Yankees Notes: LeMahieu, Infield, Gil

The Yankees plan to activate DJ LeMahieu from the injured list before tomorrow’s game against the Mariners, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). LeMahieu is already en route to Seattle but will not be active for tonight’s series opener. They’ll ease him back in, as he’ll be off the bench on Tuesday and draw into the starting lineup on Wednesday.

LeMahieu will make his season debut after a six-week IL stay. The veteran infielder strained his left calf fairly early in Spring Training. The Yankees announced it as of borderline Grade 1 or 2 severity. It ended his camp after one game and two at-bats. The Yanks sent him out on a minor league rehab assignment on April 22. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a rehab stint before the team either needs to activate them or pull them off the stint for at least another five days. The rehab window closed today.

While there’s not much to be gleaned from a player’s stats during a rehab stint, the Yankees are presumably encouraged by LeMahieu’s form. He batted .444 with a home run and nearly as many walks (three) as strikeouts (four) over nine games. He divided that time between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

LeMahieu projected as the Yankees starting third baseman entering camp. New York seemingly made little effort to upgrade at the hot corner even though he’s coming off a .204/.269/.259 showing in his age-35 season. He also missed time with foot and hip injuries. Boone suggested last week that LeMahieu could see more time at second base while Jazz Chisholm Jr. is on the shelf (relayed by Chris Kirschner of The Athletic).

The Yanks have been relying upon Oswaldo Cabrera and Jorbit Vivas at third and second, respectively. The switch-hitting Cabrera owns a .243/.319/.311 slash through 117 plate appearances. Vivas is hitting .158 through his first nine MLB games. Their other second/third base candidates are out-of-options bench players Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes. LeMahieu will play regularly.

Boone also provided an update on Luis Gil (via Greg Joyce of The New York Post). Last year’s AL Rookie of the Year remains two to three weeks away from working off a mound. Gil began a throwing program at the end of April but has worked solely on flat ground. Gil sustained a high-grade lat strain a couple weeks into Spring Training. He wasn’t able to pitch in an exhibition game. He’s going to need multiple bullpen sessions and an extended rehab assignment. It seems Gil might not get onto a mound until the end of May, making it tough to envision a return to Yankee Stadium before the calendar flips to July.