The New York Yankees will be without leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu for Game 162 on Sunday, as well as any potential postseason games over the next few days. On Sunday, the Yankees announced LeMahieu has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia. The move to retroactive to Friday. LeMahieu has been playing through the injury for several weeks.
“We just feel like he is too compromised right now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. and SI.com’s Max Goodman, Sunday morning. “We’ll see how the next week unfolds. If we get to an ALCS situation, we’ll see if he’s in play at that point.”
With LeMahieu sidelined, the Yankees are starting Rougned Odor at third base Sunday. Earlier this month the Yankees shifted Gleyber Torres to second base, pushing LeMahieu to third and Gio Urshela to short. Andrew Velazquez and Tyler Wade could see time at shortstop in the coming days with Urshela returning to third base. Boone indicated the infield is a fluid situation.
The Yankees can clinch a wild-card spot with a win over the Rays on Sunday, or losses by the Blue Jays and Mariners. New York is assured of playing at least a Game 163 tiebreaker on Monday, and if they win that, they would then play the Wild Card Game. They will be without LeMahieu through at least the ALDS, should they advance that far.
LeMahieu has not played since leaving Thursday’s game in the seventh inning with the injury. He received a cortisone injection Friday and will require offseason surgery. The Yankees and LeMahieu have had to manage the injury over the last few weeks, which included sitting one game in Boston last weekend even though the series was bookended by off-days.
This season has not gone as well as LeMahieu’s first two years in New York. He hit .336/.386/.536 from 2019-20 and finished in the top four of the MVP voting each year, but has slipped down to .268/.349/.362 in 2021. The sports hernia may have contributed to that, though LeMahieu’s production was down well before the injury became an issue.
Righty Luis Gil was called up to replace LeMahieu on the roster. The Yankees are essentially planning a bullpen game Sunday and Gil can provide multiple innings.
