Boone ‘hip’ to giving his DJ a day off

DJ LeMahieu has been managing an injury to his hip/groin area the past few weeks. Friday night, the issue limited the infielder to the point that manager Aaron Boone felt it was time to give him a rest.

“Hopefully it’s something that a day will help him out and be back in there,” Boone said before the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 5-3, at Fenway Park on Saturday.

Boone said the injury has lingered and had worsened in recent days. The manager doesn’t believe it has impacted LeMahieu swinging the bat.

“I think it’s more moving around,” Boone said. “In some ways, it kind of affects everything, but I feel like at the plate he’s in a pretty good spot.”

In LeMahieu’s place, Boone started Rougned Odor at third place rather than inserting Tyler Wade in at shortstop and moving Gio Urshela over.

Odor was 0-for-3 with a strikeout on Saturday night before Wade pinchhit for him in the ninth inning. Wade struck out swinging.

It has been a frustrating season for LeMahieu after signing a six-year, $90 million deal to remain in The Bronx. Following a terrific first 195 games as a Yankee, in which he posted a WAR of 8.9 and led the American League in hitting in the COVID-19shortend season of 2020, he hasn’t found that same form.

This season, he is slashing just .268/.349/.363 with a mediocre-at-best OPS of .711 and just 10 home runs. He has an 98 OPS+, which is below league average for players at his position. He hasn’t finished with a batting average or OPS this low since 2014.

He has been more productive offensively in the second half of the season, notching a .748 OPS in August and batting .278 so far in September. Over his past nine games entering Saturday, LeMahieu has hit safely six times and has gone 10-for-37.