The Yankees’ lineup continues to get stronger with the addition of Edwin Encarnacion, the return of Giancarlo Stanton and the imminent arrival of Aaron Judge, but it has been DJ LeMahieu who has consistently anchored the offense.
Without him, the Yankees may not have survived the injury wave as seamlessly as they did. And manager Aaron Boone knows it.
“He’s one of the main reasons we’re in a good spot right now. He’s been just kind of a great player in every way,” Boone told The Post following the Yankees’ 12-1 rout of the Rays. “The at-bats, the offense, obviously the consistency, the defense, the flexibility. The ability to play a few positions for us and how well he’s played each position.
“And then what he’s brought from behind the scenes, just kind of a blue-collar, workmanlike attitude that the guys have really taken to.”
LeMahieu has been a menace with runners in scoring position. In the completion of the three-game sweep, the 30-year-old continued that trend.
With a two-run single in the first — his second hit of the inning after getting things started with an infield single and his fourth steal of the season — LeMahieu improved to a major league best .462 batting average with runners in scoring position. He has racked up 46 RBIs — 32 of which came with runners in scoring position — in 68 games this season.
His productive first inning was also good for his 29th multi-hit game of the season and his fourth in the last five contests.
But in the absence of some sure-thing hitters, it makes what the versatile infielder — who made his 50th start of the season at second base though he will now see most of his time at third — has done that much more impressive.
“Obviously, it stinks not having some of our best players in the lineup. But when that happens, people have to step up,” LeMahieu said. “I just feel like collectively as a group we really did a good job, and now that we’re getting people back, hopefully we’ll keep it rolling.”