After an aggressive offseason, the New York Yankees are widely projected to return to the playoffs in 2024 after disappointing last year.

But one thing that could keep them from realizing their potential is injury. Franchise ace Gerrit Cole is expected to miss the opening weeks and now it looks like projected leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu could as well.

“DJ LeMahieu has ‘a pretty significant bone bruise’ on his right foot, according to Aaron Boone, who is not sure if LeMahieu will have enough time to be ready for Opening Day,” Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported.

Injury to DJ LeMahieu Leaves the New York Yankees in a Tough Spot

LeMahieu fouled a ball off of his right foot during a Spring Training game and was in evident pain right away. If he’s unable to recover quickly, the Yankees will have a hard time filling his spot in the batting order and on defense.

“This leaves the Yankees in a tough spot at third base,” Dayn Perry reported for CBS Sports. “Under normal circumstances, they’d likely turn to Oswald Peraza to fill in for LeMahieu, but he’s sidelined with a shoulder strain, likely until at least May. The Yankees could put Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner on a temporary basis, but they may be inclined to look outside the organization for a low-cost stop-gap.”

LeMahieu signed a six-year, $90 million contract with the Yankees in 2021 after earning All-Star bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019, All-MLB first team honors in 2019 and 2020, Gold Glove awards in 2014, 2017 and 2018 and Silver Slugger awards in 2019 and 2020.

Since then, however, he has seen a decline at the plate. In 2023, he slashed .243/.327/.390 in 497 at bats, a far cry from his .364/.421/.590 slash line that made him the 2020 MLB batting champion.

The Yankees had been hoping for a bounceback from LeMahieu in the leadoff spot ahead of superstar sluggers Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Boone had tabbed him for that role, but also suggested outfielder Alex Verdugo might be a good fit.

“If we can solve that leadoff spot — look, I want it to be DJ and hopefully it is, but certainly Alex Verdugo up there is a possibility — if that leadoff spot gets settled, then we have a chance to be a really special offense,” Boone said, per the New York Post. “Because I do feel like the middle of the lineup then around Aaron and Juan has a chance to be deep and special.”

The New York Yankees Face Significant Injury Issues Before the 2024 Season Starts

In addition to the injuries plaguing LeMahieu and Cole, there’s reason to believe Judge is less-than-ready for Opening Day as he deals with abdominal issues.

“He’s … conceded that this problem likely surfaced from the combination of too many BP swings and compensating for last season’s toe injury, which cost him seven weeks on the IL,” David Lennon reported for Newsday. “Hearing the toe come up again 10 months later can’t be a comforting thought for the Yankees, and a core issue, for someone as powerful as Judge, is something that will have Boone holding his breath on each swing.”