
It’s been a spring to forget for the New York Yankees.
After having a fantastic offseason that improved their overall roster compared to last year’s World Series-appearing group, they are now facing a major uphill battle when it comes to their standing in the American League.
Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Gil, DJ LeMahieu and Scott Effross are all either out for the season or are going to miss time at the start of the campaign.

That is not how anyone expected things to begin for the Yankees.
However, there was a positive development regarding LeMahieu relayed by manager Aaron Boone.
Per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, the veteran infielder has resumed swinging his bat, hitting off a tee and is now moving around after suffering a calf strain towards the beginning of camp. The skipper added that LeMahieu is “moving the needle.”
What that last part means is unclear, but this is a good sign nonetheless.
Before the injury, all signs were pointing to LeMahieu being given the Opening Day starting third baseman role after New York moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base and didn’t pursue players at the hot corner this winter.
Financial reasons seem to be the root cause of that decision, something that has come back to immediately haunt them because of LeMahieu’s injury.
But, there is some optimism that the oft-injured veteran won’t miss too much time.
While that’s going to be viewed as lip service based on how much time he’s missed and how often he he’s been put on the shelf in recent years, having him healthy would give this lineup another offensive weapon if he can return to his past form.
There’s a lot of “wait and see” surrounding LeMahieu, and it’s hard to be confident about him getting back onto the field towards the earlier side of projected recovery.
Still, this is positive news the Yankees largely haven’t had during camp.