New York Yankees fans giving up on DJ LeMahieu as his slump carries on without signs of ending: "That’s what happens when you get old"
New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu has fallen on hard times in the batter's box.
The owner of a .294 lifetime batting average over 13 major league seasons, LeMahieu is hitting just .228 in his fourth campaign with the Bronx Bombers.
The 34-year-old insists he is healthy, but even a three-day "reset" breather from competition looks to have had little effect as he went 0-for-4 in a 10-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.
DJ LeMahieu says he’s healthy, says he’s been working to figure out what’s wrong with his swing and that it’s just never taken this long before. #Yankees
DJ LeMahieu, who led all of MLB with a .364 in his first season with the New York Yankees in 2020, is mired in a 7-for-48 slump over his last 13 games going back to May 30.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone is refusing to set off the warning alarms about his once-great hitter, telling reporters:
"I think he's fine. I think he’s trying to get that back hip a little bit, get that leg. When you see him at his best, that back knee kind of bends, and he gets behind the ball like that. So, I think he’s trying to emphasize that a little bit."
Yankees fans don't think it is that simple.
@BrendanKutyNJ He’s just washed it’s simple
@BrendanKutyNJ He's cooked sadly
@BrendanKutyNJ That's it, he's cooked
Could it be that Father Time is catching up with DJ LeMahieu? The New York Yankees certainly hope not as he is signed to a six-year, $90 million contract that runs through the 2026 season.
However, LeMahieu was born in the latter days of the Ronald Reagan administration and turns 35 right around the time of this season's MLB All-Star Game, so advancing age can't be discounted as a reason for his downturn at the plate this year.
@BrendanKutyNJ That's what happens when you get old kiddo
@BrendanKutyNJ It’s called being 34 years old
@BrendanKutyNJ It's called "aging"
Of course, New York Yankees fans are always looking for a way to blame management for something that's going wrong. In DJ LeMahieu's case, Yankee Nation is pointing the finger of blame at hitting coach Dillon Lawson.
@BrendanKutyNJ Gee if only the hitting coach knew wtf he was doing and could help
@BrendanKutyNJ New batting coach. https://t.co/ete0yYJZaj
@BrendanKutyNJ Go to a lighter bat and think center to right field. And if the first pitch is a fast ball right down the middle hit the fuckin thing…
Boone said that he believes LeMahieu to be healthy, and the manager didn't mind the player tossing his batting helmet in frustration after a strikeout on Thursday.
🤣@BrendanKutyNJ I think the Yankees are not telling the truth about his health. I think his foot is still bothering him and he is not healed as everyone thinks. I think it's a matter of time before they put him on the long, long disabled list. Surgery is on the air 🤔😎🤣
DJ LeMahieu was once a key contributor for the New York Yankees
LeMahieu finished fourth in the American League MVP voting in 2020. That season, he earned his second Silver Slugger award in what was the finest campaign of his career.
He also led the majors in hitting with a .348 average in 2016, when a member of the Colorado Rockies.