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The Yankees will try to go for the series win against the San Francisco Giants as Ivan Nova faces Ryan Vogelsong. They are three games out of the wild card, so every victory is precious. The Yankees lineup is:
Today's lineup: Suzuki 9 Rodriguez dh Cano 4 Soriano 7 Granderson 8 Nunez 5 Reynolds 3 Ryan 6 Stewart 2 Nova 1
— wallace matthews (@ESPNNYYankees) September 21, 2013
Ichiro Suzuki leads off once again for some reason or another. Alex Rodriguez is the designated hitter, which he will probably be for the duration of the season, Robinson Cano, Alfonso Soriano, and Curtis Granderson make up the heart of the lineup. Eduardo Nunez is once again hitting sixth and will attempt to man third base. Mark Reynolds is the first baseman, with Brendan Ryan, and, of course, Chris Stewart once again behind the plate. Can't wait to see how that one works out.
It's possible Phil Hughes will be skipped in his start on Wednesday against the Rays and CC Sabathia would take his spot. Replacing Hughes isn't a bad idea, but intentionally putting CC into an extra game is beyond risky. Last night's start was good, but the Yankees will be essentially playing with fire with the way he's pitched all year. Hopefully he'll be able to do something more valuable than whatever Hughes can do in three innings.
Joe Girardi isn't sure if Austin Romine will be able to return from his concussion this season. He's still felling concussion systems after he works out, so if he can't play again that mean J.R. Murphy will be the backup catcher going forward. That basically means that Chris Stewart will play every day for the rest of the season.