Who should be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter in 2024?

The Yankees, who recently acquired superstar Juan Soto, are anticipating a thrilling 2024 season. One query that has surfaced, though, is precisely who will bat first for this intriguing lineup against the Astros on Opening Day.

No matter how Aaron Boone organizes his batting order, the Yankees manager will get a much-improved offense than he had to work with last season. Soto and Aaron Judge will form the scariest duo in the American League and one of the scariest in the entire sport. There are other important pieces besides those two, but the offense will run through them.

In an ideal world, Anthony Rizzo reverts to his early 2023 form, Gleyber Torres builds on a strong second half in 2023, and Volpe takes steps forward after a mostly disappointing rookie campaign at the plate.

In the midst of speculation and anticipations, the Yankees may not have an obvious choice for leadoff batting in 2024. There are numerous choices, but each one has advantages and disadvantages. The traditional leadoff man of twenty years ago is a thing of the past, and most fans will agree that you can mix and match rather than having one player fill that position.

With that being said, you still want some consistency and reliability up front. Let’s take a look at each of the top options to bat first in the Yankee order, and the pros and cons for each.

Gleyber Torres — Building off a strong second half

The Yankees’ second baseman upgraded on its last two years, and had the second-highest walk rate in a single season of his career, with a 10-percent mark in 2023.

With an OPS of.878 in the second half of 2023, Torres truly showed us that he had a step up from what we’ve seen from him since 2020. Even though he may not reach the incredible upside he displayed in his first two seasons—the Juiced Ball Years—that number was still better than the.849 OPS he recorded in 2018–19.

Strictly off what we saw in 2023, Torres might be the one who showed the most to take over this role, bolstering an above-average walk rate and solid numbers across the board. One of the points that work against him is that Torres might be the most reliable middle-of-the-order bat to work in between, or after, Soto and Judge. As much as you need men on for those two, you also need protection in the order.

With Rizzo, there is a hope that he can rebound to the form he showed in the first couple months of 2023, but until we see it coming to fruition, that’s all it is. Concussions are just tricky that way.

Anthony Volpe — The ideal scenario

Boone already tried Volpe in the leadoff role quite a few times last season, and if he had fulfilled expectations, he would have remained there for all of 2023. Sadly, and also somewhat understandably, as this happens frequently, the first taste of the bigs proved a bit too much for the 22-year-old.

Based on his prospect profile, Volpe has a good hit tool and lots of speed, so if he can continue to improve, he should develop into that kind of player. Still, it might be best to let that happen organically rather than forcing him to start the season there. He should be commended for hitting 21 home runs from shortstop, but they need a leadoff hitter with a career OPS above.666 at least to begin 2023.

One of the boosts of improving this lineup is taking some pressure away from Volpe. Last year, it felt like the Yankees needed him to be his best version already in a rookie campaign. With the spotlight on Soto, Judge, and company, Volpe could flourish.

Aaron Judge — The outside-the-box choice

For a lack of a standout name, the Yankees have gone to Judge in the leadoff role in the past, including 34 times during his MVP-winning 2022 campaign. So it’s an alternative worth considering in 2024.

Say Giancarlo Stanton is healthy and balling in the middle of the order. Yes, this is the absolute best-case scenario, but it’s worth considering for at least a moment. You could theoretically come up with something like:

1. Judge
2. Soto
3. Torres
4. Rizzo
5. Stanton

The big downside here is that in an ideal world, you want more opportunities with Judge hitting with men on base, something not maximized with him leading off.

Given that DJ LeMahieu hit leadoff the most in 2023 with 58 starts, we would be remiss to not mention that he is also a serious contender at the position. However, I don’t believe that to be the best tactic. You have at least three, if not more, better hitters in the lineup than him, aside from Soto and Judge. It is preferable not to move all of those players back a single spot in order to include a mediocre leadoff option.

Though it would only be conjecture, one could imagine DJ LeMahieu bucking the clock, as he did in portions of the second half. For the Yankees, anything close to his 2022 output (110 OPS+) would be advantageous. Taking a chance on Torres, Judge, or even the highly skilled Volpe would be wiser.