ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — DJ LeMahieu made his season debut Tuesday night with the New York Yankees.
However, it's a position in the batting order that we haven't seen him in for a while.
LeMahieu batted ninth in the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, going 0-for-3 with one walk. After drawing a walk in the fifth inning, he scored on an Austin Wells double as New York fell to a 3-2 lead.
“I thought he had four good at-bats. He didn't get a hit and he walked, but he had four good at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said.
With leadoff hitter Anthony Volpe having the longest hitting streak by a Yankees batter in 12 years, manager Aaron Boone decided to move LeMahieu to the bottom of the lineup.
It was LeMahieu's first time batting ninth since March 31, 2019, against Baltimore, and that was enough for him.
“Right now, I don't think there's a lot of changes going on offensively,” said LeMahieu, who is back on the 60-day disabled list. “I'm looking forward to it, I'm waiting in the back of the order. I'm batting eighth and ninth. I haven't batted there in a while, but it doesn't feel too strange.”
The 35-year-old third baseman missed the Yankees' first 55 games with a non-displaced fracture in his right foot. LeMahieu sustained the injury during a spring training game on March 16 when a ball hit him in the foot and went foul.
The Yankees finished with the best record in the AL, 37-18, despite being without their two-time leadoff hitter.
Boone said he and LeMahieu have talked in days about not having his usual leadoff at-bat because Volpe is on a 20-game hitting streak, the Yankees' longest streak since Robinson Cano's 23-game hitting streak in 2012.
“He's just excited to get back here and play, and that's a testament to what he's capable of,” Boone said of LeMahieu. “He's a guy who's already had a great career with the Yankees, so his unselfishness in not worrying about him at all is not surprising.”
LeMahieu entered Tuesday's game batting .312 after appearing in 29 games as the ninth batter during his major league career.
LeMahieu returns to a Yankees offense that leads the majors in home runs (82), on-base percentage (.334) and OPS (.771) and is third with a .257 batting average.
“I'm feeling good and I've been able to get some baseball practice in the last few weeks,” he said. “I would have liked to play, but this season has been special so I'm excited to be a part of it.”
Boone said he plans to start LeMahieu for all three games of the series against the Angels and Friday's series opener at San Francisco, then give him a few days of rest.
LeMahieu won the AL batting title with a .364 average in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but has batted just .258 over the past three seasons, including a career-low .243 last season.
Nonetheless, Boone is pleased to have a player with LeMahieu's versatility back in the lineup.
“They've got a solid hitting style, they've got elite defense, they've got the defensive versatility, they can play a couple of positions in the infield,” Boone said. “The way they're swinging the bat as a team, we have a chance to have a really long lineup.”
To make room for LeMahieu, infielder Kevin Smith opted for free agency rather than return to the minor leagues.
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