After a notable wait, DJ LeMahieu finally made his return to the New York Yankees’ starting lineup. Yankees manager Aaron Boone slotted in the versatile infielder to bat leadoff and cover third base for the road clash with the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
LeMahieu missed the Yankees’ last four games due to left wrist discomfort. Boone initially had LeMahieu in his lineup for the home matchup against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, but the three-time All-Star was later scratched from it due to the injury.
Ahead of the Yankees’ contest against the Rays, Boone provided an update on LeMahieu’s injury, where he noted that there was a slight concern that the infielder would be placed on the injured list.
“Just a really good turn of events,” Boone said. “About 36 hours ago, I was a little worried that we might need to do an IL stint and then [he] really felt good two nights ago and was able to hit and then yesterday had a real normal day.”
Over the past few days, LeMahieu made notable progress in what turned out to be a short-lived injury rehab. Boone noted that an MRI on LeMahieu’s wrist came back “clean.” More so, the third baseman received a cortisone shot on Tuesday.
In LeMahieu’s place, Boone opted to start veteran infielder Marwin Gonzalez at third base. Gonzalez went on to hit .250 over the past four games.
LeMahieu opened up the game against the Rays with a leadoff double in the first inning. He later went on to score to provide the Yankees with an early 1-0 lead over the reigning AL East champions.
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