Yankees announce lineup for ALCS Game 3

The Yankees have to be feeling pretty good about their 2024 chances as they head into Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Guardians. They've seized a 2-0 series lead on Cleveland with a pair of victories in the Bronx, 5-2 and 6-3 , respectively. Even if they suffer a setback, they need just two more wins within the next five games to clinch the 41st pennant in franchise history and their first trip to the World Series in 15 years.

The best-case scenario for Yankees fans, of course, just has New York wrapping things up at Progressive Field in the next few days. The Guardians must win at least two of the next three games to keep their season alive. Hopefully, the Yanks don't let that happen, and they have a trick up their sleeve to perhaps bolster their chances of keeping up the W's. So here's the Game 3 lineup :

Catcher Austin Wells was one of the Yankees' best stories of the 2024. After debuting late last season, he earned a regular role this time around, especially when veteran Jose Trevino went down with an injury. The Rookie of the Year contender was hot for most of the summer, hitting .296/.387/.543 with 19 extra-base hits in 53 games from mid-June until the end of August. Whether it's pitchers adjusting or the weight of a full MLB season bearing down on him, Wells just hasn't been the same since. He's followed a .411 OPS in September with a 2-for-24 showing in the Yankees' first six playoff games. Wells has fanned 10 times and has easily been the worst hitter in the lineup — all the more tough to watch at cleanup.

Even acknowledging that his most recent at-bat to end ALCS Game 2 was Wells' best in awhile, it was understandable for manager Aaron Boone to make a change with lefty Matthew Boyd on the bump for Cleveland. So the scorching-hot Stanton will hit cleanup and Trevino don the tools of ignorance and bat ninth, sliding the lefty-hitting Wells to the bench. That being said, it would not shock anyone to see him pinch-hit for Trevino in a big moment late, when Boyd is gone. There is absolutely time left for Wells to rediscover his bat and seize the starting role again, and it may come as soon as tomorrow with Cleveland set to possibly roll out a Bullpen Game. For Game 3, however, Wells will take a seat.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has also been cold, in a 3-for-24 funk of his own, with some bad baserunning and only an ultimately-meaningless ALDS Game 2 solo shot making him better than Wells. So against the lefty Boyd, it seemed like an opportunity to sit him as well with Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti both options to start instead. The Yankees are keeping Chisholm in for now though, choosing to believe in their only remaining relevant Trade Deadline acquisition.