The New York Yankees have overcome several harsh injuries to secure one of the best records in all of baseball. But as some star players near returns, the roster could get overcrowded.
The team opened the year without Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, DJ LeMahieu or Giancarlo Stanton. Cole will be out for the year and Gil has yet to make his debut, but LeMahieu returned to the lineup earlier this month.
In his first 38 at-bats, though, he has slashed just .184/.244/.263 with 10 strikeouts and only seven hits. That lack of offensive production could mean he is a prime candidate to lose playing time when the team welcomes Stanton back.
With Stanton nearing his return, Andrew Wright of Newsweek predicted LeMahieu could not just lose a starting role to make room for him, but could see the end of his tenure with the Yankees.
“LeMahieu recently returned from the injured list and has not done very many productive things on the field since his return,” Wright wrote. “If he is not able to turn things around prior to Stanton’s return, the Yankees may finally pull the plug and send LeMahieu on his way out of town after seven seasons with the team.”
Stanton is heading toward the final stretch of his rehab process as he starts two weeks of live batting practice. He could be ready to return to the Yankees without a minor league assignment as he is exclusively a designated hitter at this point.
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While it’s a good problem to have, that return would create a roster crunch for the Yankees. The team will want to find continued at-bats for Ben Rice, who has been filling in at designated hitter.
If they are determined to stick with LeMahieu, the Yankees could opt to move Austin Wells to more of a backup role or push Oswald Peraza off the big-league roster, per Wright.
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