The Tuesday Discussion: DJ at the Top?

April 16, 2024

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This week we asked our writers the following:

Assuming he is healthy, when he comes back, should DJ LeMahieu be the leadoff hitter as planned before the season started?

Here are their replies:

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Derek McAdam - I don’t think LeMahieu should just automatically assume the leadoff role. Anthony Volpe is not only hitting well, but he can give the Yankees a speed option on base with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge batting right after him. In my opinion, this would not be a wise decision to make right away.

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Lincoln Mitchell - No. The idea that DJ LeMahieu is a real leadoff hitter-or even a very good player-is one of those weird things that some Yankees fans think, but it is not true. As Paul pointed out on the podcast, DJ is best suited for the super-sub role. Anthony Volpe should remain in the leadoff spot. If he begins to slump badly, I might go with a LeMahieu-Verdugo platoon at the top of the order.

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Paul Semendinger - No way. Not at all. Anthony Volpe has earned the chance to stay at lead-off for a good long while. He brings an athleticism that D.J. LeMahieu does not. At this point, DJ wouldn't even be starting for me. His role will be best used as a utility player. I think Oswaldo Cabrera deserves every shot to be the starting third baseman or part of a platoon with Jon Berti. DJ LeMahieu can be a valuable player on this team, spelling Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo, and the third basemen, but he shouldn't be given a starting role when he comes back and he certainly should not be batting leadoff.

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Andy Singer - As far as the lead-off spot is concerned, I don't think DJ is getting that spot back now that Anthony Volpe has grabbed the bull by the horns with his hot start.  Aaron Boone began the season talking about waiting until Volpe was ready to assume the lead-off role...and here we are on April 16th with Volpe batting lead-off.  I think the bigger question is if DJ LeMahieu is in the process of getting Wally Pipp'ed at 3B.  Has Oswaldo Cabrera done enough to grab at least a share of the starting 3B role?  The very early metrics say that Oswaldo hasn't been good at 3B defensively and Cabrera struggles against left-handed pitching, so I could see a scenario form whereby DJ starts at 3B against lefties and when starters who depend on good defense behind them (like Marcus Stroman) take the hill, while Cabrera draws 60-75 percent of the starts against right-handed pitching.  It's a hair too early for that conversation now, but as for the lead-off spot, I would be surprised if we see DJLM there very much in 2024 now that Volpe has ascended to that spot.

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Tim Kabel - I do not think DJ LeMahieu should automatically be made the leadoff hitter. First, he needs to demonstrate that he is fully recovered and productive. In the past, he has rushed back too quickly from injuries and has either caused himself additional damage or has simply not been productive.

Second, Anthony Volpe has been extremely productive as the leadoff hitter so far and most people believe he will ultimately be the leadoff hitter. Since he is doing well there, the Yankees would be doing a disservice to him to remove him from that role. He a bigger part of the future and quite possibly the present for this team than LeMahieu is. 

In addition, Oswaldo Cabrera is doing a very good job of playing third base and I don’t know it would be wise to simply remove him from the lineup and put in LeMahieu as the regular third baseman. 

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Cary Greene - DJ LeMahieu has been my favorite Yankees position player ever since he joined the team back in 2019, but I've never thought that the Yankees should deploy him in the leadoff spot in the lineup as he's a slow runner and a poor overall base runner. His skill is as a batsman and when he's healthy, he's an ideal two hitter. I've been the leading complainer about the Yankees lack of a true leadoff hitter here on SSTN for some time now. However, my voice went silent recently and for good reason. Since LeMahieu is under team control for 2 3/4 more seasons, my hope is that one of two things happens. 

In an ideal world, Anthony Volpe cements himself as the team's leadoff hitter and LeMahieu returns to peak pre 2021 form - hitting for a high average and also getting on base. If that happens, he's a quintessential number two hitter in any lineup. However, it's not likely at all that this will happen. From July 14th through the end of last season, LeMaheiu batted .273/.377/.432 with an .809 OPS, so if he were able to continue on a similar trajectory, he's probably better suited to bat sixth or even seventh in the lineup. Meanwhile, Volpe is currently slashing .382/.477/.564 with a 1.041 OPS, not to mention he has a .459 wOBA and a .207 wRC+ presently. Volpe's xwOBA is a much lower, but still outstanding .388 so while he is expected to regress from his currently rather lucky ways, Volpe gives the Yankees something they have lacked for years now: He's an actual leadoff hitter (and a very good one at that). Indeed, Volpe is the reason my complaining has all but evaporated. 

With Jasson Dominguez coming back at some point, it remains to be seen where he will eventually bat but if things go smashingly well, I could see a second half of the season Yankees lineup featuring Dominguez leading off (or batting second), with Volpe, Soto and Judge powering the top part of the lineup. This would bump Rizzo and Torres down a spot in the lineup and I could see LeMahieu slotting in well behind both of them, batting seventh.

Whoever is catching would bat eighth and then Verdugo could bat ninth as he brings some poor man's leadoff qualities to the last spot in the lineup and he happens to bat left-handed. 

Therefore, I think it's fair to say that DJ LeMahieu should not be deployed as a leadoff hitter. He doesn't run well at all and with Volpe at the top of the lineup, the Yankees have some speed on the basepaths. This will help the Yankees manufacture some runs as Volpe will go first to third or second to home in many instances where LeMahieu simply couldn't have. As it is now, the Yankees lead MLB in double plays grounded into (GDP) as they've hit into 20 this season. Having a speedy leadoff hitter like Volpe, who is in MLB's 89th percentile in sprint speed and who had a 3.4 BsR (per FanGraphs) at the top of the lineup instead of LeMahieu will dramatically change the Yankees offense for the better. 

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