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Marly RiveraESPN Writer
NEW YORK – The Yankees‘ DJ LeMahieu returned to the lineup on Saturday, coming off the 10-day injured list with New York looking to snap a seven-game losing streak as it continues to deal with myriad injuries.
LeMahieu, who started the day batting.411, had been on the injured list since Aug. 16 with a left thumb sprain. The infielder returned to the Bronx for the first time since hurting his thumb during an awkward swing in the Yankees’ 11-5 victory over the Red Sox on Aug. 15.
“His body of work speaks for itself. He’s one of the best players in the game. He’s our catalyst… excited obviously to get him back in the lineup and write his name in that No. 1 spot,” manager Aaron Boone said on a conference call before Game 3 of the Subway Series against the New York Mets.
“We’ve been kind of thinking as of a few days ago that [we would activate him] Saturday or Sunday,” he added. “I think he was confident in his head as of a couple days ago that he was ready, but we want to make sure he at least saw some live pitching. Yesterday he was able to do that. I think he got like five or six bats or so down in Scranton. Everything went well with that, so we felt it was time.”
In terms of whether the move was spurred by their current seven-game losing streak, Boone stated that the Yankees didn’t make decisions based on any pressure to win. The Yankees have lost a season-high seven straight games, matching their longest losing streak since 1996. The last time the Yankees lost seven games in a row was June 13-20, 2017.
“I think we try not to force the issues at all with guys coming back from injury,” Boone said. “Had this just been a soft tissue type thing after playing some innings yesterday we might have been a little more inclined to wait a day, but everything suggested that DJ is ready to go today.”
It was good news for the Bombers, who returned All-Star right fielder Aaron Judge to the IL after he reinjured his right calf, though the club hopes it will not keep him off the field for an extended period.
Judge was placed on the IL Aug. 29, just two days after being activated and aggravating the injury in a game at Atlanta, in which he was removed in the sixth inning. The 2017 Rookie of the Year was added back to the IL on Friday before the start of the Subway Series, a doubleheader swept by the Mets.
“I don’t have a prediction of the timeframe but that is a fair assessment to put out there and make sure people don’t have earlier hopes, including our player, which I shared with him on the off day here at Yankee Stadium after returning from the MRI,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said about Judge.
Left fielder and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is still nursing a left hamstring strain from which he’s not expected to come back until close to mid-September. Shortstop Gleyber Torres is also on the injured list, dealing with left quadriceps and left hamstring strains that will keep him off the field for at least another week, though Boone stated that he was ‘surprised’ by his progress.
Gio Urshela became the latest addition to the Yankees’ list of walking wounded after being diagnosed with a bone spur in his right elbow that has kept him off the field the last three games. Boone said a stay on the IL is not expected for the Colombian-born infielder at this time.
“We have options but we’re a little optimistic on Gio factoring in tomorrow,” Boone said. “Regarding Torres, I would say he’s doing really well and probably better than I would have anticipated at this point. Just seeing him run a couple of days ago; [taking] ground balls. I know he’s hitting today as well. So he’s getting close. As far as when, exactly, I don’t have a day yet in mind.”
The Yankees returned Miguel Andujar to their alternate site in Scranton as the corresponding move for activating LeMahieu, and Boone said the Yankees would be calling up either rookie Clark Schmidt or top pitching prospect, 20-year-old Deivi García, when they have to face the Mets in another doubleheader on Sunday.