NEW YORK -- Giancarlo Stanton's recent hot streak coincides precisely with the decision to install the slugger as the No. 2 hitter in the Yankees' lineup, swapping places with Aaron Judge. You might wonder if the club’s army of number-crunchers produced advanced analytics to fuel that decision, but it wasn’t all that complicated, according to manager Aaron Boone.

"Just for the heck of it -- a little bit of that, honestly," Boone said. "We’d obviously gotten off to a tough start offensively the first two weeks of the season, kind of collectively as a group. So it was a little bit a case of changing and switching some things up.”

The move has paid incredible dividends. Beginning with that April 23 contest at Cleveland, Stanton batted .500/.520/.896 with four doubles, five homers, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored in his next 11 games, owning the Majors’ longest active hitting streak entering Thursday’s series finale against the Astros.

“I feel great,” Stanton said. “I can’t tell you if it’s my best [hot streak] ever or what have you, but I’m just glad I’m here and have to work to keep it going.”

The torrid stretch has raised Stanton’s season average from .158 to .314, and Stanton seems to have found a new home in the lineup for the foreseeable future.

“He went in that two-hole and decided he wanted to start really raking,” Boone said with a laugh. “I look at it more as a really good player and a really good hitter kind of getting it rolling. Had he been hitting second or third, I feel like we’d be in the same position.

“With that being said, there’s no denying what he’s meant in that two-hole. I think I’m going to keep him there for a little bit.”

Odor update
Rougned Odor appears to be “doing better,” according to Boone, after the infielder landed on the injured list Wednesday with a left knee sprain. Odor sustained the injury in a sixth-inning collision with Astros catcher Martin Maldonado, part of a three-run play in the Yanks’ 7-3 victory over Houston.

“I don't have an exact timetable -- as the symptoms start to dissipate and go away, he’ll start to ramp up,” Boone said. “I don't think it's going to be a long thing. It’s kind of day to day where we'll see how he's responding each and every day.”

Sevy season
Luis Severino is scheduled to face hitters early next week at the club’s player development complex in Tampa, Fla., according to Boone, who exchanged text messages with the rehabbing right-hander recently.

“He’s doing really well, so that'll be another nice step for him,” Boone said.

The Yankees expect Severino to rejoin the big league rotation this summer, outlining the months from June to August as a reasonable timetable.

“I do have a little bit of a gray outline, but there are still significant steps to be taken,” Boone said. “I don't want to get bogged down in it, but I’ll just say he's doing well and progressing like I think we would all hope.”

This date in Yankees history
May 6, 2007: In a dramatic mid-game announcement, 44-year-old Roger Clemens appears in George M. Steinbrenner’s private box to surprise fans with his pending return to the roster. The right-hander agrees to a prorated one-year, $28 million deal, debuting on June 9. Clemens went 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 18 games (17 starts) down the stretch.