Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu takes batting practice for first time since foot injury
DJ LeMahieu is making progress in his comeback from the right foot contusion that’s sidelined him since the spring.
LeMahieu took on-field batting practice Friday for the first time since the injury and said he “felt really good.”
He still has to add to his list of baseball activities before he’s able to begin rehab games, since LeMahieu said he hasn’t begun moving side-to-side either in the field or running.
“Now it’s the bounceback,” Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-8 win over the Blue Jays at the Stadium. “He’s a little [more] sore [Saturday]. The biggest test is side-to-side motion [and] not where you’re just running straight ahead.”
Boone added LeMahieu is running “about 90 percent” straight ahead.
It’s about how he’s healing up,’’ the manager said. “We’ve just got to keep moving that needle.”
And LeMahieu said he was “encouraged” by the progress he’s made.
“I’m pretty close to being ready [to playing in games],’’ LeMahieu said.
“I don’t think he’s that far off from playing in games, but he’s been down now for some time so you want to get him against live pitching and then games and build him up again,’’ Boone said.
And he reiterated that he’s not taking this injury comeback slower because it’s the same foot that he injured two years ago that limited his production and playing time.
“It’s the same foot, different spot,’’ LeMahieu said of his current injury.
LeMahieu added he expected to increase his baseball activity while he’s with the team this week and if all goes well, he’ll have a conversation with the staff
about the next step, which will include another scan of the foot at some point.
“It’s good to be back here,’’ said LeMahieu, who spent the opening week road trip rehabbing at the team’s facility in Tampa.
