The New York Yankees haven’t had their best offensive season so far, and that’s not a secret to anyone. Several stars have struggled to get anything going at the plate, including DJ LeMahieu. The second baseman, who was re-signed on a six-year, $90 million deal in the offseason, is currently hitting .263/.338/.365 with a 98 wRC+, basically average offensive performance.
However, we know he is capable of more. He was the batting champion last year with a .364 average, and hit 10 homers in a 60-game season. This campaign, he only has six dingers and we are about to hit the halfway point.
His performance so far has been disappointing, but the Yankees know what kind of hitter they have in LeMahieu, and as a matter of fact, he is trending up as we speak.
Since June 10, the Yankees’ regular leadoff hitter is batting .326/.383/.605, with a 170 wRC+ (70 percent better than his peers, which is absolutely fantastic), three doubles, and three of his six home runs, all that in 47 plate appearances.
The Yankees are pleased with his recent performance
It’s a very small sample, for sure, but time could have been all LeMahieu needed to establish a rhythm in the batter’s box and start producing the numbers that Yankees fans have grown accustomed to.
It remains to be seen if LeMahieu can maintain such a high level of offensive performance, but recent history, namely his two dominant seasons in 2019 and 2020 with the Yankees, backs him up.
Over that timeframe, his isolated power is .279, which is more than healthy since he has been struggling to consistently lift the ball all season. His BB% is 8.5 during his recent hot stretch, and he is striking out in just 4.3 percent of his plate appearances.
We would like to see him extend this excellent performance for a little longer before officially proclaim that he is back, but the Yankees are surely enjoying the surge, one that was long overdue.
Is DJ LeMahieu officially back?