Yankees reverse course, play Giancarlo Stanton in leftfield in Houston

HOUSTON – One can always change their mind.

Which the Yankees, and manager Aaron Boone, did when it came to Giancarlo Stanton starting in leftfield at Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid Park).

“No, I don’t have plans on playing him in left there,” Boone said Saturday in Chicago before that night’s game, when asked if he would play Stanton in leftfield in Houston.

Stanton, naturally, was in Tuesday night’s lineup against the Astros batting cleanup and starting … in left.

He had been playing exclusively in rightfield before.

“He and I just talking about it, really on Sunday after the game, he didn’t think it would be any big deal to move over,” Boone said before the Yankees opened a three-game series against the Astros. “I think here he preferred it. I just didn’t want to throw him off of his work (in right), which he didn’t think it would at all.”

For Stanton, it was his first appearance in left since Sept. 14, 2023, at Fenway Park in front of the Green Monster.

In Chicago on Saturday Boone said he “possibly” could put Stanton in leftfield at Fenway during the Yankees’ upcoming series there against the Red Sox Sept. 12-14. Fenway’s rightfield, with the Pesky Pole a mere 302 feet from home plate down the foul line but a huge expanse that opens up from there, is one of the largest rightfields in the majors.

On Saturday Boone said ballpark dimensions wouldn’t necessarily factor into the decisions of where Stanton would play right – other than at Fenway, where it’s a non-starter – something that was a consideration at least in the early going of this stretch, starting in early August, when the Yankees decided to experiment with the 35-year-old in the field.

That came about because Aaron Judge, who came off the injured list on Aug. 5 after missing 10 games with a right flexor strain, has not yet been cleared to play in the field. That put Judge at designated hitter, leaving the Yankees with the option of either sitting Stanton – which they did not want to do as he’s been one of their top offensive performers since his season started on June 16 – or put him in the outfield, where he had not played since 2023.

It has been so far, so good in that regard as Stanton, in 14 games in right (12 starts), while not making any especially memorable plays, most importantly hasn’t shown himself to be a liability there.

Leftfield at Daikin Park is on the smaller side because of the short porch caused by the Crawford Boxes that overhang the field. It is just 315 feet down the line, though in left-center, where the Crawford Boxes end, it opens up significantly to 366 feet. Still, rightfield is a far larger expanse, certainly larger than Yankee Stadium, where Stanton has played most of his rightfield this season, and certainly larger than Chicago’s Rate Field, where the veteran started three of four games.

Not that leftfield is without its quirks here. The Crawford Boxes sit atop a foundation with a field-facing metallic scoreboard wall – picture a mini-Green Monster – that Angels outfielder Taylor Ward went face-first into on Sunday.

“This is one of those ballparks that has a lot of quirks to it, nooks and things, it’s one of the thing we go through every time we’re here in our advance work with our players,” Boone said. “There’s definitely some different bounces here and different looks that you’ve got to be prepared for.”

As for Judge and when he might again play the field, that remains an open question. He began his throwing program Aug. 6 in Arlington, playing catch at 60 feet. Judge has slowly increased his workload from there, progressing to throwing to bases – though only to second base – on Aug. 24. Though he hasn’t fully unleashed his arm in throwing to second, Judge, after lighter workloads on Saturday and Sunday in Chicago, started throwing toward home Tuesday afternoon (though the throws were limited to hitting the cutoff man and not full throws to the plate).

Boone reiterated Tuesday he is confident Judge will play the field before the end of the season, something the outfielder is keen to do.

“They’re helping me try to get out there as fast as I can,” Judge said recently of the Yankees training staff. “I think they all know I want to be back out there.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.