NEW YORK — As the New York Yankees finalize their postseason roster, it is still unclear if infielder DJ LeMahieu will play in the American League Division Series.
LeMahieu’s toe has been bothering him for most of the second half of the season, and he was on the injured list until the last week. Even though he got four hits in 16 at-bats during that time, Aaron Boone, the manager of the New York Yankees, said on Monday that LeMahieu still didn’t look like himself.
At a team practice session before the start of the ALDS Game 1 on Tuesday, the manager said:
“I feel like LeMahieu was still compromised, I mean, that’s what I was seeing. You kind of want to see how he is today and what he’s able to do to make that determination.”
At the same time, power hitter Matt Carpenter will be back with the Yankees. Carpenter broke his left foot in early August and missed the rest of the season. In 47 games, he hit .305/.412/.727 and hit 15 home runs. This could be good news for the Yankees when LeMahieu is likely to miss the playoffs.
The Yankees’ bullpen is hurt, and Aroldis Chapman won’t be in it because he missed a preparatory workout session and got fined. Boone informed reporters of having starters Jameson Taillon and Domingo German on the LDS roster to make up for this. In the first half of the season, the team had a better bullpen, led by All-Star closer Clay Holmes. In the second half, the bullpen hasn’t been as good, and injuries to Michael King and Chad Green have put them out for the year.
Boone said that in the playoffs, “a number” of relievers could be the closer.
“We don’t have necessarily the traditional roles we’ve had going into some postseasons we’ve had but we do feel like we have a number of guys down there throwing the ball really well, capable of getting huge outs. Hopefully, we can get them into situations and parts of the lineup where they have this chance to be successful.”
Boone said that Taillon’s role could change as the postseason goes on.
Boone told that Taillon “could be a starter later in the playoffs.” According to him, “I think he could do anything, from being a long reliever to the last pitcher of the game. I think he could be good at anything.”
Boone also said that Giancarlo Stanton could play outfield in the later rounds of the playoffs. Stanton had to miss a few months of baseball because of tendinitis in his left Achilles. Since then, he has been the team’s designated hitter.
“I wouldn’t expect it to come up in the first two games, the manager told, “It would be hard for me to put Giancarlo in left field at Yankee Stadium right away.”
Even though the Yankees won’t know for sure until Tuesday, they are likely to use 12 pitchers and 14 position players. LeMahieu seems to be out of the ALDS roster.
How will the absence of LeMahieu impact the Yankees in the ALDS?
