Yankees News: DJ LeMahieu, bizarre Giancarlo Stanton update, Carlos Rodón response

The New York Yankees lost DJ LeMahieu after his second spring at-bat of 2025, essentially sentencing him to a full spring training at the end of whatever rehab he was forced to undergo.

At the time (sigh), LeMahieu's injury also solved a third base problem for the Yankees in the short term. They publicly continued to commit to him as a starter, but every thinking fan knew that they would much rather roll the dice with a more exciting internal option like Oswaldo Cabrera or Oswald Peraza. Better yet, they could've even found some external help. Alas, even after LeMahieu went down, the team still turned inward, failing to maximize the opportunity they'd been given.

Fans received a concrete update on LeMahieu over the weekend that could lead to an impending wrench in the Yankees' rhythm. According to the team, he began live BP sessions in Tampa over the weekend, and will continue that process in the days to come. After he clears that hurdle, he'll begin a rehab stint.

Given how few reps he received prior to the injury, expect that rehab stint to extend to the maximum, allowing the Yankees a bit more time to dawdle on their decision as well.

Yankees News: DJ LeMahieu preparing for rehab assignment ... which might be a long one

If you were hoping for clarity on Giancarlo Stanton, one of the other familiar injured Yankees, then you might be waiting a long time.

In the meantime, Ben Rice has been mashing in his place, but any Yankee fan knows that the "where are we gonna play both guys?!" problem somehow always works itself out.

Besides, I ... don't exactly think anyone needs to worry about an impending Stanton return, given that Aaron Boone informed everyone over the weekend that he's continuing to hit on a high-velocity machine, while also "starting to move around more outside."

Got it. That helps. Appreciate the tip. Stanton missed the first Opening Day of his career this March, and is clearly still making incremental progress at best.

Yankees News: Giancarlo Stanton making strange progress, Carlos Rodón bummed everyone out again vs. Giants

Carlos Rodón wasn't the only one left "frustrated" by his Sunday start in the rubber match against San Francisco falling apart, but he was the only one among us who could've done anything to prevent that frustration.

Alas, his start - which began brilliantly - will instead be defined by two different two-strike breaking balls he left up in the zone. Both were thrown to Jung Hoo Lee. Both ended up in the seats, flipping a 3-0 Yankees lead to 4-3 in the opposite direction.

“I’m frustrated with two-strike pitches that end up in the zone,” Rodón told the gathered media after the game. “I just need to be better executing those, because these are big league hitters. They’re some of the best hitters in the world, and they’re punishing them.”

Without Gerrit Cole, the pressure hasn't been off Rodón whatsoever in the way that fans hoped it would be when the team acquired Max Fried. In fact, the opposite has happened; Rodón, the de facto Opening Day starter, has found himself firmly in the spotlight.

His ability to hang there moving forward will be defined by his ability to prevent hangers.