TORONTO — DJ LeMahieu is just about ready for his next step, which is the final one before he can rejoin the Yankees.
The veteran third baseman is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday or Friday with Double-A Somerset, just over a month after fouling a ball off his right foot and suffering a non-displaced fracture.
The 35-year-old LeMahieu, who projected he would need fewer than five rehab games, indicated the progress he has made with his foot recently has been stark.
“Really good. Way better,” LeMahieu said Tuesday at Rogers Centre. “I would say the last week, it’s been really good.”
Manager Aaron Boone recently said LeMahieu would at least have to build up to play in back-to-back games before he would be ready to rejoin the Yankees. On Tuesday, Boone said LeMahieu’s estimate of needing fewer than five games was “possible,” though he was noncommittal on a number.
“Obviously a guy of DJ’s stature and experience, understanding he’s certainly going to have some input there,” Boone said. “But this is also something we want to make sure he’s got some endurance and he’s in a good place when he’s ready to come back.”
LeMahieu had the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023 derailed by a right foot injury, but the Yankees were excited about what they were seeing from him this spring with a healthy lower half. That was until he fouled a ball off his foot in a March 16 Grapefruit League game.
But the return of LeMahieu should only deepen the Yankees lineup, slotting back into third-base duties and giving them a steady bat when healthy.
Before he was injured, LeMahieu was expected to regularly serve as the Yankees’ leadoff man.
Gleyber Torres filled in for him there through the Yankees’ first 12 games of the season before Boone bumped Anthony Volpe up to that spot. And given the success the second-year shortstop has had in setting the table for Juan Soto and Aaron Judge (albeit in a small sample size), it doesn’t sound like that will change when LeMahieu returns.
“Probably not taking Anthony out of the leadoff spot,” Boone said. “The good thing with DJ is I feel like he can fit a lot of different spots in the order. We’ll see, it’s still a ways off.”
Volpe entered Tuesday batting 7-for-19 with five walks, one strikeout and three steals in five games batting leadoff.
“I probably didn’t necessarily expect to move him that quick,” Boone said. “But you also learn in this game that — we’re talking about when DJ comes back — that’s in, a lot of ways, a long ways away. The game is constantly changing in the course of that 162-game season that’s throwing you curveballs all the time. You gotta be able to adapt and adjust as a major league team.”
The Yankees outrighted left-hander Josh Maciejewski to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Tuesday after he was designated for assignment on Saturday.
