TAMPA — Like so many of his Yankee teammates, DJ LeMahieu should be in the final days of spring training here and preparing for a trip to Montreal on Sunday night in front of two exhibition games against the Blue Jays before Opening Day on Thursday in Baltimore.
It was going to be a season filled with serious talk of the Yankees winning their first World Series title since 2009 because of the addition of Gerrit Cole. For LeMahieu, it was going to be a summer in which — had he duplicated last year’s splendid season — the free agent to be would set himself up for a significant raise from the two-year, $24 million deal he signed before the 2019 season when he swapped Denver for The Bronx.
Of course, all of that has been dramatically altered by COVID-19, a virus that shut down spring training March 12 and nobody can accurately predict when, or if, the 2020 MLB season will pick up.
So, LeMahieu is using George M. Steinbrenner Field to participate in baseball drills that keep his head together and will keep the three-time All-Star and his wife Jordan in Hillsborough County for the foreseeable future.
“I really don’t want to go home. I’ll stay here,’’ the Michigan resident said Thursday morning while standing inside the players’ parking lot and talking to reporters through a chain-link fence. “Personally, it keeps me sane. At least work out and do some baseball stuff.’’
Tampa Bay’s 80-plus degree sun-drenched weather combined with the Yankees keeping Steinbrenner Field open is appealing to LeMahieu, who after playing second, first and third a year ago was scheduled to be the Yankees’ regular second baseman with Gleyber Torres moving from second to short and Luke Voit handling first.
“All the gyms in Michigan are closed and it is cold,’’ said LeMahieu, who batted .327 with 26 homers, 102 RBIs and posted a .893 OPS last year. “It’s nice to be outside and working out. I think this is the best place to be right now.’’
LeMahieu was joined Thursday by Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton (who are rehabbing injuries), Mike Ford and Miguel Andujar (who didn’t stay long) and Tyler Wade.
“I guess, personally we’re doing OK but it is a serious situation I don’t think anyone saw coming,’’ LeMahieu said. “We are doing what we can.’’
Since the Yankees had two minor leaguers test positive for the coronavirus, safety is a high priority.
“Everyone is wearing gloves, giving each other space, doing everything we can to stay safe and at the same time get a little work in,’’ LeMahieu said. “A lot of rehab guys are coming to do their thing. They are leaving it open to mostly rehab guys.’’
When the season might start is pure speculation on everyone’s part and MLB will take its cue from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ].
“We want to play as soon as possible but I don’t know,’’ LeMahieu said.
Nor does anyone else.