TAMPA — DJ LeMahieu isn’t ruling out Opening Day just yet.
It is an issue that the Yankees third baseman is still experiencing soreness doing “everything,” including just walking, after sustaining a significant bone bruise on his right foot from fouling a ball off it Saturday.
But LeMahieu doesn’t believe he will need much of a ramp-up once the swelling subsides, as he faces a race against the clock to be ready for next Thursday’s opener against the Astros.
“I’m just taking it one day [at a time] and going,” LeMahieu said Wednesday at Steinbrenner Field. “Baseball-wise, I don’t think it’s going to take me much to be ready. [Aaron Boone] has told me about five times to be smart. So the last thing I want to do is something stupid and go backwards. That’s been made very clear by him to me.”
Boone said Monday that he had told LeMahieu he did not want him trying to play through anything, especially because it is the same right foot that caused the veteran issues over the last two seasons.
LeMahieu said he was hoping to try swinging “in the next day or two.” He has been getting daily treatment but has not done any baseball activities since smoking the foul ball off his foot.
“I at least gotta see where I’m at,” he said. “It’s not going to take me much to get going.”
LeMahieu indicated that he can already tell a difference in his foot and that this injury is not comparable to the one he sustained in 2022 from a broken bone in his big right toe and a torn ligament in his second toe.
But it is also more serious than the “hundreds” of foul balls off his feet that LeMahieu has experienced during his career.
“I don’t know if this one just caught me different or what, but it was definitely different when I woke up the next day,” he said.
Earlier this spring, Boone had raved about LeMahieu’s “explosiveness” at the plate, thanks in part to his improved health. LeMahieu said he does not believe this bone bruise changes anything in that regard.
But whether LeMahieu will be ready to be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter next Thursday in Houston remains to be seen. He, for one, still believes it is a possibility.
“I’ve had a good spring training. I’ve had plenty of at-bats [27],” LeMahieu said. “It’s not going to take me much to — I mean, I pretty much am ready already. So, that’s definitely my goal.”
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