Yankees infielder D.J. LeMahieu is proving doubters wrong

During the offseason, many Yankees fans were baffled by the signing of former Rockies second baseman D.J. LeMahieu. However, early on in his Yankee career, LeMahieu looks more than comfortable at the plate — and in the field.

From the moment D.J. LeMahieu filed for free agency, I knew he was a player the Yankees needed to sign. During his entire major league career, he’s been a great contact hitter and Gold Glove-winning infielder.

Since the Yanks are built on all-or-nothing swingers and inexperienced infielders, why would they pass on a veteran of LeMahieu’s caliber? Well, thank goodness they didn’t, because he is killing it in early 2019.

We’re unlikely to see general manager Brian Cashman sign a highly paid free agent anytime soon. Therefore, the next player to earn a mega deal in the Bronx will be (better be) Aaron Judge.

Had the Yankees signed free agent studs like Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, it would have made inking Judge to a longterm extension tricky, once his arbitration years expired. However, just because Cashman won’t sign super rich contracts, doesn’t mean he can’t acquire impact veterans.

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As of today, LeMahieu leads the Yankees in batting average (.410), OBP, (.455), doubles (5), and runs scored (8). He also makes every play look routine in the field as an elite defender. It’s funny how the only game of the season he did not play in was Opening Day. LeMahieu has arguably been the most valuable player on the team after 11 regular season games.

Time will tell if LeMahieu will continue to find success in pinstripes. With injuries to Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki, and Didi Gregorius (needing most of the season to recover from Tommy John surgery), LeMahieu should expect to see plenty of playing time in 2019.

It was always the plan for LeMahieu to get plenty of plate appearances during the season but no one could have foreseen this epidemic of players to the injured list.

Instead, LeMahieu was supposed to shuffle between second base, third base, and be a backup first baseman to Luke Voit and Greg Bird.

He was also expected to hit towards the bottom of the lineup. With the way LeMahieu is raking at the plate, he should be batting in the top third of the batting order.