Finally and slowly, Lemahieu is starting to look like himself again

OAKLAND — The Yankees were trudging through the 2021 season. They couldn’t find a rhythm on offense and kept stumbling over their own feet, hitting into double play after double play and running into outs on the bases.

In August, though, the team has caught a groove. One of the most important factors in the Yankees’ tempo change: the DJ finally finding some hits.

DJ Lemahieu, like many of the Yankees late-emerging hitters, is having quite the August. Heading into the team’s West Coast road trip, Lemahieu has hit .278/.369/.433 this month. It’s the first calendar month of the season in which the infielder has an OPS above .800 and he’s already matched his 2021high for extra base hits in a month with six games still left on the August agenda.

Lemahieu, who’s batting average over an 11-year career is hovering right above .300, knows he has even better production in him. Puzzled by a July where he hit an uncharacteristic .241 with a slugging percentage under .300, the infielder’s turnaround has coincided with the Yankees’ climb up the standings. The team’s 19-4 August, in which they’ve averaged 5.4 runs per game, is almost unrecognizable from March/april and May, months in which they were plating fewer than four runners a night.

Strong showings from the whole roster have been the main reason for the overall team success. The behemoths — Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are each hitting over .300 with six homers in August — have been supported beautifully by the little guys like Tyler Wade and Brett Gardner, who have combined for a nice .469 on-base percentage during 104 plate appearances of limited action. But Lemahieu, who has hit leadoff in all but three of the Yankees’ August games, has been the component who keeps the whole machine working.

Following a two-rbi night in Minnesota on August 20, the curt Lemahieu expressed his feelings on the offense’s resurrection that he helped initiate.

“A lot of really good at-bats,” he said when asked about the keys to scoring runs in bunches again. “Taking what the pitcher gives us. Walks, big hits, that’s kind of been our staple the last month or so. We just continue to do it.”

Lemahieu has started 21 games for the Yankees this month, finally finding a fairly permanent home at second base defensively now that first basemen Anthony Rizzo and Luke Voit are part of the active roster again. Among those 21 games, there have only been two in which Lemahieu did not reach base. His .369 on-base percentage during August is not only 11 points higher than any other month of his season, it’s also better than his career number of .356.

When he’s hitting like this, it’s not hard to see why Lemahieu was the Yankees’ top priority in free agency last winter. If he keeps this fire burning, the two-time batting champion will get another chance to add to his postseason legacy. In 16 playoff games with the Yankees, he’s put up a .301/.357/.457 slash line. His performance against the Astros in the 2019 ALCS — where he tagged Houston pitching for nine hits and 16 total bases in six games — won’t soon be forgotten.