DJ LeMahieu was arguably the New York Yankees best player last season, and is hungry for more. The 31 year-old from Visalia, California was an all-star, silver slugger winner, and fourth place finisher in the MVP vote in 2019.
For the season, LeMahieu hit .327 with 102 RBIs while hitting 26 home runs. His slugging was .518 and his OPS was close to .900.
2019 was undoubtedly the best season of his career in terms of overall success. His average was the highest since he won the 2016 NL batting title with an impressive .348 average. LeMahieu finished second in the 2019 AL batting title.
2020 will be the final year of a two year deal for LeMahieu. He will be paid $12 million for the season, and was paid $12 for the last. It’s seemingly likely that LeMahieu will eventually be extended sooner or later.
2020 Expectations
With his outstanding 2019 season, LeMahieu set the bar pretty high for 2020.
Since Didi Gregorius is now off the team, Gleyber Torres is now the starting shortstop and that makes LeMahieu the everyday second baseman. He played a variety of first base, second base, and third base throughout 2019 but never found a permanent home. However, he did play first base all postseason with Luke Voit struggling.
The Yankees just need him to hit around .300 this season. It’s great if his power numbers are as good as last year, but he by no means has to hit 26 home runs and drive in 102 runs again. He just needs to continue to get on base and set up power hitters. LeMahieu also needs to continue playing solid defense and anchor the infield in that category.
DJ LeMahieu is expected to have another big season and lead the Yankees once again in 2020.