Aaron Boone says he could ‘shake up’ Yankees’ struggling lineup: 3 options

TORONTO — For his next trick, Aaron Boone will pull the New York Yankees’ lineup out of his hat.

No, really — it could happen. The manager said he could “shake up the order a little bit” after yet another terrible offensive showing led to a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.

“I don’t want to just jump to putting some guys in bad situations or bad matchups for the sake of it,” Boone said. “We’ll see.”

Boone added that he’s been “grinding on it a little heavier night in and night out right now anyway,” referring to the increased amount of time he’s spent of late on batting order construction.

For all Boone’s well wishes, it hasn’t done any good.

The Yankees have scored two runs in their last three games. In each of those games, a Yankees’ starting pitcher has allowed no more than one earned run. Cam Schlittler’s performance was the latest outing wasted, as the right-hander provided 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball Saturday.

The pitching staff isn’t the problem. Their combined 3.28 ERA is the best in the game. Going into Saturday, Yankees starters had allowed two runs or fewer in 13 of their last 16 starts, including one run or fewer in 11 of those starts.

“Those guys are pitching amazing,” catcher Austin Wells said. “Every guy that goes out there, putting up zeros, keeping us close in the game all the way to the end. So, yeah, I mean, it’s frustrating.”

Would it help for Boone to shake things up?

“Maybe,” designated hitter Ben Rice said. “I don’t have any idea how it would go, but whatever skipper wants to put out there is what we’ll roll with.”

A few options:

Move down Ramos

Heliot Ramos is 2-for-32 (.063) with 11 strikeouts and three walks since the Yankees acquired him from the San Francisco Giants before the trade deadline. He’s also hitless in his last 24 plate appearances.

He’s mostly been slotted third in the lineup (four times in nine games). Maybe move him down in the order.

Ramos went hitless in four at-bats Saturday and didn’t appear to run out a ground ball that shortstop Andrés Giménez initially botched in the sixth inning. Giménez recovered to throw Ramos out at first base by a couple steps, but it might have been closer if Ramos was running hard the whole time.

“I thought Ramos had some really good swings (Friday) and nothing to show for it,” Boone said before Saturday’s loss.

“Was he running hard? Not exactly.”

Heliot Ramos is 0 for his last 23 pic.twitter.com/KO51papk9S

— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 15, 2026

Sit Chisholm for a bit

Sitting Jazz Chisholm Jr. would mean starting José Caballero at second base. The light-hitting Caballero wouldn’t exactly bring instant offense, but it might allow Chisholm to work behind the scenes without pressure for a while.

Chisholm went 0-for-3 Saturday, and he looked overmatched in his fourth-inning strikeout against Simeon Woods Richardson, who got him to 2-1 before blowing an 89 mph splitter past him.

“I believe in a lot of the names on this (lineup) card, and hopefully along the way here we get some guys back in the mix that add to that and fortify that,” Boone said. “I feel like the end product has a chance to be excellent, but we’re not there yet.”

Chisholm especially isn’t there yet. He went into Saturday with a 91 wRC+, ranked 19th among qualified second basemen. Last September, he hit .261 with five home runs and a .756 OPS in 25 games. The Yankees would be over the moon to get that again this September.

Give Rice a break

Maybe the Yankees can’t sit Rice on Sunday against Dylan Cease, perhaps the best righty starter in the league not named Schilttler.

Rice looks like he needs a mental break.

Sure, he clubbed a 105.4 mph lineout in the first inning and then hit one deep to right field in the sixth Saturday, but close doesn’t count. He finished the day 0-for-4, and he’s hitting .158 in 27 games since the All-Star break. He’s been tasked with being the Yankees’ best hitter with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger on the injured list, and he hasn’t consistently stepped up.

“I’ve felt increasingly good,” Rice said. “Over the last couple series, I feel like the swing has felt good. Hitting some balls hard. Not getting rewarded for it. Just got to keep going. That’s literally the only thing you can do, is just keep going.”

Except the Yankees should give Rice a breather before he keeps going off a cliff.