{"id":49952,"date":"2025-07-08T23:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T23:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49952\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T23:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T23:38:09","slug":"yankees-bench-dj-lemahieu-who-took-it-not-great-move-jazz-chisholm-jr-back-to-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49952\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees bench DJ LeMahieu, who took it \u2018not great,\u2019 move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 In the wake of a brutal skid that has seen the New York Yankees drop 16 of their last 23 games, manager Aaron Boone is shaking up the lineup significantly.<\/p>\n

Boone announced Tuesday that veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu is no longer viewed as an everyday player. He will come off the bench. It\u2019s a massive change for the Yankees to make, as LeMahieu is still owed the rest of his $15 million salary this year and $15 million next season.<\/p>\n

Since coming off the injured list (calf strain) in mid-May, LeMahieu has exclusively played second base \u2014 a point of consternation among the fan base. The 36-year-old had limited range in the middle of the Yankees\u2019 infield, and their sloppy defense has led to game-changing moments over the past month. Boone said LeMahieu was not pleased about being told he\u2019s now a bench player.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot great necessarily,\u201d Boone said of LeMahieu\u2019s reaction. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the situation we\u2019re in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

With LeMahieu moved to the bench, the Yankees slid Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base. Chisholm recently told The Athletic that he viewed himself as a second baseman<\/a> and was hoping that he would eventually move back to his more natural position. He is tied for second among all third basemen this season with six throwing errors. Chisholm said in Toronto last week that he was still unsure about all the intricacies of the position that he first played last season after the Miami Marlins traded him to New York.<\/p>\n

Moving Chisholm back to second base should improve the Yankees\u2019 defense. Chisholm was asked Tuesday in the clubhouse to describe himself as a second baseman and what fans can expect with him in the middle of the diamond once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cElite defender. Elite slugging. Fast. Great defense. I don\u2019t know what else to tell you,\u201d Chisholm said. \u201cSounds like a complete player to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boone said he now views Chisholm as the everyday second baseman, with Oswald Peraza seen as the main option at third base. He said LeMahieu is not expected to play third base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think physically it\u2019s a challenge for him right now,\u201d Boone said. \u201cSo, right now, no plans of doing that, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading into the season, the Yankees viewed LeMahieu as an option at third base, along with Oswaldo Cabrera and Peraza. Those plans shifted once LeMahieu injured his left calf in spring training and Cabrera suffered a season-ending injury in May. LeMahieu has dealt with several foot and lower-body injuries over the past few seasons that have limited his athleticism.<\/p>\n

LeMahieu is not a prototypical bench player, which raises questions about his future with the Yankees. If he can only play second base (where he grades out negatively in outs above average) and has limited power in his bat, it\u2019s possible the Yankees eventually decide to designate him for assignment.<\/p>\n

Peraza is not seen as a long-term solution at third base. Boone said \u201cit\u2019s been a struggle offensively\u201d for Peraza, but the manager lauded him for his defense. Peraza\u2019s spot on the roster is important, too, because he\u2019s the backup option at shortstop. Should the Yankees look to upgrade the roster before the trade deadline, they\u2019d have to get someone who plays shortstop if they move on from the former top prospect. Or if they needed roster space and could not get another shortstop, they could cut LeMahieu.<\/p>\n

It would not be a surprise to see the club try to externally upgrade at third base in the next few weeks. Some trade options the Yankees could consider include Eugenio Su\u00e1rez, Ryan McMahon, Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes and Willi Castro. The Yankees recently signed Jeimer Candelario and Nicky Lopez to minor-league contracts. Candelario was DFA\u2019d by the Cincinnati Reds after posting a .410 OPS in 22 games this season. Lopez was a finalist for the American League Gold Glove Award at second base last season with the Chicago White Sox.<\/p>\n

Injury news<\/p>\n

The Yankees\u2019 already thin bullpen got thinner on Tuesday as Mark Leiter Jr. was moved to the 15-day injured list with a left fibular head stress fracture. Leiter hurt his leg while covering first base on a groundball hit by the Reds\u2019 Elly De La Cruz last month.<\/p>\n

In place of Leiter, the Yankees recalled right-hander Clayton Beeter. Leiter becomes the second high-leverage reliever the Yankees have lost in recent weeks, with Fernando Cruz going down with a strained oblique<\/a> in late June.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully it (just) sounds worse,\u201d Boone said of Leiter\u2019s injury. \u201cI know he\u2019s not going to throw for a couple of days, but hopefully after that, he can get up and throwing. I think (his leg is) definitely compromised. We tried to give him some days, but I think it really started to creep up again on him from a pitching standpoint while warming up on Saturday and then into the game Sunday (against the New York Mets). Hopefully, this is something that we can get hammered out and get him back to throwing as well as he was the first couple months of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yankees must add at least two relievers before the trade deadline passes. This injury only adds to the urgency with which the Yankees\u2019 front office must act.<\/p>\n

(Photo of DJ LeMahieu: Luke Hales \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 In the wake of a brutal skid that has seen the New York Yankees drop…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1266,2228,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-49952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-new-york-yankees","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114820252050992210","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}