After sitting out on Opening Day, DJ LeMahieu will make his season debut for the New York Yankees on Saturday. He arrived to camp late after testing positive for coronavirus in early July.
LeMahieu was by far the best player on the Yankees roster in 2019. Finishing 4th in MVP voting, the second-baseman bat .327 with a career-high 26 home-runs and 102 RBIs. He had a .375 OBP, a .518 slugging, and a 136 OPS+.
LeMahieu returned to camp at the end of last week and participated in a few scrimmages. He seemed perfectly fine and didn’t show many signs of rust.
The 32-year-old will return to his leadoff spot for Saturday’s primetime match-up against the Nationals. Game time is at 7:15pm on FOX, where we will see the debut of virtual fans on the broadcast. The Yankees were expected to face Stephen Strasburg, but he was scratched due to a nerve issue. Erick Fedde will now start for Washington, while James Paxton gets the ball for the Yankees.
The Yankees won the season and series opener 4 to 1 on Thursday, getting the best of Max Scherzer. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run and drove in three to lead the Yankees. Stanton is hoping to have a great 2020 season and stay healthy as injuries derailed his 2019 season.
The bombers will put out their number one lineup for the second game of the season, with Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Giancarlo Stanton batting in spots two thru four. Aaron Hicks will bat fifth, with Luke Voit following batting sixth. Rounding up the order will be Gary Sanchez, Gio Urshela, and Brett Gardner.