TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi cautioned the media Friday that the lineup he sends out Saturday against the Phillies would not necessarily be the lineup he sent out for the regular-season opener on March 31 at Yankee Stadium.
But the lineup Girardi put together for his team's Grapefruit League opener looked rather familiar. In fact, it was identical to the one the Yankees sent out just about every day of the 2010 season.
Once again, Derek Jeter was the leadoff hitter, as he was in 137 games last season, followed by:
• Right-fielder Nick Swisher batting second (82 games in 2010);
• First baseman Mark Teixeira third (157 games);
• Third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the cleanup spot (134);
• Second baseman Robinson Cano fifth (132);
• Jorge Posada assuming his new duties as the full-time DH, batting sixth (95);
• Curtis Granderson in center, batting seventh (65);
• Francisco Cervelli catching and batting eighth (42);
• Brett Gardner in left batting ninth, as he did 58 times last season.
"Don't think that that's the lineup I'm going to be putting out there on opening day," Girardi said Friday. "That's not what I'm saying. Any of these lineups the first three weeks, I'm not saying that would be my Opening Day lineup."
There has been speculation all offseason that Jeter -- who had a subpar 2010 and grounded into a high number of double plays -- could be dropped in the order in favor of the speedy Gardner, and that Cano, who had a breakout season with 29 homers, 109 RBI and a .319 batting average, could replace Teixeira as the No. 3 hitter.
"We'll look at some guys, you know," Girardi said. "We might play with some different things over the course of spring training just to see how it works. Our lineup scored a lot of runs last year. Maybe we tweak it and maybe we don't."
Bartolo Colon, a non-roster invitee vying to become the No. 5 starter, was expected to work the first two innings, followed by Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, David Phelps, Hector Noesi and Eric Wordekemper.
Saturday's first pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. after an approximately 30-minute ceremony to honor George Steinbrenner, who died July 13 at the age of 80.