Stanton to bat third, DH in Yankees' opener

The New York Yankees have revealed their Opening Day starting lineup in advance of Thursday's matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays, and it includes star right fielder Aaron Judge and prized new addition Giancarlo Stanton hitting back-to-back.

Judge will bat second behind leadoff man and left fielder Brett Gardner and will be followed by Stanton, who will serve as the team's designated hitter. Catcher Gary Sanchez is hitting cleanup, center fielder Aaron Hicks is slotted fifth and shortstop Didi Gregorius will hit sixth.

Third baseman Brandon Drury, second baseman Neil Walker and first baseman Tyler Austin round out the order. Right-hander Luis Severino will be on the mound for New York.

Between Judge, Stanton and Sanchez, that's 144 home runs in 2017 hitting back-to-back-to-back. Needless to say, Toronto southpaw J.A. Happ (10-11, 3.53 ERA in 2017) faces a tall task.

The Yankees had envisioned having the left-handed-hitting Greg Bird to split up the righties Judge and Stanton, but the first baseman had ankle surgery Tuesday that will sideline him from six to eight weeks.

Late in spring training, Yankees manager Aaron Boone had Judge hit leadoff against a left-handed starter, which he said he was considering doing during the regular season. Gardner, a left-handed hitter, hit .209 against southpaws last season.

"If I wanted to do something like that in the regular season, and if that's a real option, I at least wanted to introduce it," Boone said last week of Judge batting leadoff. "Because obviously it's a story today. So I at least wanted to get that part of it out of the way, and then we'll kind of evaluate and see where we stand going into the season with something like that."

Stanton socked 59 homers last season while winning National League MVP honors for the Miami Marlins. Judge hit 52 while winning American League Rookie of the Year honors and Sanchez hit 33.

--Field Level Media