CLEVELAND — When Aaron Boone tinkered with lineups late in spring training, his mindset was to use the left-handed hitting Greg Bird in the third spot between right-handed sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
That plan crashed on March 24 in Kissimmee, Fla., when Bird was scratched from an exhibition game against the Braves with discomfort in his right ankle, which led to the second surgery on the joint in two years.
Entering Thursday night’s game against the Indians, Boone had used Didi Gregorius the most in the No. 3 spot. Gregorius hit third 39 games to Stanton’s 36.