It’s been a long road back for DJ LeMahieu, but it appears he’s officially ready to return.
The veteran infielder is expected to be activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday night’s game and he’ll be back in the Yankees’ lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.
LeMahieu is with the team in Seattle, but they’ll wait one more day to officially activate him.
“I think he’s in a good spot,” Boone told reporters pregame Monday. “I feel like his ramp-up’s been good. He’s had a pretty good long runway of build up. I feel like he’s ready to go and hopefully ready to contribute.”
The oft-injured LeMahieu has missed the first 40 games of the season due to a left calf strain he suffered during his second spring training at-bat.
He’s been progressing well over the past couple of weeks and has impressed during his recent minor league rehab appearances — going 12-for-27 with a pair of extra base-hits while playing the full game in the field.
The expectation is that he’ll see the bulk of the playing time at second until Jazz Chisholm returns from injury, and then he’ll share duties with Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner, as long as he can stay healthy.
“The biggest thing is health,” Boone said. “DJ can fall out of bed and hit. The biggest thing that’s tripped him up over the years is just the different nagging injuries that have popped up on him and have slowed him.
“Obviously, he’s a little older now, but I always feel like guys that can really hit like him, if you’re healthy you can usually really hit late in your career. So hopefully he can come and be a real contributor for us.”
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