DJ LeMahieu is a critical part of the Yankees’ success on offense, which makes it no surprise that the lineup has largely struggled this season, one that has seen some regression from the former MVP candidate.
After an All-Star selection in 2019, his first year in New York, and a batting title in 2020, which also included the league lead in OPS, LeMahieu has taken a step back, hitting right around league average in 2021 after signing a six-year deal to remain with the Yanks. After two top-five MVP finishes and two Silver Sluggers to begin his pinstriped tenure, LeMahieu has been largely disappointing at the plate through the first half of the season.
But the typically steady bat atop the lineup is starting to show signs of a return to normal, which would be a massive boost for a Yankee team looking to catch fire and get back in the playoff race.
After a two-hit night on Friday, which included a big two-run double to turn a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 cushion in the top of the seventh, LeMahieu is now hitting .323 with an .852 OPS over his last 16 games, a span of 74 plate appearances, serving as a solid sample size that he is starting to return to form.
LeMahieu has also struck out just eight times in that span, a vast improvement from earlier in the season, when he was striking out over 20 percent of the time in the month of May. He cut that mark in half in the month of June and has continued to show his 2019 and 2020-type contact skills of late, fighting back from an 0-2 count in the seventh to work a 10-pitch at-bat before ripping a double down the left field line.
LeMahieu’s double was a 110.6 mph missile to left, another welcomed sight for the Yankees, who have been looking for LeMahieu to rediscover his line drive swing. Through the first three months of the season, LeMahieu’s ground ball percentage was at least 55 percent in each month, but so far in July, he has cut that down 10 percent, while his line drive percentage, up a tick in June, has bumped up seven percent in July, to 31.8 percent. He has also hit exactly half of his batted balls right back up the middle, and his 41 percent hard contact rate this month is the highest of any month so far this season.
LeMahieu’s improved hitting stretched beyond the last 16 contests, as he has been batting over .300 over his last 27 games and 126 plate appearances. But he continues to look better at the plate, and a hot second half with 2020-type production would be pivotal to getting the Yankees back into the postseason discussion.
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