The word on the street is that the New York Yankees will be gaining back DJ LeMahieu in a few days. While he has already stepped foot on the field at Yankee Stadium and he’s working his way back to baseball form, there’s a good chance he misses the start of the regular season due to a lack of live reps.
LeMahieu is not one to sit around and remain stagnant. He has been working extremely hard to improve on a stellar 2019 campaign. He stayed back in Tampa after the MLB shut down to continue working on his craft. However, he tested positive for COVID-19 about two weeks ago but has since passed the requirements to return to action.
Considering the Yankees are preparing to face up against Max Scherzer in Washington, D.C., the expectation of LeMahieu starting at second base is lofty. Working out simply doesn’t result in readiness for an MLB game. I imagine he will be taking regular simulated batting practice.
Here’s what New York Yankees’ hitting coach Marcus Thames and manager Aaron Boone had to say about the LeMahieu’s return:
Yankees’ hitting coach Marcus Thames wants to make sure DJ is 100% ready to go:
“We’re going to take our time with him, make sure he’s healthy,†Thames said. “Don’t want to rush him. But DJ worked really hard, even when the shutdown was in Tampa, he was there getting work in. But I’m going to take it slow with him. He’ll let us know when he’s ready. We’re not going to push him. We’re going to make sure he gets good enough at-bats, some live BPs and hope that he’s ready.â€
Manager Aaron Boone wants to go at LeMahieu’s pace:
 “It’ll entail, obviously, conversations with him, how he’s responding to different work levels that he goes through, different workouts that he gets put through. Obviously, (trainer) Mike Shuck and the training staff and the strength and conditioning staff will all make their evaluations and kind of in consultation then with the player just kind of put a plan of action in place over the next couple of days here.â€
The New York Yankees have no desire to rush their star player back to action. They currently have Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada readily available to supplement his loss. It will only be for a few games, so picking the better defensive player of the two seems to be the best move against Washington.