Joe Girardi says "no platoon," but Chris Young playing against lefties ...

Chris Young - Tomorrow

Andrew Marchand, ESPN Senior Writer

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Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter

NEW YORK -- It would be managerial malpractice not to start Chris Young against every lefty the rest of the way. Young"s OPS vs. lefties is 1.101, which is a number Barry Bonds would approach when he was going his best. Meanwhile, Carlos Beltran"s OPS against lefties is .710.

So it really should not surprise anyone that, just as it has been most of the season, Young will be in there when a lefty is on the mound.

"I would think against every lefty we face he will be in there," Girardi said.

"I would think against every lefty we face he will be in there," Joe Girardi said of Chris Young.Thomas B. Shea/USA TODAY Sports

Girardi, who always likes to misdirect when he can, painted it less as a decision about Beltran and more about the fact the Young will fill-in for all of the Yankees outfielders.

"I"m not saying it is going to be a platoon," Girardi said of right field.

The discussion of Young"s playing time has been muted for much of the year because of injuries to Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Giardi went out of his way to say that when Young plays that it won"t only be Beltran that will sit.

"We are going to see a number of lefties on this next long stretch," Girardi said. "I"ll be able to give Jake a day off. I"ll be able to give Gardy [Brett Gardner] a day off. I just chose to do it with Carlos today."

The thing is, though, if the Yankees make the playoffs and a lefty starts for the opponent, Young would likely replace Beltran on that night. So, going forward, it stands to reason -- if everyone stays healthy -- Young will probably be in right the most of any of the outfield positions.

Beltran said that, while Girardi hasn"t really explained the situation to him, he understands how well Young has hit.

"I just have to deal with it," Beltran said.

Brett "White Shoes" Gardner retires: MLB and the Yankees made it clear that he should not wear his white cleats he sported Sunday again.

"I won"t be wearing them again," Gardner said.

Gardner said the only reason he did was because of Sunday starter CC Sabathia. After the All-Star break, Sabathia saw the shoes in Gardner"s locker and liked them. On Sunday, 45 minutes before Sabathia"s start, Sabathia walked by Gardner"s locker and said, "If you don"t have those white shoes on you can keep your little [behind] inside."

Gardner wore them. He wasn"t fined by the league, but if he had been fined Sabathia told Gardner he would have paid it. Gardner said he thought he would be docked some money (the fine is around $1,000 or so) if he wore the white shoes again. He says he will not.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/87529/girardi-says-no-platoon-but-chris-young-playing-against-all-lefties