Aaron Boone said he was considering some lineup changes for Game 3 of the ALDS after rolling with identical orders in the first two games. With his offense reeling and the Yankees trying to stave off elimination, he made them on Wednesday.

The manager most notably benched second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and third baseman Ryan McMahon. Both committed costly errors in the first inning of the Yankees’ humiliating Game 2 loss at Tropicana Field on Monday and have continued to disappoint at the plate after subpar regular seasons.

With those two out of the lineup, Boone put former shortstop Anthony Volpe at second and in the seven-hole, while utilityman José Caballero handled third and hit last.

“Those are two guys that have played a big role for us this year,” Boone said, “and I have a lot of confidence in what they can bring to the table today.”

Chisholm and McMahon have stronger defensive reputations than their replacements, but the former is prone to lapses in judgement — Chisholm said he would have made his ill-advised Game 2 throw again if given the chance — and McMahon’s metrics fell off a cliff this season. After recording 10 Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average last year, he totaled -3 DRS and 0 OAA in 2026.

While McMahon has been unproductive across the board, Boone declined to explain why he put Volpe in over Chisholm, or whether the decision was based on offense or defense. He also downplayed Chisholm’s comments after Game 2.

“Just felt like it,” Boone said of the decision, adding that he didn’t discuss it with Chisholm ahead of time like he has for playoff games in the past. “I felt like I wanted to go with [Volpe] today.”

Whatever the reasons, Boone’s choices came after his offense posted a .086 average and a .145 on-base percentage in the first two games of the ALDS. That first number is the worst average by an American League team in any two-game span within one postseason, per Stathead’s Katie Sharp. The second is tied with the 1974 Orioles for the lowest on-base percentage by an AL team in a two-game span within a postseason.

While neither Volpe nor Caballero are inspiring alternatives — both had a sub-.660 OPS this season — the latter at least has the speed to make something happen for an offense that had only scored on two solo homers from Ben Rice this series. Tampa Bay catchers Nick Fortes and Liam Hicks don’t have strong arms, so Caballero has the potential to wreak havoc if he gets on base.

He also offers more pop than McMahon at this point in their careers, and he always seems to do well against a Tampa Bay team that traded him to the Yankees two summers ago.

“The one thing I always say about José is he plays the game with a ton of confidence,” Boone said. “Like there will be a lot of really good players out there playing tonight, Cabby included, and he’s as confident as any of them.”

Volpe, meanwhile, remained a below-average hitter while being optioned and promoted multiple times this year. The grand slam he hit on the first day of his most recent call-up, Sept. 10, stirred some hope that he had finally settled on mechanics and an approach that would make him a consistent contributor, but he had a .560 OPS in the 13 regular season games that followed.

“I liked his at-bats,” Boone said of that stretch. “Thought he had competitive at-bats day in and day out, regardless of results. I feel like he’s looked good. He’s played well. He’s obviously been through a lot this year and handled everything really well. I’m counting on him getting in there and being a spark for us tonight.”

Volpe also went 1-for-3 with a single in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, which he started over Chisholm because the Red Sox started the left-handed Payton Tolle.

Chisholm and McMahon are left-handed hitters, while Volpe and Caballero are righties. The Rays went with right-handed starter Nick Martinez for Game 3 of the ALDS. He has neutral career splits, but right-handed hitters were better against the Fordham product during his stellar regular season.

Boone didn’t stop at shaking up his infield on Wednesday, as he also asked Trent Grisham to lead off and moved Austin Wells from the eight-hole to the sixth spot in the order.

Asked about the Grisham move, Boone said the idea was to create traffic for Rice, Luis García Jr. and Cody Bellinger, who hit second, third and fourth, respectively.

“When Trent’s at his best, obviously he’s got that ability to get on,” Boone said, though the center fielder only hit .199 with a .303 on-base percentage while batting first this season. He did have 13 homers out of that position in the order, though.

Wells was one of the worst hitters in baseball for an extended period this year, but he finished the regular season strong and has been the team’s only productive hitter outside of Rice in this series. While he made a costly baserunning mistake in Game 1, he entered Game 3 2-for-6 with two doubles in the ALDS and 5-for-12 this postseason.

Finally, Boone said that he didn’t consider having Paul Goldschmidt start at first in place of the struggling García.

“I always feel like he’s a ticking time bomb,” Boone said of García.