Yankees bench $153 million man Jacoby Ellsbury for AL wild-card game

The New York Yankees' season will be decided by one game. After a hard-fought 162-game schedule, everything is on the line during the American League wild-card game. With a win, the team continues its  pursuit of the franchise's 28th World Series title. With a loss, everyone goes home.

Considering the stakes, the Yankees probably want to send out their best lineup during this do-or-die affair. Well, the team submitted its best lineup Tuesday, and that version of the lineup doesn't include $153 million man Jacoby Ellsbury.

Instead, the club will go with Chris Young, Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran in the outfield. Alex Rodriguez will fill his usual spot at DH, meaning Ellsbury will sit on the bench to start the contest.

[Also: Check out our MLB wild-card game predictions.]

The move is fairly surprising considering Ellsbury's salary. Ellsbury has the fifth-largest contract on the team, and made a little over $21 million this season. He's still under contract with the Yankees for five seasons, including a possible sixth-year option. He's almost certainly going to play a major role on this club in future years, and the team has benched him for its most important game of the season.

To be fair, Ellsbury's financial situation is really the only reason the move is controversial. Once you start to look at the numbers, it's clear manager Joe Girardi made the right choice by going with Young.

Houston's starter, Dallas Keuchel, has been hell on lefties all season. He held southpaws to a .177 batting average over 190 plate appearances. He has a ridiculous 8.33 strikeout to walk rate against left-handers.

Ellsbury, a lefty, hasn't been as good against left-handed pitching all season. He has a .253/.327/.325 slash line against them this year. Young, meanwhile, has feasted upon lefties, hitting .327/.397/.575 in 175 plate appearances. That's a small sample, but it's worth noting that Young has been much better against lefties over his career.

[Related: We ranked all 25 possible World Series matchups.]

It's not all about the splits, though. Ellsbury has been a mess at the plate since coming back from a May knee injury. Ellsbury spent over a month on the disabled list due to the issue, but has hit just .224/.269/.332 since his return. Since that same point in the season, Young has been a better hitter, slashing .269/.345/.452.

Even Yankees coach Jeff Pentland agrees with the decision to sit Ellsbury, though he attributes the outfielder's struggles to a recent issue.

Either way you look at it, injuries have impacted Ellsbury at the plate for most of the season. Because of that, he's going to be sitting on the bench as the team fights for its playoff life.

Ellsbury's huge salary will make his benching a major story. But in a one-game playoff, Girardi needs to put the team on the field that gives the Yankees the best chance to win. The decision to play Young over Ellsbury will dominate the headlines, but it's absolutely the right choice.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik