For years now, Yankees fans have groaned in frustration as manager Aaron Boone has insisted on regularly slotting players like Brett Gardner, Rougned Odor, and the 2019 edition of Didi Gregorius into the third spot in the lineup, passing over more potent bats like Luke Voit and the 2019 editions of Gary Sánchez and Gleyber Torres simply because they hit from the right side. The logic, it seemed, was that the Yankees needed a left-handed bat between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to break up the heavily-right-handed middle of the order.
With the 2021 Yankees offense unexpectedly struggling, Brian Cashman decided to act on the team’s imbalance in the lineup, trading for Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo.