With a spotlight placed on DJ LeMahieu’s running, Yankees manager Aaron Boone allowed the infielder may be “a little bit beat up.”
LeMahieu did not appear to be all-out sprinting on the way to first base during what turned out to be a fielder’s choice in the third inning of Friday’s loss.
LeMahieu had smacked the pitch up the middle, where Boston second baseman Emmanuel Valdez was positioned.
A would-be double-play ball, though, was mishandled several times: Valdez knocked the ball down, picked it up and tossed to shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela, who had to spin to touch second base, then double-clutched.
Finally, he threw to first base and nearly nabbed LeMahieu.
Boone defended LeMahieu’s effort level after the game.
A day later, Boone said he went back and watched replays of the play and believed the 35-year-old LeMahieu, who missed the first two months of the season with a fracture in his right foot, had issues getting into his top running form.
“I think he got out of the swing, trying to fight down the line to get into his gait and had a hard time getting there,” Boone said Saturday before the Yankees beat the Red Sox and LeMahieu collected two hits and two RBIs. “And then just at the end, just pushed it, which wasn’t the most efficient way of doing it, obviously.”
LeMahieu reached first base safely, but his running to second base contributed to costing the Yankees a run: Ben Rice followed by chopping a pitch down the first-base line, where first baseman Romy Gonzalez fielded, touched first base and threw to second, where LeMahieu was tagged out to end the inning before Anthony Volpe, running from third, could touch home.
Volpe did not run hard and said he believed the batted ball went foul; LeMahieu did not attempt to get into a rundown.
The play of LeMahieu will be especially scrutinized as long as his bat does not come around.
The veteran entered play hitting .175 without a home run in his first 30 games of the season.
Perhaps he needs more time.
Perhaps he is far past his prime.
Perhaps he is feeling the lasting effects of an injury sustained in spring training, when LeMahieu blasted a pitch off his foot.
“He’s saying he’s fine,” Boone said of LeMahieu, who has dealt with toe and foot injuries since 2022. “I do think he has recovered from the foul ball, which was obviously a blow because I feel like in a lot of ways he had put the foot/toe things behind him that had ailed him the past couple years.
“… Is he a little bit beat up? Maybe.”