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Aaron Judge Playing Center Field Could H
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NEW YORK Late Tuesday night, Yankees Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey manager Aaron Boone asked Aaron Judge to poke his head into his office.With Aaron Hicks out for the season and Brett Gardner in need of an off day, Boone had been discu sing an appearance in center field for Judge over the last week or so. When Boone presented Judge with an official proposition that night, the slugger was all for it."Let's do it," he told Boone.The next evening, jogging out to center field to start the game against Tampa Bay, Judge made his second big-league start at the position. The only other time he played center field in a Yankees uniform was in Toronto on March 31, 2018, just the third game of Boone's tenure as New York's skipper."Understanding we're in some unique circumstances right now where it's needed, Aaron's excited to step up to the challenge," Boone said before first pitch Wednesday. "He's a great outfielder. I mean, he's a good athlete. He's fundamentally incredibly sound as a defender."Asked about his teammate playing a new position, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole Jeff Heath Jersey shared the same confidence in Judge as his manager."I'm probably just as excited as you to see how it transpires," Cole said Wednesday afternoon. "He's obviously about as talented as it comes on the baseball field. So there's no job or no task that's too big for Aaron. I probably a sume he'll come through with this with the Superman cape that he tends to wear every time he plays."Over Judge's six frames in center field that nightbefore Gardner was brought in off the bench, moving Judge back to his traditional spot in right fieldthe slugger was rarely tested in the field.Judge made the one play hit in his direction, shading to his left to snag a can of corn with ease.New York's outfield has been a fluid situation for weeks now that . Gardner has been reliable on defense, proving the longest-tenured player on this roster still has the ability to track down balls in the gaps, but he's struggled at the plate. Before going 2-for-3 on Thursday, stroking his first home run of the season, Gardner was hitting .045 (1-for-22) over his last nine games.Giancarlo Stanton's opened the door for Judge to get off his feet in the designated hitter spot far more often. Wi th Stanton expected to be back to playing everyday as soon as this weekend's series against Boston, Judge will be back to playing in the outfield each night.Scroll to ContinueThat leaves only two Daniel Sorensen Jersey other spots. As Gardner figures out his swing, Miguel Andjar and Clint Frazier have both been contributing at a high level Michael Thomas Jersey lately with an increase in playing time.On the days where Boone wants to pencil both Andjar and Frazier in the outfield, Judge would be the best and most experienced defender of the bunch. That's why he was placed in center while flanked by those two developing defenders on Wednesday.Even if Gardner is the closest thing the Yankees have to a starting center fielder at the moment, the 37-year-old can't play every game."We'll see how our situation evolves, see how it goes," Boone said when asked about Judge playing in center again. "We'll see what our roster looks like continuing to move forward. That's always evolving and circumstances change all the time."While he didn't really factor in on defense in center field on Wednesday, Judge did provide a spark with his teammates.As roll call began in the top of the first, Judge went with Gardner's signature flex rather than his traditional glove tap, motioning toward the crowd in the right-field bleachers."I joked before the game, I don't think that there's one fan or one person in this organization that drew up the outfield being Miggy in left, Judge in center and me in right," Frazier said Thursday. "So it's fun, we're obviously trying some new things out there and it didn't seem to affect us."For a club that's been scuffling of late, it's the little things that can bring life to a team that's underperformed through the first third of the season. A due to these extemporaneous circumstances, but until then, it sounds like Judge filling in out in center field is something we'll see more than just once."I'm Kaden Elliss Jersey sure that it's not gonna be the last time we see Judge out there in center," Frazier said.MORE: