DJ LeMahieu Keeps Playing, Keeps Failing, And the Madness Must End

DJ LeMahieu wasn’t the only reason why the Yankees lost again to the Nationals to drop the series, but he certainly didn’t help the pursuit of victory in any way, which has been the case all season for the former two-time batting champ who is now washed as a player. Lets get to it.

Aug. 28: Nationals 5, Yankees 2

DJ LeMahieu had a base hit Wednesday night, so that qualified as breaking news for the Yankees given how utterly horrible he has been since his season began in late May.

What happened in the fourth inning was not breaking news as LeMahieu reverted to form and grounded into a double play with men on first and third, killing a rally for about the 3,000th time in the three months he’s been back.

Of course, LeMahieu should never have gotten the chance to do either because he should never have been in the lineup. He shouldn’t be in the lineup ever, but Aaron Boone - in his never-ending mind-numbness - keeps rolling out a player who is literally one of the worst hitters in all of MLB.

For the third night in a row, the Yankees faced a left-handed starter, Washington’s Mackenzie Gore. And for the third night in row, because he’s a righty swinger, we were treated to LeMahieu playing first base. Maddening. Just absolutely maddening that Boone continues to use a player who is slashing .202/.268/.258 with a .525 OPS.

But here’s where it really gets ridiculous. Coming into the game, lefties were hitting .305 with an .862 OPS against Gore while righties were hitting .282 with a .764 OPS. So, someone with a brain would realize that using the lefty-swinging Ben Rice - who admittedly has been just as bad as LeMahieu - made slightly more sense, right?

Oh, but it gets better. LeMahieu against lefties was slashing .149/.228/.194 for a .422 OPS. Only two of 136 qualified batters have a lower OPS against lefties than LeMahieu. Rice’s OPS against lefties is is a putrid .521, but that’s still 99 points better than LeMahieu. And still, LeMahieu was the choice.

When he was asked why he continues to play LeMahieu, it was the same old bullshit with Boone.

“His season has been a little different in that obviously the track record matters,” Boone said. Track record? Yes, he won two batting titles back when he could hit, but those days are gone forever. Since 2021, he has gone from mediocre, to bad, to unplayable if there was any other manager making out the lineup.

“He’s obviously been behind the eight ball a little bit from an injury standpoint to start the year,” said Boone, which was more bullshit because when do we stop using his late start as an excuse? He’s been back for three months!

“You want to let things really declare themselves to where you're making sound decisions moving forward,” Boone continued, unable to end his nonsensical babbling.

Dude, things have declared themselves for LeMahieu. The only sound decision you can make is to stop playing him.

Maybe that’s close to happening because Anthony Rizzo has ramped up his rehab and appears on the verge of returning. Understanding that Rizzo was terrible before he got hurt, it’s not like I think he’s going to finally give the Yankees production from first base, but there’s no way he’ll be as terrible as LeMahieu, and Rice, have been. At least I hope not.

Here are my observations:

➤ What a gross effort by Carlos Rodon in the first two innings. He had nothing and the mediocre Nationals made him pay. Two pitches in it was 1-0 as he gave up the first homer of future star Dylan Crews’ three-game MLB career. Then came a single, a stolen base, a walk and a balk that brought in the second run before he’d even retired a man. In the second it was single, stolen base, RBI single on a 1-2 pitch to the No. 9 hitter, stolen base, RBI single to James Wood on another 1-2 pitch, and he then stole two bases before Rodon got the third out.

➤ And at that point it was 4-1 and it was already game over because for the second night in a row, the offense was feeble. Rodon did settle in thereafter, but who cares? He ended up allowing five runs - Crews had an RBI double in the fourth - on eight hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He sucked, plain and simple, and the Yankees could not overcome the hole he put them in.

➤ Jazz Chisholm provided the Yankees first run with a solo homer in the second. The other came in the fifth when Alex Verdugo singled and eventually scored on a soft-contact single to right by Aaron Judge. That was it.

➤ The Yankees went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base, and over the last two games they were 1-for-21 with RISP and left 16 men aboard. In other words, it was the same old shit, and what made this even worse is that Juan Soto went 0-for-12 in the series and he, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were a combined 4-for-34. When that happens, given the rest of the stiffs the Yankees have in their lineup, they have virtually no chance to win.

➤ One day after I praised him, Gleyber Torres went 0-for-5 and struck out with men on second and third to end the game. The top five in the lineup - Torres, Soto, Judge, Stanton and Austin Wells - went 1-for-18 in this game. It’s hard to win when you do that.

➤ By the way, in the ninth, after Anthony Volpe and Chisholm (who had two hits apiece) singled, Boone did come to his senses and pinch hit Oswaldo Cabrera for LeMahieu. The night before against the same righty reliever, Ryan Finnegan, he let LeMahieu hit with two men on in the ninth and he fouled out. Unfortunately, Cabrera hit a line drive right at the center fielder. Boone explained his change in strategy: “Just felt like that was the right thing to do there. Just trying to keep the ball off the ground a little bit too.” I wish he had just said, “Yeah, you guys are right; LeMahieu sucks and I have to stop playing him.”

➤ The Yankees have now played 24 games in August, and only the three against Cleveland came against a team with a record above .500, and they are now just 13-11 in the month. At the same time, the Orioles, who lost to the Dodgers Wednesday, have played a markedly tougher schedule and they’ve gone 12-13. This has been the easiest part of the Yankees schedule and if they were taking care of business, they could have been up four or five games in the division. Instead, it’s a skinny one-game lead.

➤ Overall they are now 31-26 against teams who are currently below .500, yet somehow are 47-30 against above .500 teams. Obviously those numbers fluctuate because teams go above or below .500 during the course of the season, but that’s where the current marks are. I can’t figure this team out, I really can’t.

After a day off, the Yankees go back to Yankee Stadium to play another middling team, the Cardinals. St. Louis got back to within one game of .500 (66-67) with a dramatic win Wednesday night at home as Nolan Arenado’s bottom of the ninth singled beat the Padres 76-59 and Thursday, the Cardinals can earn a split of the four-game series if they beat San Diego again.

Arenado is not the player he once was, but he still a threat with 14 homers, 61 RBI and a .720 OPS, and Paul Goldschmidt, who had three hits Wednesday, is having a rough season batting .235, but he has 20 homers, 20 doubles and 53 RBI. Shortstop Masyn Wynn is becoming a star as he leads the team with a .286 average and he’s a terrific fielder.

On the mound, the Yankees will miss old friend Sonny Gray who pitches Thursday. The Cardinals have a staff ERA of 4.15 which ranks 18th in MLB, and opponents hit .251 against them which ranks 25th. Closer Ryan Helsley leads MLB with 40 saves and has blown only three, so that’s a nice luxury, one the Yankees certainly don’t have with Clay Holmes.

The pitching matchups are as follows: Friday at 7:05 on YES it’s Marcus Stroman (3.88 ERA) against Erick Fedde (3.31); Saturday at 1:05 on YES it’s Will Warren (9.68) against Kyle Gibson (4.54); and Sunday at 1:35 on YES it’s Nestor Cortes (3.89) against Miles Mikolas (5.23).