Yankees' DJ LeMahieu calls offensive struggles 'beyond frustrating'

Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu said that his recent struggles at the plate have been "beyond frustrating," as he begins to dive deeper to find the issue with his swing.

"It's one of those things that I've really never thought of," the veteran said about his swing prior to Friday night's game.

"I just go up and [hit], so I don't really think about that stuff. I'm not like a mechanical guy or mechanical hitter," he added. "So it's just kind of going more of a deep dive into things that have made me good, made me the hitter I am."

During his first four seasons in New York, there wasn't too much to think about. LeMahieu slashed .296/.367/.440 for an .807 OPS and 122 OPS+ with 58 home runs and 85 doubles over his 470 games in pinstripes. Things have not gone as well in season number five for the Yanks' utility man as he's slashed a paltry .228/.286/.382 for a .668 OPS and 85 OPS+ in 62 games.

And the 34-year-old's struggles have been especially acute of late.  So far in June, LeMahieu has just six hits in 39 at-bats (.154) with one walk and 14 strikeouts. In that span, he has posted a .483 OPS and seen his playing time decrease after playing virtually every day in April and May.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that struggles are part of the obstacles that come with having a long career and that tinkering with mechanics is the way out of the hole.

"You know for DJ, one thing that's always come pretty easy to him is the ability to wake up and hang out a line drive," Boone said prior to Friday's game. "And when that's not happening at as a consistent level as he's accustomed to you know you gotta start tinkering with some things or exploring things and figuring things out."

The Yanks' skipper added: "I don't think mechanically he's all that far off. It's just a matter of, I think it's very subtle... in his start, in his load that will free him up to have his swing that we've seen to have for his entire career come out. And I don't think, despite the results, that's as far away sometimes [as it seems]. But it's about being able to make those small adjustments as your career unfolds. He's certainly working through that and gotta do that, and I believe he will."

LeMahieu's expected batting average sits at .240 on the year, down from .274 in 2022 and .283 in 2021. While his average exit velocity, barrel percentage, and hard hit percentage are all up slightly the advanced stats see his whiff percentage jump 6.6 percent and at 22.3 percent is now double what it was during the COVID-shortened year of 2020 when he slashed .364/.421/590 for a 1.011 OPS and a 178 OPS+.

"I think he has a good run in him, we just gotta get him there and unlocked and it's small victories within a game," Boone said. "And I think as he's gone through this, he's had days where he's felt really good and he's built some momentum and then all of the sudden he takes a funny swing or misses a pitch he feels like [he should hit] and you gotta fight that frustration. You gotta just keep grinding away."

And in 2023 there surely has been more frustration for LeMahieu then he is used to as he's seen his strikeout rate double from the past two seasons. After he was in the top 10 percent of toughest betters to strike over the past two years, he is in the upper third of easiest to strikeout with 27 percent of all plate appearances ending in a strikeout. His walk rate has also decreased from 12.4 percent (top 8 percent of baseball) to 6.9 percent (bottom third of baseball).

"Fortunately from a makeup standpoint, DJ has all those intangibles and toughness and ability to deal with a lot," his manager added.

LeMahieu said Friday that he is healthy, eliminating speculation that his struggles were injury-related. "I'm looking at everything, but I feel like I'm on the right track right now. So I'll just leave it at that," he told reporters.

Earlier this week, general manager Brian Cashman said the organization was looking to see if LeMahieu's struggles were related to him overcompensating in his approach due to injury after a foot ailment dogged him throughout 2022, limiting him to just 125 games and forced him to miss the postseason.

While LeMahieu is not the only Yankee currently struggling at the plate, the Bronx faithful have begun to really let their frustrations be known. When asked about that Friday, Boone said you "feel for anyone going through that when that's the case because you know what guys put into it, how much they care, you know that's not necessarily fun to go through."

"And everybody handles it a little bit different," the manager said. "But it goes with player here sometimes, it goes with playing in the big leagues sometimes and the big stage and the pressure cooker and it's part of it. And most guys understand it.

So, I don't necessarily love it, but it's part of the deal and you gotta be able as a big leaguer to navigate those waters and it's one of the challenges, that's why it's hard to be a really good player in this league. Or one of the reasons."