Yankees post-season lineup:

This is what the Yankees would be putting on the field next Friday night if I were the manager (with notes, comments, and caveats below):

1. DJ – 2B
2. Judge – RF
3. Sanchez – C
4. Stanton – LF
5. Voit – DH
6. Encarnacion – 1B
7. Gleyber – SS
8. Garnder – CF
9. Gio – 3B

• This is assuming all players are healthy and available.
• I’m not factoring in pitching matchup or park factors.
• Gary Sanchez avoids double plays better than anyone on the Yankees.  Hard to believe but true.  This is why I like him 3^rd – I like someone with power hitting behind the two high OBP guys but it can’t be someone who’s going to consistently make the number 4 batter lead off an inning with no one on base due to a high DP rate.
• The number five spot leads off more times than all spots but number one – I like Voit’s OBP there.
• I like Gardner in front of Gio.  A stolen base threat is very valuable in front of a guy who’s likely to put the ball in play.  When you’re on 2^nd base, you’re more likely to score on an outfield hit than you are from 1^st base, so stealing is often worth the risk with a guy like Gio up.  Stolen base ability is wasted when put in front of batters like Judge and Stanton when running isn’t worth the risk due to their power – in those cases being on 2^nd isn’t that much better than being on first – certainly not enough to risk taking the bat from their hands.
• Yes, the Yankees are better defensively with Didi at SS and Gleyber at 2^nd than with Gleyber at SS and DJ at 2^nd.  But not nearly enough better to justify having Didi’s bat in the lineup over Voit or Encarnacion.  That said…
• If you want Maybin in the OF, Stanton DH and either Voit or Encarnacion relegated to PH duties, I’d be OK with that, but not what I’d do.

Did I miss something?  Let me know.