New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu entered spring training healthier than he has been in years.
In fact, manager Aaron Boone is quoted as saying that his star infielder was healthy heading into the season on February 14.
Just a couple of days later, however, LeMahieu fouled a ball off his right foot and hasn’t been able to recover since.
On Monday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed that LeMahieu will be opening the season on the injured list.
DJ LeMahieu will be on the IL to start the season pic.twitter.com/gVAdZalGEh
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 25, 2024
LeMahieu had X-rays on his foot and they came back negative, so the Yanks don’t appear to be worried about any broken bones.
However, he still feels soreness and he can’t play in games right now.
Over the weekend, when the Yankees were playing in Mexico, Boone said that he feels comfortable with Oswaldo Cabrera filling in for LeMahieu at the hot corner in case the latter wasn’t ready for March 28.
That will be the case, so Cabrera, who has three extra-base hits (a double and two home runs) in his last five spring training games, will have another golden opportunity to cement his place in the team’s future plans.
The Yankees will certainly miss LeMahieu, though, and hope that he doesn’t require an IL stint that is longer than the minimum.
He was solid last year, with 15 home runs and a 101 wRC+, which means league average offensive performance.
He is the newest name to join the team’s already crowded injured list, which also has Lou Trivino, Scott Effross, Jasson Dominguez, and most notably ace Gerrit Cole.
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