DJ LeMahieu is making progress in his comeback from the right foot contusion that’s sidelined him since the spring.
LeMahieu took on-field batting practice Friday for the first time since the injury and said he “felt really good.”
He still has to add to his list of baseball activities before he’s able to begin rehab games, since LeMahieu said he hasn’t begun moving side-to-side either in the field or running.
“Now it’s the bounceback,” Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-8 win over the Blue Jays at the Stadium. “He’s a little [more] sore [Saturday]. The biggest test is side-to-side motion [and] not where you’re just running straight ahead.”
Boone added LeMahieu is running “about 90 percent” straight ahead.
“It’s about how he’s healing up,’’ the manager said. “We’ve just got to keep moving that needle.”
And LeMahieu said he was “encouraged” by the progress he’s made.
“I’m pretty close to being ready [to playing in games],’’ LeMahieu said.
“I don’t think he’s that far off from playing in games, but he’s been down now for some time so you want to get him against live pitching and then games and build him up again,’’ Boone said.
LeMahieu declined to put a timeline on when he might be back in the Yankees’ lineup, but since he had “pretty much a full spring training,” LeMahieu said he didn’t anticipate needing a lot of time to return once he gets the green light.
Go beyond the box score with the Bombers
And he reiterated that he’s not taking this injury comeback slower because it’s the same foot that he injured two years ago that limited his production and playing time.
“It’s the same foot, different spot,’’ LeMahieu said of his current injury.
LeMahieu added he expected to increase his baseball activity while he’s with the team this week and if all goes well, he’ll have a conversation with the staff about the next step, which will include another scan of the foot at some point.
“It’s good to be back here,’’ said LeMahieu, who spent the opening week road trip rehabbing at the team’s facility in Tampa.
Boone said he checked in with his former bench coach, Carlos Mendoza, when the new Mets manager was in the midst of an 0-5 start to open the season.
“I talked to him a few times,’’ Boone said. “You’ve got to have a steady hand and he’s prepared for that, not just from being here, but with everything he’s done in the game. He’s fine.”
In addition to dealing with Jonathan Loaisiga’s season-ending surgery, the Yankees are still waiting for Tommy Kahnle to get back to the bullpen.
The right-hander, who has been sidelined with shoulder inflammation that hasn’t responded as well as the team had hoped, threw prior to Saturday’s game and Boone said he believed Kahnle was “in line” to throw a bullpen “sometime next week.”
Gleyber Torres walked and doubled and has reached base in all nine games. It’s the longest season-opening streak of Torres’ career. … Without LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera continues to excel, with a fine play at third base and a single and run scored on offense.
