DJ LeMahieu struggling through slump, trying to regain batting champion form

NEW YORK — Hitting .160 over the last five weeks, DJ LeMahieu has been willing to look at his mechanics.

“I haven’t really hit this bad in a while, I don’t know if ever, and it’s coming at a bad time for our team,” LeMahieu said Friday before the New York Yankees' series opener against Texas. “So it’s just frustrating.”

LeMahieu returned to the lineup Thursday after two games off, and the two-time batting champion went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts against Seattle. He threw his helmet down stairs and slammed his bat into the rack after his strikeout in the third. He was hitting .276 through May but a 15-for-94 slide with 27 strikeouts dropped his average to .228.

He isn’t used to studying video of past hot streaks for tips.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve really never like thought of. I just go up and hit,” he said “I’m not a mechanical guy or a mechanical hitter, and so it’s just kind of going on more of a deep dive into things that have made me good, made me the hitter I am.”

Winner of the 2016 NL batting title with Colorado and the 2020 AL crown with the Yankees, LeMahieu is coming off a 2022 season wrecked by pain under the second toe of his right foot. He went on the injured list in September and was left off the postseason roster. LeMahieu hit .261, his lowest since 2011.

LeMahieu says he is healthy.

“For D.J., one thing that’s always come pretty easy to him is the ability to wake up and hang out a line drive,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “So when that’s not happening at as consistent level as he’s accustomed to, you’ve got to start tinkering with some things or exploring things and figuring things out. Again, I think he has a good run in him. I think we just got to get him there and unlocked.”