Yankees Injury Update: Encouraging Luis Gil news, DJ LeMahieu uncertainty

Fresh off a series win against the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees received some good news on the injury front. Last week, Giancarlo Stanton got fans excited when he was seen taking batting practice in Cleveland after not swinging a bat since January.

This time, the encouraging update comes on the Luis Gil front. According to manager Aaron Boone, Gil began his throwing program on Sunday, which may indicate he has a bit of an accelerated timeline for return.

Initially, based on the lack of clarity surrounding the troublesome shoulder injury that then turned into a high-grade lat strain, fans didn't expect to see Gil until after the All-Star break. But if he starts a throwing program now and can go out on a rehab assignment in a couple of weeks, it's possible he's back by mid-June.

Originally, Brian Cashman projected Gil to miss "at least three months" back on March 6, so we're right in that wheelhouse if all goes as planned.

Yankees Injury Update: DJ LeMahieu's rehab assignment moved to Triple-A

After batting .600 with a 1.600 OPS in his four games at Double-A Somerset, DJ LeMahieu will start the week of April 28 with the Triple-A Scranton RailRiders. Last week, LeMahieu homered to dead center field in what was a surprising display of power after his recent injuries have completely sapped his effectiveness on that front.

Though LeMahieu is getting the bump to Triple-A, he told reporters that he's "not sure of the plan moving forward until I speak to the Yankees to figure out the next steps with them." Per MLB regulations, LeMahieu can remain on his rehab assignment for 20 total days before the team makes the call on his status with the active roster.

At this moment, Oswaldo Cabrera is performing so well that Boone is refusing to give reps to Oswald Peraza. Are the Yankees going to bring back LeMahieu under those same circumstances? Irregular reps won't help the veteran, but it also wouldn't make sense to give less playing time to the hot hand in Cabrera. Then again, though LeMahieu will be moved to third base when he arrives to Triple-A, he just played all four of his rehab games at second base with Somerset. Perhaps the Yankees are working to have more flexibility with the infield so they keep guys fresh?

At the very least, the Yankees have time to sort this out as LeMahieu gets back to speed with a lengthy rehab. We all know a healthy and dialed in LeMahieu will only make the Yankees better, but the team hasn't seen him at his peak powers since 2020, so this all might take a while to sort itself out.