31 year old DJ LeMahieu, infielder extraordinaire, hails from California with stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Louisiana along the way. He was drafted in the seventh round out of a Bloomfield Hills, MI high school by the Detroit Tigers in 2007, but elected to go to college and played 2 years for the Louisiana State University Tigers instead. Wikipedia.

LeMahieu was then drafted by the Cubs in 2009, where he made his major league debut (May 30, 2011) before being traded to the Rockies in 2011. The rest, as they say, is history, as he racked up awards and accolades in Colorado, including three Gold Gloves (2014, 2017, 2018) and three Alls-Star appearances, including in his first year with the Yankees in a utility role (2015, 2017, 2019).

LeMahieu’s offensive numbers for the Yankees 2019 were nothing short of astounding for the super utility role he performed: .327/.375/.518 with 26 home runs and 102 RBIs. According to Wikipedia, “he set new career highs in hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs and runs scored.”

Yankee fans began to chant “extend him, extend him” during the offseason since he is only signed through the 2020 season. He has become the quintessential Yankee, earning the nicknames “Big Fundy” for his attention to fundamentals and Le Machine, for his ability to consistently make contact at the plate.

In Spring Training, LeMahieu is off to a slow start, as are most of the Yankee hitters. He’s currently had 14 PA with 1 R, 3 H, 1 RBI and sports a .231 average. Look out though for LeMahieu to begin to take off in the coming weeks as he’s projected by Baseball Reference to have 586 PA, 89 R, 158 H, 73 RBIs and a .297 average on the 2020 season.

LeMahieu is projected to have another powerful performance for the Yankees in ’20, playing Gold Glove defense at second base, no long in a utility role, and contacting the ball at the plate with consistency and power.

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