LOS ANGELES — The Yankees’ lineup is nearly whole again.
Accordingly, manager Aaron Boone will have his hands full in finding the right way to balance five players for four spots, at least in the short term.
Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson were activated off the injured list Thursday and went right into the lineup Friday night — with Stanton hitting a solo home run and Donaldson connecting for two round-trippers — in an 8-4 series-opening loss against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.
Exactly how Boone would handle the playing time of his infielders — most notably Donaldson, DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres — was a question mark heading into the season.
The issue was taken off his plate after just six games when Donaldson went down with a right hamstring strain. Stanton joined Donaldson on the IL just over a week later with a left hamstring strain.
But their returns have created something of a logjam, assuming everyone stays healthy — which is no sure thing, considering how the first two months of the season have gone for the Yankees.
As long as Stanton is limited to the DH spot — Boone said that would be the case for at least the first two weeks while they build him back up for occasional outfield starts — that means either Stanton, Donaldson, LeMahieu, Torres or Anthony Rizzo will be out of the lineup each day.
“Hopefully it does [make my job harder],” Boone said before the game. “Hopefully because they’re all doing their thing and banging, so you know that each day you’re sitting a really good and dangerous player over there. But that’s how it is. We’ve been working hard to get ourselves whole and healthy. Today’s another step towards that.”
The simplest solution may be having a rotation of days off, with each of the five being out of the lineup once every five games.
Boone hinted that would be the case at least in the short term, with Stanton and Donaldson each expected to play two of the three games in this series.
Stanton only played in one rehab game before coming off the IL, so the Yankees are expected to ease him back in with occasional days off, though they are currently in a stretch of just 14 games in 19 days.
Boone has said that Donaldson would be an everyday player upon his return, but it remains to be seen how long of a leash he will have.
The 37-year-old is coming off a rough 2022, but Boone insisted during spring training, “you’re crazy to think that a bounce back is not in there offensively.” Donaldson started the season 2-for-16 in five games before going on the IL.
“With him and with DJ, somebody’s obviously gotta sit,” Boone said. “I’ll build him up. Whether it’s two out of three here, three out of four, we’ll just kind of let itself play out a little bit. There’s gonna be a day [off] for Rizz at some point and for Gleyber. You kind of maneuver a little bit that way.
“The biggest thing is hopefully it works to where they all kind of protect one another and allow each other to stay fresh, depending on the given day or matchup.”
The Yankees have also been trying to get LeMahieu semi-regular days off, cognizant of not pushing him too hard after a toe injury derailed the second half of his 2022 season.
The veteran infielder, who got most of the starts at third base while Donaldson was out, has been slumping at the plate and entered Friday batting .186 with a .497 OPS and 18 strikeouts over his past 18 games. He will be the wild card, bouncing between third, second and first base.
“DJ’s going to play a lot,” Boone said.
Torres, meanwhile, carried an 11-game hitting streak into Friday, while Rizzo returned after missing the past three games with a stiff neck.
The lineup shuffle will continue, but Boone was just happy to have Stanton and Donaldson back at his disposal.
“You’re talking about two sluggers in there that are just gonna add a little bit of length,” he said. “It’ll be a little tricky maneuvering the timing. Want to get G built up properly. … So you gotta move the puzzle around. But first and foremost, just excited to have them back.”