Yankees' Aaron Judge to Return from Injury; LeMahieu Has 'Significant' Bone Bruise

While the New York Yankees are expected to get Aaron Judge back in the lineup shortly, the ball club may be without a different key bat on opening day.

Judge is expected to get back into the spring training lineup Wednesday. Judge has not taken batting practice or played in a game since March 10 due to "abdominal discomfort."

However, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, infielder D.J. LeMahieu suffered "a pretty significant bone bruise" on his right foot. Manager Aaron Boone is not sure if LeMahieu will be ready for Opening Day.

LeMahieu injured the foot after fouling a ball into it during the Yankees spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday. His X-rays came back negative, which led to the diagnosis of a bone bruise.

LeMahieu hit .243 with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs in 136 games in 2023. This was a down year for him, as he has a career average of .292, has won two batting titles and two silver sluggers and has been in the MVP race multiple times in his career.

The 2023 Yankees had struggles at the plate, with only Gleyber Torres and Judge hitting above .250 as the team slumped to an 82-80 record and finished outside of the postseason for the first time since 2016.

New York traded for slugging outfielder Juan Soto as well as Alex Verdugo in the offseason in an effort to bolster the lineup and make a push towards the top of the AL East. Those moves should make a difference, but having LeMahieu miss time at the beginning of the season could throw his start off and impact his potential production.

New York will instead hope he recovers quickly and factors into the lineup early in the season. The Yankees are set to open the 2024 season March 28 against the Houston Astros.