Since Giancarlo Stanton’s hamstring strain in June, the offense has been largely dormant for the New York Yankees, who have been experiencing an invisible bat problem lately. In their 2-1 triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night, the Bronx Bombers—who can scarcely afford any more injuries—had yet another fright.
According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, infielder DJ LeMahieu fouled a ball off his neck but did not suffer a concussion or any other major injuries.
Hoch tweeted, “[Manager] Aaron Boone said DJ LeMahieu had a precautionary CT scan after fouling a ball off his neck last night.” “It turned up clean.”
LeMahieu, who has been injured by snakebite this year, was off on Thursday night. In spring training, the 35-year-old fouled a ball off his foot, delaying his season debut until May 28. On Wednesday, a pitch also struck his left pinky.
Boone believes LeMahieu is in “a good spot,” according to New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips.
Over the past few years, Boone stated, “there have undoubtedly been some freak things that have popped up on him and happened to him.” For him, it’s stagnated in some seasons. This should not prevent him from starting this process here, hopefully.
LeMahieu is cutting, but he hasn’t quite managed to “get it rolling” yet.202/.296/.229 with 11 RBI and no home runs. In 126 plate appearances, the 35-year-old has just three extra-base hits—all of them doubles.
This will be by far the two-time batting champion’s worst year in the majors if he doesn’t turn things around quickly. Will he be able to provide the much-needed boost to New York’s offense?
For the Yankees to be a difference-maker, LeMahieu needs to rediscover his strength.
LeMahieu has touched the ball, but his ball driving has been lacking. The former Louisiana State player presently has career-worst percentages in both ground balls (57.6) and hard hits (38). James Roswon, the hitting coach for New York, is optimistic, though, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
Rowson predicted an improvement in the quality of contact. “I believe that many of those issues are a result of the current at-bat flow’s irregularity. It’s coming, I believe. You’ll see an increase in quality contact and a decrease in the ground ball rate as we see him square up more balls consistently throughout the game.
Given that LeMahieu’s barrel percentage is currently at a career-high 7.6%, Rowson might be onto something. A hit that results in a.500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage is called a “barrel.”
Rowson added, “When your consistency of barreling up the baseball on time starts to happen, the underlying numbers tend to get better.” “I have hope for him.” I examine the back of his baseball card throughout his major league career, in addition to the numbers that you see. He’s always shown that he can make the necessary adjustments, which is what this league is all about. I believe that he will carry on in that manner, and DJ should improve.
It will not be long before LeMahieu regains his previous level of play if he keeps barreling the ball. He will, however, have to hope that the injury bug stays away because injuries only become more difficult to treat as athletes become older.
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