Giancarlo Stanton is expected to be the full-time designated hitter for the New York Yankees again in 2023, but manager Aaron Boone wants him to play the field at times, and the team is expected to try a new outfield alignment with Aaron Judge to potentially make that happen, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

“Boone has not ruled out playing Harrison Bader in the large left field of Yankee Stadium, with Judge in center,” Sherman wrote. “For now, though, Boone is leaning toward an alignment on occasion that would have Judge in left, Bader in center and Stanton in right.”

Judge has not played left field at all in the major leagues, but this alignment makes sense for a lot of reasons. The first and most obvious one is that Giancarlo Stanton has been plagued by injuries throughout his tenure with the Yankees, so keeping him in the small right of Yankee Stadium means he will not have to cover as much ground.

The second reason has to do with Harrison Bader. Aaron Judge played 632.2 innings in center field in 2022, but the Yankees did not have a true center fielder until Bader came off the injury list in September. Bader has been one of the best center fielders in all of MLB in his career, so it would make sense to keep him in that position and put Judge in left field.

Lastly, this alignment would open up the designated hitter spot at times. The Yankees have a lot of infielders. Oswald Peraza, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Volpe are all in the conversation at shortstop.

DJ LeMahieu is going to be playing mostly second or third base, but with his injury history he could use some DH days. Gleyber Torres will have to sit whenever LeMahieu is playing second base, and Josh Donaldson will have to sit when LeMahieu plays third. Lastly, DJ LeMahieu could play first while Anthony Rizzo, who has had back problems fills the DH spot.

This defensive alignment will not be an every day occurrence, but it is a logical move.