It’s a return the New York Yankees didn’t want to see: “foot stuff.”
Following Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed that DJ LeMahieu has a toe issue that “he’s been dealing with the last couple days,” and DJLM will have imaging done Monday in New York.
“It’s my right big toe, the last four or five days it’s affected me, but really I don’t anticipate this being an issue moving forward, and hopefully I’ll be back in there tomorrow,” LeMahieu said shortly after Boone made the announcement. “They want to do (imaging) just to stay in top of it.”
LeMahieu is slashing .279/.381/.417 with 12 homers and 43 RBI in 104 games this season, but he was not in Sunday’s lineup. That was his first absence since July 28, but after going 10-for-20 with two homers and three walks in the Yankees’ five games between July 29 and August 2, he is just 6-for-38 (.158) with five walks in nine games since – a stretch in which the Yankees went 2-7.
“Not our best road trip, we’re all frustrated,” LeMahieu said. “I think all of us can pick it up a little bit, and if each of us collectively do that, we can be a much better team. We know how good a team we are, we just haven’t been playing like it.”
He has been an important part of the offense that has been without Giancarlo Stanton for about three weeks, lost Matt Carpenter to a broken foot earlier this month, and has seen Anthony Rizzo miss some time with back tightness as well – but he got the day to try to stem any further issues.
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“I just didn’t feel like I could get my swing off the last few days, and talking to Boonie, he was like today is a good day (off) to make sure you’re right and ready to go for this homestand,” LeMahieu said.
Still, DJLM won’t put that issue on the hook as the reason for his recent performance, as he revealed that he dealt with a similar issue earlier this year, and got a cortisone shot around the All-Star break.
“Just kind of bumps and bruises of the season, wear and tear, but I’m not concerned,” LeMahieu said. “Had a cortisone shot and it felt great for a while, but I feel like it’s creeping back up. One of those things that pops up – but everyone has something right now, so just making sure we’re ready to go for the rest of the season.”
LeMahieu wouldn’t rule out another cortisone shot as a possibility, but the skipper will see what the imaging reveals on Monday before the Yankees map out a plan.
“We’ll see what we’ve got when we get back,” Boone said.
If LeMahieu has to miss some time with an IL stint for any reason, the Yankees could turn to top prospects Oswald Peraza or Oswaldo Cabrera to fill in for the short term, although with Marwin Gonzalez as a utility option in the infield, they could also move Harrison Bader to the 60-day IL and add a non-roster utility player (perhaps Tyler Wade?) for the short-term.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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