DJ LeMahieu will be shut down from baseball activities for a couple of weeks as the MRI revealed a calf strain, with the Yankees still waiting on an exact timeline for the veteran infielder. It’s a tough blow for LeMahieu, who was one of the candidates to win the third base job out of camp, and the Yankees will have even more pressure placed on them to add to an infield depth chart that has fallen apart over the offseason. Oswaldo Cabrera is slated to start, but his numbers against LHP are dreadful across his career, and the team prefers him in a versatile utility role.
With the Yankees in desperate need of a right-handed bat, they’re currently shopping for options in either the corner outfield or the infield, and the loss of DJ LeMahieu may have to accelerate their search.
Yankees To Shut Down DJ LeMahieu For a Couple Weeks Following MRI
The last few seasons have been a struggle for DJ LeMahieu, and the problems keep on pouring in after news came out that his MRI revealed a Grade 1 or Grade 2 left calf strain. The Yankees are now even weaker in the infield, as while LeMahieu wasn’t a productive player this past season, internally they believed he could at least platoon with Oswaldo Cabrera, and even that plan is now off the table to start the season.
Oswald Peraza is the internal option that makes the most sense as a right-handed infielder, but his underwhelming play at the Major League level and poor Spring Training up to this point may not inspire much confidence in the Yankees. If they look at the depth chart for veterans, non-roster invites Andrew Velazquez and Pablo Reyes could have outside shots to make the roster, but that would require placing them on the 40-man roster first.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has reported that the team is looking to trade for a right-handed bat in the infield, but who that ends up being is a mystery. What it could indicate is that the Yankees don’t believe in what they have internally to handle LHP or a full-time role.
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The Yankees don’t have much on their roster to try and counter left-handed pitching and that’s a real problem for them in the short-term. When Giancarlo Stanton returns that problem could fix itself, but it won’t address the weakness they have at third base in those scenarios. Cabrera’s numbers against southpaws were firmly below-average and the Yankees are running out of available options on the market who could address that need.
Jose Iglesias recently signed a MiLB deal with the San Diego Padres and earlier in February the Yankees saw Brendan Rodgers walk to the Astros on the same kind of deal. Their inactivity in free agency to end the offseason is something that eerily resembles their course of action in 2023 when addressing left field, which quickly turned into a black hole and may have caused them to miss out on playoff baseball.
Brian Cashman’s job cannot be finished this winter if the Yankees want to roll out a complete roster, and with injuries piling up, their depth is failing the test.