The New York Yankees are looking at the upcoming season as an opportunity to redeem themselves. Last year, they had a season to forget. The Bronx Bombers had the second-worst batting average in the league. Only the nine-time champions, the Oakland Athletics, had it even worse than the NY side. But the worst part was that the 27-time champions failed to make the postseason for the first time since 2016. On top of that, the NY side finished fourth in the American League East division. They had an awful 82-80 record. It was their worst season in the previous 30 years. Several key players were on the Injured List.
Hence, there were not many positives to take away from last season for the Bronx Bombers. But Gerrit Cole, their ace pitcher won the American League Cy Young Award was a pretty good news. Adding to that, the rookie Anthony Volpe finished with a 20-20 season (20 home runs and 20 steals). He won a Gold Glove and became the first Yankees rookie to win that award. Hence, there were a few positives for the NY side to take away from 2023. And last but not the least was the coming back to form of DJ LeMahieu. Aaron Boone and the team have a lot of faith in the eldest member of their rotation.
DJ LeMahieu Slowly Getting Back His Hitting Groove
Last year may not have been a great memory for the Yankees as they performed miserably. But in the latter half of the 2023 season, the 35-year-old infielder showed a lot of progress. That sure raised the hopes of the Yankees Manager. Moreover, Aaron Boone also said he was planning to give DJ the role of the leadoff hitter. But the eldest Yankee on the pitch needed to show something promising ahead of the Opening Day. That’s what happened in the game against the Toronto Blue Jays during the spring training.
As per Greg Joyce of The New York Post, DJ looked a lot like himself against the Blue Jays. He entered the Friday game with one hit after 12 at-bats of the ongoing spring training. In the first two trips to the plate facing Chris Bassitt, DJ delivered a single as well as an RBI double. And both went to the opposite field. Later, the veteran walked in his third at-bat. At third base, DJ also made a nice barehanded play. Later, Aaron Boone mentioned that DJ looked right to him the whole time. Moreover, the skipper mentioned, “Today, he was really good at-bats.”
Other Yankees Caught The Media’s Attention
There might be some concerns for the NY side in the spring training. For instance, Yerry De Los Santos had another bad day. In his second appearance, the non-roster reliever got roughed up yet again. He gave up two runs after two hits as well as a walk in two-thirds of an innings. Later, Greg Joyce also pointed out that Juan Soto fell on his knees after getting a 69 mph curveball from Chris Bassitt. That was a huge hack for the Dominican slugger.
That curveball made the best hitter in baseball lose his balance. Anyway, that made the new Yankees superstar laugh off the miss. Then, the Dominican superstar put together a seven-pitch at-bat. Later, he had a strikeout. Moreover, Nestor Cortes can make his third start for the Yankees in the spring on Saturday facing the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers at 1.05 pm.
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