Mike Tauchman Makes Spring Debut for Yankees Tuesday in Surprising Position

Coming into Spring Training, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone probably had a good idea of what his lineup would look like come Opening Day.

That's definitely a perk of working with one of MLB's most loaded rosters. A downside of that hits, however, when it comes to carving out a role for the likes of Mike Tauchman and Miguel Andujar, both excellent contributors without an everyday home.

We'll focus on the former here. Tauchman is set to make his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday, and though his place in the batting order isn't unusual, the position he's set to play certainly is.

That's right, folks. Tauchman, a natural left fielder, will be patrolling center field for the Pinstripes against the Toronto Blue Jays.

We normally wouldn't bat an eye on Spring Training positioning, but you would think that Boone would play Tauchman where he's "comfortable" in his first game of the year.

In 2019, the 29-year-old appeared in the outfield 86 times for the Yanks. In just 14 of those, he was positioned in center field. He played 59 games in left field and 19 in right.

In retrospect, fans in the Bronx will be ecstatic to see any lineup card that features Tauchman's name, regardless of position.

With Aaron Hicks recovering from Tommy John surgery, could Boone ask Tauchman to make center field his own in 2020? Who knows, but fans will certainly get a good look at his potential in the position on Tuesday afternoon.

Andujar, on the other hand, sticks at third...for this contest, at least.