The New York Yankees are facing a dilemma at third base after DJ LeMahieu’s injury. With Spring Training in full swing, the Yankees must find his replacement after suffering a left calf injury. While injuries can upset their rotation, they have viable replacements for the two-time MLB batting champion.
Oswaldo Cabrera could take over for LeMahieu, especially since he has played every other position except catcher and center field. Cabrera played 74 games at third base. Likewise, there’s Oswald Peraza, who came from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees also acquired Pablo Reyes, who played at four infield positions for the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox last year. Finally, Jorbit Vivas is also available, if not for a shoulder injury. Of all the candidates to replace LeMahieu, Cabrera should be the frontrunner, even though he has started some Spring Training games at shortstop.
However, Cabrera could use some improvements in his batting, as he’s coming off a season with a .247 batting average. Worst yet, he had trouble hitting breaking balls and went .190 against left-handed pitchers. Conversely, Peraza had four hits out of 12 at-bats early in training camp. He had 16 home runs and 63 runs in the Minor League last year.
-Lance Fernandez