The injuries are mounting for the New York Yankees. Infielder DJ LeMahieu will miss at least a “couple of weeks” with a Grade 1 or 2 left calf strain, he told reporters Thursday (via Newsday). An exact timetable will be determined once he meets with team doctors. LeMahieu suffered the injury in his second at-bat this past Saturday during his spring debut.
“I wanted to come in this spring and prove that I’m healthy, and I’m not off to the hottest start with that,” LeMahieu said Saturday (via NorthJersey.com). “… It’s not anything major, but it’s probably going to be a little bit. I can’t put a timeline on it.”
LeMahieu, 36, was limited to 67 games last season by a broken foot early in the year and a hip impingement late in the year. When he did play, he was one of the least effective players in baseball, slashing .204/.269/.259 with nearly twice as many double plays (13) as extra-base hits (seven). It added up to a ghastly minus-1.6 WAR, one of the worst marks in the game.
Given his terrible 2024, the Yankees might not miss LeMahieu during his calf injury, though it is another injury for a team that has suffered several this spring. Here is New York’s walking wounded:
All except Effross and maybe Brubaker were locks to make New York’s Opening Day roster. Marcus Stroman will slide into the rotation to replace Gil after saying he wouldn’t pitch in the bullpen earlier this spring. The Yankees are likely to rotate players through the DH spot during Stanton’s absence. That roster spot could go to first baseman/catcher Ben Rice.
LeMahieu was ostensibly part of the team’s spring third-base competition, though it was unlikely he would be a full-time player there. With LeMahieu out, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza are expected to handle the hot corner. Peraza is a righty hitter and Cabrera is a switch-hitter who is much better against righties, making them natural platoon partners.
This is the fifth year of LeMahieu’s six-year, $90 million contract. He originally joined the Yankees on a two-year, $24 million contract in January 2019. That deal was a smashing success — LeMahieu put up 8.3 WAR and finished top four of the MVP voting both years. In the first four years of the six-year contract, he’s at 7.8 WAR.
The Yankees went 94-68 last season and lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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