LeMahieu is ‘excited’ to be back physically and mentally

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DJ LeMahieu is starting spring training on his right foot, which was part of his body that gave him so much trouble last year. He is very excited to return from his injury and contribute to the Yankees’ fruitful 2023 season.

“I’m so excited where I’m at right now,” LeMahieu said on Sunday, when as position players began their spring trainiong in Tampa.

Sunday was the day that Yankees infielders and outfielders had to show up at Steinbrenner Field. Around 9 a.m., LeMahieu walked into the home clubhouse. He had a short haircut and a smile on his face.

The Yankees‘ success this season may depend in part on LeMahieu being healthy and hitting well. He is one of the most important hitters in their lineup because he tries to make contact with the ball.

Last year, LeMahieu missed the playoffs because of a broken bone in his big right toe and a torn ligament in his second toe. This offseason, he chose to rest instead of having surgery. LeMahieu thinks he made the right choice because when he got to camp on Sunday, he said he was healthy.

LeMahieu was put on the injured list in September, but he was brought back for the last two series of the season to show that he could help in the playoffs. But because of the foot injury, he was still a shell of himself. The pain made it hard for him to swing the bat, so LeMahieu was left off the Yankees’ playoff team, and they missed him a lot.

According to LeMahieu, “How the season ended for me last year and our team and just where I’m at physically and mentally and to be back, I feel like I’m in a really good place and really excited to be around the guys again.”

LeMahieu was hurt by the injury even before he got to the IL. On August 8, he had played 100 games and hit .290 with an OPS of .827, which is about the same as his career stats. A few days later, because of the injury, LeMahieu missed a game against the Red Sox. For the rest of the season (25 games), he hit only .149 with no extra-base hits and an OPS of .355.

“It got to a point where I couldn’t be myself,” LeMahieu said. “I’m used to playing through things, but it was so limiting that I couldn’t be myself. That was very disappointing.”

It was the second year in a row that LeMahieu didn’t play in the postseason. “It’s the worst feeling,” he said. In 2021, he had surgery for a sports hernia, which kept him out of the game.

Now, LeMahieu has a plan for 2023 to keep him healthy as he moves between second base, third base, and first base. The player put his toe to the test by hitting a lot over the last month or so at the Yankees’ player development complex across Dale Mabry Highway. His toe passed with flying colors.

The two-time batting champion says he is 100% healthy as spring training starts.

“I feel great after some rest and therapy,” LeMahieu said. “I’m really, really happy right now.”

“I can’t just go out and take a thousand swings every day and a thousand ground balls and call it a day,” LeMahieu said. “I really have to make sure I’m physically ready to go every single day for the whole season. Nothing changes — that’s always the mindset. But probably spending more time making sure I can be on the field and be myself rather than making sure my swing’s right.”

Though his defense remained untouched by his toe injury, he was unable to drive. LeMahieu hit a ball. In his first 105 games, he hit .292 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI. From August 3 on, he hit .167 with one home run and four RBI in 30 games.

LeMahieu will turn 35 in July. He knows that he needs to make some changes this year if he wants to have a better chance of staying healthy for the whole season and hitting like he did in his first two years with the club. 327 in 2019 and .364 in 2020, which was the best in the American League.

In 2021, it was a sports hernia. Last year, it was a broken big right toe. Surgery fixed the first problem, and the Yankees infielder had to wait months for the second problem to go away. After a lot of rest, his toe finally feels normal again, and he can swing again.

“I can’t just take 1,000 swings every day or take 1,000 groundballs and call it a day,” LeMahieu said. “I really have to make sure I’m physically ready to go every single day for the whole season. Nothing changes. That’s always the mindset, but just probably spending more time making sure I can be on the field to be myself rather than making sure my swing is right.”

LeMahieu thinks that the current team is better than the 99-win, division-winning team from last year, especially since All-Star left-hander Carlos Rodon was just signed. LeMahieu feels the 2023 season is the perfect one for the Yankees to end the dominance of the Astros.

Yankees’ tricky shortstop ‘competition’ will put offseason decisions to test

LeMahieu decided to rest and work on getting better instead of having surgery this offseason after talking to the Yankees’ training staff and multiple doctors. Surgery had a lot of unknowns, and LeMahieu didn’t want to deal with those.

“We weren’t sure if we wanted to do surgery on the big toe, the second toe, or both,” he said. “So it was just never clear that this was gonna be it and this is the rehab and this is how it’s gonna feel. So I think I made the right decision.”

During the off-season, manager Aaron Boone talked to LeMahieu and thought that the feedback he was getting from his veteran infielder was honest. Boone said he could tell from LeMahieu’s voice that he was finally feeling like himself again by the middle of the offseason.

Then, as LeMahieu worked out more at the Yankees’ player development complex, his actions started to match what he was saying.

“It’s something we still gotta be mindful of and pay attention to,” said Boone, who could give LeMahieu some more planned days off during the season to keep him healthy. “But certainly encouraged with where he’s at.”

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