The New York Yankees recently expressed optimism about DJ LeMahieu‘s batted balls hoping him to make a rebound. However, analysts, fans, and hosts are increasingly concerned about the infielder as the results have not followed suit despite public support from the team.
Within days of hitting coach James Rowson seeing encouraging signs, LeMahieu received the harshest rebuke ever from two hosts. According to SNY’s Jon Alba, multiple baseball sources have told him that the Yankees’ third baseman suffers from significantly diminished abilities following multiple injuries and this is impacting his power at the plate.
“As I noted last week, multiple baseball people I’ve spoken to believe DJ LeMahieu is completely shot as a productive player,” he claimed. “The injuries have taken away his plant and ability to drive the ball. It’s a shame.”
This followed a comment by WFAN’s Chris McMonigle noting that LeMahieu’s swings lack the power to reach the warning track, despite his best efforts.
“I saw him take two of the best swings he’s taken in the last two weeks (on Tuesday) …he put everything he had into those swings, and they didn’t make the warning track,” he told on Audacy. “He has zero pop in there. “The juice is gone.”
LeMahieu’s downfall is concerning
LeMahieu’s struggles are clear in his statistics: a .180 batting average, no home runs, and a 39 OPS+ across 103 plate appearances. This has sparked speculation among baseball insiders and media about his future productivity.
Statcast data reinforces these observations. LeMahieu’s average exit velocity for his hardest 50-percentile hits is 98.9 mph, ranking him 270th in MLB among players with at least 25 at-bats. This is notably lower than teammates Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, who top the league in this metric.
LeMahieu’s low strikeout rate of 17.5% remains positive, but his expected slugging percentage of .395 and career-low max-exit velocity of 107.7 mph indicate a concerning decline in power. This is especially stark compared to the league-leading numbers of Stanton and Judge.
Given these issues, reports suggest the Yankees are exploring trade options for corner infielders as the July 30 trade deadline approaches, indicating the team may be looking for alternatives to bolster their infield.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
The Yankees were wrong to hand the third-base job to DJL when he came off the IL. They were winning with Cabrera at third: Cabrera, not DJ, should have remained as the starter at third.
Soto, Cabrera & Volpe carried the offense the first 3+ weeks. While Cabrera never had a high average, he consistently came through with big hits in key situations; and he started looking more & more comfortable at third as he got regular reps there.
Yet, the Yankees acted as if DJ’s return was the equivalent of prime-time George Brett returning to play 3rd for the Yankees. Let’s not forget that the Yankees traded for a piece of dung in Donaldson to REPLACE DJ at 3rd three years ago. So, why in the world would they think DJ was a better option at 3rd after multiple injuries, 3 seasons later? That was some typically Moronic “logic” on the part of Cashman & Boone.
I don’t mean this as a knock on DJL. I’ve NEVER questioned his effort or his desire, and he’s a classy man, but it’s apparent that DJ is not fully recovered from his injuries. He can’t move laterally with any dexterity and, as the article notes, any gap power he previously had is gone.
Move DJ back onto the IL & put Cabrera back at third as the starter.
And pray that Dumb*** Cashman doesn’t trade away our Best Prospects in a vain attempt to cover-up yet another poor job of roster construction on his part.
All trade responsibilities must be taken away from Cashman before he destroys the future of the team by trading away our best prospects, like Spenser Jones, for someone else’s Donaldson, Gallo, or Montas.
Cashman is Grossly Incompetent as a GM. When is Hal going to wake up & see that?
Remember Einstein’s edict, Hal: To do the same thing over & over & expect different results is a sign of INSANITY. And if you allow Cashman to screw up yet again, then you are Insane or just plain Stupid.