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NEW YORK – Giancarlo Stanton did not go there. The Yankees the slugger was asked if he had spoken with DJ LeMahieu how he felt. LeMahieu missed Friday 4-3 loss to the Rays due to an unspecified hip injury.
“Yeah, I did,” Stanton told reporters. “But I’m not going to speak for him. We’re just going to keep that with us.
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It’s hard to blame Stanton, who naturally didn’t want to violate his teammate’s confidence.
But add to that the fact that the manager Aaron Boone did not provide reporters with an update on LeMahieu’s status other than to say he was unavailable, and things are not looking good.
“I’m going to see the coaches and see all we’ve got on him,” Boone said.
Really, it’s as simple as this: The Yankees’ already difficult path to the playoffs – via the winning Rays of AL East – will be all the more difficult if they can’t keep LeMahieu at third base or the last. top of the roster in the last two games of the regular season.
Here’s what we know about LeMahieu’s situation: On Friday, the Yankees sent him to a nearby hospital, and medics examined the right hip injury that forced him to withdraw from the sixth round of the victory. Thursday against the Blue Jays in Toronto. He did not participate in any of the Yankees’ pre-game practices and he was not seen in the dugout throughout the game. (Boone also mentioned that LeMahieu’s groin was an issue and that he had been struggling with a version of this injury for at least several weeks.)
And here’s what we know about LeMahieu: he’s badass. He played in 145 games in 2019, 50 of the 60 games shortened by the coronavirus in 2020, and he has played in 150 of 160 games this season.
He wants to play. And although LeMahieu is having a bad season (.268 BA, .711 OPS), he has his head, shoulders, knees and feet above his alternatives.
Rougned Odor came on third in LeMahieu’s absence on Friday and was hitting off four hitting shots, pulling out strikes in a huge place to end the game. In the ninth inning with two strikeouts and runners on first and second, Odor struck out to end the game. (To be fair, pinch hitter Gary Sanchez also hit before him.)
The Yankees wanted nothing to do with playing Odor with healthy LeMahieu. He has only played twice since September 12. It’s been almost three weeks. He’s not a good defenseman at his second natural goal, he’s even worse at third, and he’s reached .200 with a .665 OPS in 101 games this season.
Boone, of course, has other options. They could start Tyler Wade at shortstop and move Gio Urshela to third base. It would give them their best defense on the pitch. But they would also lose Wade’s versatility and basic stroke, which can make him valuable late in the game off the bench. Or the Yankees could send reliever Albert Abreu, who threw 14 shots on Friday night, and call Andrew Velazquez to start from the shortstop with Urshela on third base. And if they really wanted to go crazy, Miguel Andujar plays and hits well at Triple-A, but he hasn’t played third base since May 14 either and it would be unfair to ask him that now. It also doesn’t help that the Yankees put 2020 MLB home run king Luke Voit (left knee inflammation) on the injury list on Thursday, ending his season and robbing Boone of a powerful bench bat. , although inconsistent.
“It’s that time of year,” Boone said. “We play really good baseball and we have a tough one there and we have to turn the page quickly and deal with it (Saturday).”
Except if they have to do it without LeMahieu, it could be a huge problem.
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Brendan Kuty can be reached at [email protected].
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