For the second game in a row, the Yankees’ lineup featured a first-time leadoff hitter.
And for the second game in a row, it resulted in instant offense.
Paul Goldschmidt struck a home run against Milwaukee Brewers starter Nestor Cortes on Saturday on the very first pitch of his first-ever MLB at-bat from the leadoff spot.
The 413-foot blast was the first of back-to-back-to-back home runs by the Yankees, as Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge followed up with solo shots on Cortes’ second and third pitches of the afternoon.
The first-inning fireworks came a game after Austin Wells became the first catcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day.
Wells also homered in the first inning Saturday, this time from the No. 6 spot in the order, to cap a four home-run frame against Cortes.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone inserted the righty-swinging Goldschmidt into the leadoff spot because he liked the matchup against the left-handed Cortes.
“Goldy’s hit lefties really well,” Boone said before the game in the Bronx. “It was probably gonna be him or [Anthony] Volpe. I considered loading up righties at the top, but the way that kind of unfolds and shakes out, I didn’t love [it]. Just another good hitter right out of the shoot.”
Saturday marked the 1,930th game in Goldschmidt’s 15-year MLB career but his first as a leadoff hitter.
Goldschmidt, 37, entered Saturday with a .322 average, 101 home runs and a 1.008 OPS against left-handed pitchers in his career. Last season with the St. Louis Cardinals, the first baseman hit .295 with an .839 OPS against lefties.
“We faced so many righties in the spring, but I got him in there once to do it,” Boone said of Goldschmidt leading off. “Before I sent it out last night, I gave him the heads up. He’s fired up and ready to go.”
Goldschmidt went 0-for-2 with an RBI and a walk against the Philadelphia Phillies last week in his lone spring game as the leadoff hitter.
The offseason departure of Gleyber Torres left a void atop the Yankees’ lineup. Boone has said he’s considered six or seven players as candidates to bat first, including the lefty-swinging Wells.
Goldschmidt, a seven-time All-Star and the 2022 National League MVP, will “not necessarily” be the Yankees’ primary leadoff hitter against left-handers, Boone said.
“It could be, but we’ll see,” Boone said. “We could look up in a month or two and somebody else has kind of emerged to become the more natural leadoff [hitter].”
Goldschmidt, who signed a one-year contract with the Yankees in December, has mostly batted third in his career. He batted cleanup on Opening Day.
“Every manager I’ve had, I’ve just said I’ll do whatever you guys need me to do,” Goldschmidt said last week. “So when [Boone] asked me early in spring [about leading off], I said, ‘I’ll hit wherever.’”
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