HOUSTON — DJ LeMahieu underwent a second MRI on Friday, but Aaron Boone said that he did not have the results when he spoke to reporters before Friday’s game against the Astros.
LeMahieu is on the injured list to start the season, the result of fouling a ball of his right foot in mid-March. The impact left a significant bone bruise, and the third baseman hasn’t progressed as quickly as the Yankees had hoped.
LeMahieu hit off a tee and threw on Thursday. Still there is some concern that Boone’s preferred leadoff man could have a more serious injury.
“A lot of times the swelling can hide that kind of stuff when you originally do some [imaging],” Boone said. “That’s the reason for rescheduling, and I think it was on the books to do it anyway. And then you can always cancel. But because when he started to ramp up a little bit he wasn’t getting the daily improvement that we would hope, hopefully we get a better and clearer look this time and then go from there.”
An injury to the same foot compromised LeMahieu in 2022, so the Yankees have been cautious with the veteran. Still, LeMahieu remained active after the foul ball, throwing and taking grounders through the end of spring training.
“It seemed like he was feeling a little better today than yesterday,” Boone said. “So we’ll see how the reimaging looks and hopefully be able to start ramping up again.”
KEEPING LO ON THE DOWN LOW
Jonathan Loáisiga looked fine in his new role as a multi-inning reliever on Opening Day, throwing two scoreless innings despite allowing four hits. The righty has a long injury history, so the Yankees are hoping to keep the righty healthy by using him for longer outings while giving him more days off in between appearances. They had similar rules for Michael King last year.
However, Boone didn’t want to dive into specifics on Friday.
“I’m not answering those questions,” the manager said when asked if Loáisiga would be available in Game 2. “Not available today, I’ll tell you that. You guys are gonna ask me that all year long, and I’m not going to answer if a guy’s available or not in a scrum.”
Another reporter followed up: Would Boone answer such a question in a one-on-one setting?
“If I’m in a good mood,” Boone replied.
BERTI’S FIRST START
The newly-acquired Jon Berti found himself out of the lineup again on Friday, but Boone said that should change on Saturday.
Oswaldo Cabrera, who homered on Opening Day, started at third again.
