The New York Yankees appear to have their starting lineup for the 2022 season all set.
The lineup per se may vary, but the defensive alignment in manager Aaron Boone‘s mind has Kyle Higashioka at catcher, Anthony Rizzo as the first baseman, Gleyber Torres playing second, Isiah Kiner-Falefa as the shortstop, and Josh Donaldson at the hot corner.
Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton will rotate in the outfield and the designated hitter spot.
This leaves DJ LeMahieu in the outside looking at least on paper.
“With latest moves, #Yankees bench appears to be DJ LeMahieu, Jose Trevino and Marwin Gonzalez (still need to move Marwin to 40-man),” Yankees’ MLB.com beat writer Byan Hoch said.
Before you go nuts, DJ isn’t a true bench player. They see him starting at 2B, 3B and 1B, but aren’t sure how it all works yet.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 5, 2022
However, even if he is not part of the ideal depth chart, LeMahieu won’t be a traditional bench player, as he will play a lot.
In the last couple of years, he has made starts at second, third, and first base, and he is a competent fielder in all those positions.
LeMahieu Is Still A Big Part Of The Yankees’ Plans
Hoch himself later clarified that LeMahieu will still be an integral part of the Yankees’ plans.
“Before you go nuts, DJ isn’t a true bench player. They see him starting at 2B, 3B and 1B, but aren’t sure how it all works yet,” he said.
LeMahieu is coming off a down season in 2021, in which his power evaporated as he slashed .268/.349/.362 with just 10 home runs.
He suffered a sports hernia that may have affected his performance, and he took care of that during the offseason through surgery.
If healthy, he should be a threat to hit around .300 with at least 18 home runs.
His playing time, however, will come from several positions.
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