Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole and several others are returning to a Yankees team favored to make their second consecutive World Series appearance. However, veteran designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is not currently among them. The All-Star slugger remains sidelined with tennis elbow in both arms and has recently returned to New York for personal reasons.

Last season, Aaron Judge consistently batted third, but with Stanton unavailable for the foreseeable future, manager Aaron Boone told Foul Territory that Judge’s spot in the lineup would change. “Right now, I’m hitting [Judge] second,” Boone said.

Throughout his first nine seasons, Judge primarily hit second. According to Baseball-Reference, he holds a .282 career batting average with 173 home runs, 381 RBIs, and an impressive .992 OPS across 529 games in that position. Interestingly, he has only batted cleanup nine times in his career.

Boone also mentioned that second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. or center fielder Cody Bellinger could hit third, depending on who takes the leadoff spot. This raises uncertainty about third-year shortstop Anthony Volpe, who led off in 77 games last season.

When co-host Erik Kratz asked what Boone would say if another player offered to hit behind Judge, Boone responded, “I think they all have that.”