Entering Tuesday’s action, the New York Yankees were in a strangely serene place with their infield depth chart as DJ LeMahieu attempted to fight back from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In spring training, Yankee fans dreaded a job being “handed” to LeMahieu, a theoretical that they couldn’t stand. In reality, that was probably never going to be an issue, and LeMahieu quickly removed it from the docket by coming down with an injury during either his first or second at-bat of camp. He’d need a full spring training before he was even discussed as an option again.
The Yankees were thin before LeMahieu went down, but they had a cast of characters who could viably start, at least. Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera represented the bare minimum. Any interim fill-in would likely be a result of pressing the panic button.
LeMahieu worked his way back to Double-A Somerset last week (and handled second base, going 6-for-10). His ramp-up period no longer felt like a distraction or a fear. Instead, he just seemed like a clear upgrade over Pablo Reyes as the last member of the bench.
Naturally, the Yankees had other plans. Nothing ever seems to go according to the first one, after all.
While LeMahieu finishes his work below the surface, the Yankees are now dealing with a second base crisis, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. left Tuesday’s game after an awkward swing (and a triple) in the first inning. Maybe the Yankees are playing things cautiously, but the one way nobody wanted LeMahieu to return was center stage, in the second base spotlight, with the ebullient Chisholm on the shelf.
Jazz appeared to hurt something on this swing. He tripled but then left the game pic.twitter.com/C1iDokA7Q5
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 29, 2025
Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. suffers injury on awkward swing. Is DJ LeMahieu ready?
More on Chisholm Jr.’s situation as it develops, but the absolute last thing the Yankees needed is a vacancy in their everyday lineup. LeMahieu was finally looking like a worthy supplement at Double-A after months of being thought of as a non-factor. If he’s required to be essential to the operation from the get-go? Uh oh. Here’s hoping that, if Chisholm’s down, he’s not down for long.
UPDATE: The Yankees are calling the injury “right flank discomfort”. Normal.
