One of the biggest evaluations the Yankees need to make before the postseason got underway on Friday night in The Bronx.
DJ LeMahieu was activated off the injured list and was in the starting lineup at third base for a 2-1 loss to the Orioles. It was his first game since Sept. 4 after tending to his lingering toe injury and inflammation.
LeMahieu went 0-for-3 before he was removed for a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, which manager Aaron Boone had anticipated doing before the game.
“He did pretty well [physically],” Boone said.
What the Yankees can expect from LeMahieu remains a major question mark, but they still plan to use the final seven games of the regular season to find out.
Friday marked the first time LeMahieu faced live pitching since Sept. 4, before he on the IL. He took batting practice against coaches and a high-velocity pitching machine over the past week.
“Today was the first day really getting after it and seeing live pitching, so more than anything, I want to see how he responds,” Boone said. “‘What did you feel? How do you feel [Saturday]?’ Those kinds of things.”
An effective LeMahieu could offer a big boost to the Yankees’ lineup, as he showed in his first 100 games of the season, when he was batting .290 with a .827 OPS. His ability to get on base at a high clip, often out of the leadoff spot, and hit with two strikes would be especially valuable in the postseason.
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But LeMahieu was sapped of that offensive production while trying to play through the toe inflammation beginning in early August. Over his last 20 games before finally landing on the IL, LeMahieu was hitting just 10-for-78 (.128) with a .307 OPS, no extra-base hits and 17 strikeouts.
“It’s better — it’s a lot better,” LeMahieu said before the game. “I’m just excited to be back, try to help the team out.”
The Yankees have said that LeMahieu likely won’t be 100 percent until the offseason, but the veteran infielder said Friday he was “confident” he would be able to play through the injury.
“I feel like I’m able to do my job,” LeMahieu said.
Boone said the Yankees would take LeMahieu’s schedule “day-by-day,” and that there was a chance he might not play Saturday in a day game after a night game.
“[We’ll] try to make determinations about if he’s really able to get his swing off, what that does to him, how does it affect him as the game unfolds, the next day — all those things,” Boone said. “We’ll just kind of make those evaluations as we go.”
