Johnson is at third base. Hiroki Kuroda will get to bat ninth to make things even more fun than they already look to be.
If you were wondering what's up with Manny Banuelos these days, he is scheduled to pitch for Double-A Trenton tomorrow. This will be his second appearance since complaining about a tired arm, so it's good to see that he's able to keep pitching. The Yankees will go slow with him from here so expect another truncated start with a strict pitch limit. No reason to rush him and risk a more serious injury.
Something is going on with Slade Heathcott:
Of note: Slade Heathcott took a round or two of BP, was pulled aside by some coaches, then left, to the clubhouse at least. #yankees
— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) May 28, 2014
Knowing Slade, he's probably hurt again. He's been hurt every year of his professional career, and possibly his life. I'm going to continue to hope that he's actually been traded for something really useful, but I'm sure that's not even close to reality. At this point, I think we're stuck with him as his value continues to fall.