TAMPA — DJ LeMahieu arrived to camp on Sunday and declared himself fully healthy.
After missing the playoffs last year with a broken bone in his big right toe and ligament damage in his second toe, LeMahieu opted for rest over surgery this offseason and believes he made the right decision. The Yankees’ success this season may depend on it, as a healthy LeMahieu could be one of the most important bats to their lineup with his contact-oriented approach.
“I’m so excited where I’m at right now,” LeMahieu said Sunday morning as position players reported to Steinbrenner Field. “How the season ended for me last year and our team and just where I’m at physically and mentally and to be back. I feel like I’m in a really good place and really excited to be around the guys again.”
LeMahieu, 34, went on the injured list in September and then was activated for the final two series of the regular season to prove he could contribute in the postseason. But he was still a shell of himself because of the foot injury, with his swing compromised by the pain, so he was left off the playoff roster and the Yankees sorely missed him.
Even before he landed on the IL, LeMahieu was affected by the injury. On Aug. 8, through his first 100 games, he was hitting .290 with a .827 OPS. A few days later, he sat out a game against the Red Sox because of the injury and for the rest of the season (25 games), he hit just .149 with no extra-base hits and a .355 OPS.
“It got to a point – and I’m used to playing through stuff my whole career – but it was so limiting that I couldn’t be myself,” he said. “That was extremely frustrating.”
It marked the second straight year in which LeMahieu missed the postseason – “It’s the worst feeling,” he said – after being sidelined by surgery for a sports hernia in 2021.
Now, LeMahieu is entering 2023 with a plan in place to keep him healthy.
“I can’t just go out and take a thousand swings every day and a thousand ground balls and call it a day,” LeMahieu said. “I really have to make sure I’m physically ready to go every single day for the whole season. Nothing changes – that’s always the mindset. But probably spending more time making sure I can be on the field and be myself rather than making sure my swing’s right.”
After many conversations with the Yankees’ training staff and multiple doctors, LeMahieu chose rest and rehab over surgery this offseason because the latter was not clear-cut.
“We weren’t sure if we wanted to do surgery on the big toe, the second toe or both,” he said. “So it was just never clear that this was gonna be it and this is the rehab and this is how it’s gonna feel. So I think I made the right decision.”