MEXICO CITY — DJ LeMahieu's run against the clock came up short.
The Yankees' veteran third baseman will start the season on the injured list, due to a large bone bruise in his right foot resulting from a foul ball on March 16, general manager Brian Cashman said Monday in Tampa.
LeMahieu had been trying to ramp up his workload over the past few days in an effort to get ready for Thursday's Opening Day in Houston, but the pain and swelling hadn't completely subsided and the Yankees didn't want to try to play through it.
“The last few days, given her time, she hasn't responded quickly enough with the appointments coming up,” Cashman said at Steinbrenner Field.
Without LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera is expected to fill in at third base, barring a late outfield move before Opening Day.
The Yankees could date LeMahieu's IL assignment back three days, meaning he would likely be back in time for the home opener on April 5.
But that will depend on how much progress LeMahieu makes over the next week.
He is also expected to get another MRI later this week — which was part of the original plan, Cashman said — after all of his initial tests came back negative.
LeMahieu, 35, struggled to play through a right foot injury late in 2022, sapping his production and creating issues that continued into the first half of last season.
The Yankees were encouraged by what they saw from a healthy LeMahieu early in camp, with Aaron Boone noting his explosiveness, but that has been tempered now with his return to the IL.
—Additional reporting by Joel Sherman in Tampa
“Student. Incurable problem solver. Amateur baconaholic. Introvert. Infuriatingly humble music fanatic.”