How much Yankees envision Andrew McCutchen, Brett Gardner playing rest of season

Brett Gardner has been out of the Yankees’ lineup three games in a row.

NEW YORK — Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s lineup for all three of this week’s Red Sox games had Andrew McCutchen leading off and playing left field.

Brett Gardner was on the bench for all three.

The Red Sox starting two left-handers was just part of the reason why the righty-swinging McCutchen played and the lefty-hitting Gardner sat.

Also heavily factoring in was McCutchen’s on-base percentage and power in his first three weeks as a Yankee plus Gardner having a down season and currently mired in a long slump.

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Is this what we’ll see from the Yankees from here on out this season and into the postseason?

Boone hinted before the Yankees’ 11-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night that McCutchen will remain a regular and Gardner will become a fill-in guy.

Asked what role McCutchen will play in the playoffs, Boone answered, “He’s going to be a dude for us.”

And when asked about Gardner, Boone strongly suggested that he’ll be an extra outfielder who will fill in for the Yankees’ other outfielders and outfielder/DH when someone gets a rest.

“I see (Gardner) still playing a lot for us,” Boone said. “He’ll probably be in there (Friday night against Baltimore) in some way shape or form. What he brings defensively, he always becomes an option for us late in the game. He’s a guy we wouldn’t hesitate to put in and feel good about giving us an at-bat in certain situations.”

McCutchen came up big in the Yankees’ latest loss, one in which Boston clinched the AL East. In five plate appearances, McCutchen reached base four times with a single, triple and two walks.

McCutchen has been on base a lot as a Yankee. Although batting just .241 in his first 17 games, he had four homers in 55 at-bats, a .440 on-base percentage and a .959 OPS. For the season he’s hitting .254 with 19 homers, 62 RBI, 14 steals and a .792 OPS in 147 games.

“All we’ve seen since he’s gotten here, even the first week when he wasn’t getting a lot of hits, is a guy that really controls the strike zone and has gotten on base a ton for us,” Boone said. “He’s had impactful at-bats.”

Gardner will start a few of the Yankees’ final 10 regular-season games, but only because Boone wants his starting outfielders and DH/outfielder fresh for the playoffs.

“He’s going to play a lot and he’s going to start a lot,” Boone said. “I’m going to have to give (right fielder) Aaron Judge a day off. I’m going to have to give McCutchen a day. I want to give (DH/corner outfielder Giancarlo) Stanton a day, (center fielder Aaron) Hicks a day. You add all those up and Gardy is the guy that is playing in those situations.

“They all will be able to protect each other. They all will get at-bats here. (Gardner) can very much play himself into a more significant role than you may think sitting here right now.”

Gardner’s job status changed on Tuesday when Judge was cleared to hit in games after suffering a fractured right wrist on July 26. McCutchen had been starting in right for Judge since joining the club on Aug. 3 in a trade from San Francisco.

Gardner, 35, brought a lot to the Yankees at the plate and in the field as a starter from 2009, his first full season, through last year, but his 2018 numbers are down. Through Thursday, he was batting .237 with 12 homers, 43 RBI, 15 steals and a .689 OPS. Since Aug. 1, he was hitting .206 in 42 games.

Like Gardner, McCutchen is one of the most respected players on the club due to his attitude and personality. As soon as he joined the Yankees, he was adamant that he’ll accept any role and any amount of playing time, and already the long-time center fielder and 2018 right fielder for the Giants been asked to learn a new position, left field.

“From a reputation standpoint, what you hear about him – he’s been that way in the room,” Boone said. “He’s come in and whatever I’ve asked him to do … ‘Can you play left today? How are you?’ ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ He worked at (left field) and has been an impactful teammate, and someone that plays like a winning player. He’s done a lot for us.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.