ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There hasn’t been much improvement in the Yankees’ offense since the arrival of Sean Casey as the new hitting coach, but DJ LeMahieu is one exception.
After slumping for much of the first half, LeMahieu has been a different hitter after the All-Star break.
And in Friday’s 6-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field, LeMahieu provided a reminder of how dangerous he can be with his first multi-homer game in over two years.
He credited Casey with sparking the turnaround at the plate that’s resulted in three homers in his past three games after going deep just once over a 44-game span.
“I think Sean Casey has been a huge help for me,” LeMahieu said. “I relate to him really well. He has great, positive energy.”
It’s that connection with players that general manager Brian Cashman noted on Wednesday as the reason he turned to Casey, the former All-Star, to take over hitting coaching duties from Dillon Lawson at the break.
“I don’t think you have to be a .300 hitter to be a good coach,’’ LeMahieu said of Casey’s résumé as a standout offensive player during a 12-year major league career in which he finished with a .302 average. “We have similar approaches to the game and to hitting. A lot of stuff he said brings me back to other [rough] times in my career that I’ve come out of. He’s been helpful.”
LeMahieu and Aaron Boone said the key difference has been a subtle change to LeMahieu’s lower half, which has allowed LeMahieu to get more speed to his swing, enabling him to keep his bat in the zone longer and hit for more power.
Both homers on Friday were to left field.
LeMahieu entered Friday’s game with an OPS of .811 since the All-Star break after a first half OPS of just .643.
“This game challenges everybody,’’ Gerrit Cole said. “But DJ is a great player.”
In addition to some recent added power, LeMahieu has an on-base percentage of .407 in the second half, compared to the ghastly .285 mark he put up before the break.
The 35-year-old has also been bothered by injuries in both 2021 and ’22, when he suffered through subpar seasons following back-to-back stellar years in his first seasons in The Bronx.
But he has shown an aggressiveness at the plate recently that paid off especially well on Friday, when LeMahieu smacked three hits that had an exit velocity of over 100 mph: the two homers, as well as a third-inning single up the middle.
And he added a walk in the seventh.
“It’s so good to see,’’ Boone said of LeMahieu’s turnaround.
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