New York Yankees Veteran Will Be Out 'At Least a Couple Weeks' With Calf Injury

The New York Yankees have finally received an update on the injury status of their veteran infielder.

As first reported by Greg Joyce of the New York Post, DJ LeMahieu - who exited a spring training game last weekend following a "tweaked" calf - has been told by team doctors after an MRI he is dealing with a Grade 1 or 2 calf strain and is going to be out from baseball activities for "at least" a couple of weeks.

This puts LeMahieu's Opening Day status in doubt for when the Yankees host the Milwaukee Brewers on March 27 three weeks from today.

LeMahieu has dealt with numerous injuries over the last several seasons which have greatly limited not just his ability to stay on the field, but also made him virtually unplayable when he was able to play.

In 2024, LeMahieu was an absolute mess in the 67 games he played. Slashing .204/.269/.259, the veteran was simply not able to establish any semblance of consistency in a season that was really over before it began.

LeMahieu signed a six-year, $90 million contract after his MVP-quality shortened 2020 season but has not been anywhere close to the same player since then. From 2021-2023 however, he was posting at least a respectable slash line of .258/.345/.375 in his 411 games during that period.

New York still owes LeMahieu $15 million in each of the next two seasons which at least justified the decision to keep him around this offseason and give him a chance to prove he is healthy enough to be a factor, though it's no excuse for not having brought in any sort of legitimate backup plan at third base.

Entering camp, Aaron Boone echoed the belief from the team that when healthy, the four-time Gold Glove winner is one of the best players on the team and that he is now healthy. Now 36 years old and dealing with injury after injury, an ability to consistently stay healthy enough to play just may not be in the cards anymore for LeMahieu.

Given the slugger will be out from baseball activities for "at least" a couple weeks and no real timetable given for his return, it's likely safe to say the Yankees will be missing LeMahieu for a month or more.

Whether or not the Yankees try to make another move prior to the season to shore up the infield remains to be seen, but New York has made their own bed by relying on LeMahieu to remain healthy and able to play at a high level.

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