Another series win, and more multi-hit games for David John LeMahieu. The 6’4 utility Swiss army knife has been the missing link the Yankees coveted on their past two postseason runs. While the majority of the lineup provides ferocious power, DJ is the happy-medium that this lineup sorely missed. He is not only making a name for himself amongst Yankee fans, but the whole league is beginning to realize how special this season has been for him.
While many of the big names were ticketed to visit the Bronx last Winter, no one had LeMahieu on the Yankees’ radar. It came to a surprise when they had reached an agreement on a two-year $24 million deal to bring in the towering righty from Colorado. It was a move that signaled the end of the Manny Machado sweepstakes. At first, the reaction was that he was a product of Coors Field but he was a perennial gold glove winner. He is only three seasons removed from a batting title and an All-Star appearance —so the talent was there. At the time, it seemed too complacent with the rumors of Machado swirling.
As we fast forward to late June, we can now see why Cashman took a flyer on an enormous $300 million contract. The Yankees could not have been more fortunate to have found the AL batting title leader in DJ LeMahieu. While Machado has certainly found success in San Diego, DJ is becoming a household name in the MLB and thrust into the MVP conversation.
The numbers are staggering for the two-time All-Star. In his last seven games, LeMahieu is hitting .556. Yes, you read that right, a whopping .556 to go along with a .625 OBP and a 1.037 SLG. Don’t look now, but his familiarity with Yankee Stadium is only going to increase with time and with that means more home runs. While only having 11 home runs thus far, he has eight in his last 30 games and is starting to show more pop.
Knowing how important he is to the Yankees and for them to keep winning only strengthens his case. With 32 multi-hit games, he only trails Michael Brantley just by one game. As the current leadoff man, sporting 52 RBI’s is an incredible feat while he is on pace for a 100 RBI season. The Yanks will continue to roll if DJ continue to thrive at the plate and manning many positions in the infield. There is no set price on the value LeMahieu has brought to this ball club, as Yankee fans, we just hope he gets the recognition he deserves. First, we must vote him into the All-Star game, second, if he keeps this up, he might take home the most prestigious award in all of baseball.