4 years agoNew York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will start Tuesday’s Game 1 of the wild-card series versus Cleveland and right-hander Shane Bieber with Clint Frazier heading to the bench. Frazier finished the final week of the year with just a .167 BA and .292 SLG, so despite his reverse splits (.912 OPS vs. RHP), the team will roll with Gardner in left field while he bats eighth. A further glean of the metrics could also indicate that manager Aaron Boone is attempting to shy away from the strikeout when facing Bieber (who lead the Majors with 122 K’s), as Gardner’s K rate is more than five points lower than that of Frazier’s.--Jesse Borek
Source: New York Yankees