HOUSTON — DJ LeMahieu’s foot injury late in camp was a blow to both the Yankees and the veteran third baseman who believed he was ready for a big season.
But the injury has also created a domino effect, with the Yankees looking for bench help as the back end of the roster is still being determined for Thursday’s season opener against the Astros.
Oswaldo Cabrera was scheduled to play the super-utility role, but LeMahieu will be absent at least through the Yankees’ seven-game road trip before season opener, so Cabrera could play most of the third baseman duties at this point. It means high quality.
The only problem with that, aside from the fact that Cabrera is a much more question mark offensively than LeMahieu, who was slated to bat leadoff, is that Cabrera was trying to provide insurance for the Yankees as a shortstop, third baseman, and first baseman. That’s what happened.
Same goes for other positions, but if Cabrera is guarding third base, the Yankees suddenly don’t have a legitimate backup at any of those three positions.
“We need to fill two more spots,” manager Aaron Boone said Monday before the Yankees finished their second straight game in Mexico City. “The last iteration isn’t finished yet. Let’s take a look.”
The Yankees brought Jermai Jones and Ben Rotvedt to Houston, but there was no guarantee they would be on the opening day roster.
Boone said the Yankees are most comfortable using Jones at second base and left field, and could play him at third base in a pinch, but that’s not optimal.
Meanwhile, Rotvedt will be the third catcher behind Austin Wells and Jose Trevino.
Since he’s out of minor league options, it’s possible the Yankees keep him on the roster for the first few days of the season and then take a chance on slipping him through waivers to keep him in Triple-A. — the same thing they did) last season with Esteban Florial.
With Jones and Rohrtvedt potentially an awkward fit as the last benchers, the Yankees are likely to make a trade or sign a player who was cut or opted out elsewhere by Thursday. .
That was one of the most pressing dilemmas as the team opened camp on Monday.
For a club with a luxury tax payroll of approximately $306 million (third-highest in the game), the Yankees still left spring training with plenty of question marks.
among them:
Do they have enough pitching to hold down the fort without Gerrit Cole?
The current AL Cy Young Award winner is expected to miss at least the first two months of the season due to nerve inflammation in his elbow.
Without him, Lewis Gil won the fifth starting pitcher spot with a fantastic spring that exceeded the Yankees’ expectations, considering he hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022.
But Cole’s absence actually makes it more difficult for Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Nestor Cortez to pitch like the All-Stars they have been, and for Clark Schmidt to step up even more. It has become a burden.
Rodon, Stroman and Cortez battled injuries last year and had a healthy spring and passed their first tests. Now they need to perform.
Spring training results are pretty deceptive, for better or worse. So how much should we discount Stanton, who lost weight and adjusted his swing in the offseason and hit .317 with a 1.028 OPS?
The Yankees don’t need Stanton to be MVP. They would sign him to avoid the IL and not be a black hole in the middle of the lineup.
Have Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo really overcome their spring physical concerns?
Judge took 10 days between games this month to deal with an abdominal issue, but Judge and the Yankees insisted it was no big deal.
That appeared to be the case as Judge played four of the final six games.
They took a similar approach to Rizzo’s right lat muscle, which cost him three days before playing in Monday’s final Grapefruit League game.
The Yankees need both key bats to be in the lineup regularly to reach their potential as an offensive line.
