NEW YORK — DJ LeMahieu says he feels wholesome sufficient to carry out. However because the veteran scuffles by a irritating 0-for-17 stretch that has lowered his batting common to .177, his confidence has been shaken.
“It hasn’t given me a lot hope, the final month or so,” LeMahieu stated on Sunday earlier than the Yankees misplaced, 6-4, to the Rays at Yankee Stadium. “So long as I’ve performed this recreation, no matter challenges have offered itself, I’ve at all times come out of it a method or one other. So I’ll simply maintain displaying up, maintain working.”
Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone stated that LeMahieu has “earned” the precise to proceed combating by his struggles, a nod to the 36-year-old’s embellished profession, which features a batting title in every league.
However LeMahieu’s numbers have been a shadow of their earlier strong ranges. He has managed 22 hits in 124 at-bats to date, with solely three extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 39 video games.
“Simply making an attempt to work by it,” LeMahieu stated. “It simply hasn’t been very constant. I really feel like I’m onto one thing, after which I sort of go backwards just a little bit, then I get on to one thing. The consistency hasn’t been there.”
Envisioned because the group’s leadoff hitter this previous spring, LeMahieu has seen most of his time batting ninth. He was out of Sunday’s lineup, and Boone stated “we’ll see” when requested if it might be a multigame absence.
“He’s such a professional and has clearly been such an excellent hitter over the course of his profession, over the course of his life,” Boone stated. “He’s actually grinding by some issues proper now.”
LeMahieu had excessive hopes coming into the season, with Boone boasting often concerning the work that he had been capable of carry out over the winter.
However LeMahieu fouled a ball off his proper foot on March 16, and what was initially identified as a bone bruise quickly revealed to be a nondisplaced fracture that might delay his season debut till Could 28.
Accidents have been a seamless theme for LeMahieu, who underwent a CT scan after fouling a ball off his neck on July 10 at Tropicana Area. The outcomes had been detrimental, however LeMahieu hasn’t had a success since that recreation.
“Look, he’s undoubtedly — from an damage standpoint — gotten beat up the final couple of years with various things,” Boone stated. “I might put DJ within the class of being a really mentally robust participant. You undergo this stretch, and if you’ve been wholesome, you’ve just about performed nothing however hit in your profession.
“You undergo a [tough] stretch and that may weigh on you, strolling up there with totally different ideas. That may get you in bother. That man dealing with you, 60 toes 6 inches away, is often actually, actually good.”
Oswaldo Cabrera began instead of LeMahieu on Sunday. With infielder Jon Berti lately experiencing a setback in his restoration from a left calf pressure, it’s potential that the Yankees will look so as to add a nook infielder forward of the July 30 Commerce Deadline.
“I do know I undoubtedly wish to add as many good gamers as we are able to, as a result of like I stated, we’ve bought a particular group right here,” LeMahieu stated.
