Aaron Boone Stands By Yankees Veteran Amid Dreadful Season

DJ LeMahieu is having an awful 2024 campaign. The New York Yankees infielder's career has taken a drastic nosedive since his epic 2019 and 2020 seasons. This year, he's reached a new career-low batting average of .194 with a dreadful on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .510.

Despite his struggles, Aaron Boone still believes in the former MVP candidate. After another brutal outing against the Cleveland Guardians, the Yankees manager spoke out in support of LeMahieu.

“It’s been rough, no question about it," Boone said of LeMahieu, per Bryan Hoch. "He has had moments where he’s gotten it going a little bit, but it’s been tough. I know he’s working his tail off to get it right and be a contributor. At this point, we’ve got to just keep grinding with him.”

A sub-.200 batting average is inexcusable at this level, especially for a contending team like the Yankees. Some players make up for their poor averages by hitting for po whenever they do make contact. That just isn't the case for LeMahieu, who has just seven extra-base hits, two of which are home runs.

The Yankees' coaching staff is hoping that LeMahieu recaptures his previous form in 2020. Back then, he posted a career-high .364 batting average with a 1.011 OPS, all of which were AL-leading stats. Unfortunately, it's become pretty clear that LeMahieu might never reach those heights again.

Whether the Yankees bench LeMahieu is a tough question to answer. They are pretty thin at second base with Ben Rice struggling there as well. Still, it's probably worth looking at given how bad LeMahieu has been performing.