BRONX — When Spring Training started down in Tampa, Yankees utility infielder DJ LeMahieu spoke excitedly about his recovery and trying to bounce back after his season was cut short last year due to a foot fracture. He had a strong spring slashing .325/.372/.425 and now LeMahieu has extended that into his regular season.
He has a hit in each of his first four games of the season going into Wednesday’s series finale with the Philadelphia Phillies and hit his first home run — and the Yankees’ only run — in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss. LeMahieu’s early success has been a boost for the Yankees and manager Aaron Boone, who called LeMahieu’s time in the batters’ box this year compared to last year “night and day.”
The injury issue that popped up in the second half of the season impacted his effectiveness and forced him to miss the playoffs. Early this season, Boone sees the old LeMahieu back out there.
“He’s back where he was when he was in the middle of a great year last year before he got hurt,” Boone said before Wednesday’s game. “It’s good to see him like that. It’s good to see him able to get a swing off. You know, he’s hit a couple. He hit two balls last night, the first one that almost went out. He had a couple of balls that he hit with authority in spring training, but definitely good to see him looking like DJ.”
Boone said that the progress by LeMahieu following the non-surgery recovery plan that he had implemented for his fractured foot had been steady. The Yankees skipper added that his swing had been good since LeMahieu had started ramping things up over the winter.
That doesn’t mean that the Yankees aren’t keeping a close eye on LeMahieu, who told reporters during the spring that surgery had been on the table for his injury, but opted for the nonsurgical route.
“It’s something that I’m certainly mindful of and making sure that we stay ahead of anything, Boone said about managing his workload. “I’ve had that conversation with him like, ‘hey, I expect things to continue to go well, and even when they are and you’re betting, like, especially through this month of April, like you know, you’re gonna get your days.’ We’re on the same page with that. I mean, the biggest thing is, DJ is not the one that loves to hang in the training room as you might imagine, but one of the things we’ve talked about is really the maintenance of making sure he’s getting that soft tissue work done.
“Even when he’s feeling really good, which has been the case, so just trying to stay on top of that as best we can and hopefully out in front of any issues.”
LeMahieu was batting leadoff again on Wednesday, where Boone has liked the way he’s hit in front of slugger Aaron Judge. Boone praised LeMahieu’s ability to get on base and how big of an asset that is for New York.
“I mean, it’s a huge dynamic for us. And one of the reasons we kind of were off to the start we were. A lot of the talk around Aaron (Judge) and of course, our pitchers. The start of the season we were doing things offensively, but DJ was really a catalyst,” Boone said.
