#Yankees recall Miguel Andujar as DJ LeMahieu joins top bats on IL

“#Yankees recall Miguel Andujar as DJ LeMahieu joins top bats on IL”

August 16, 2020 | 1:12pm

DJ LeMahieu landed on the 10-day IL on Sunday with a sprained left thumb suffered on a swing in Saturday’s win over the Red Sox.

The Yankees now have three of their top hitters on the IL, with LeMahieu joining Aaron Judge (right calf strain) and Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring). The three have the highest OPS in the Yankees’ lineup.

Miguel Andujar was recalled from the team’s alternate site in Scranton to take LeMahieu’s spot on the roster.

Following Saturday’s win over the Red Sox in The Bronx, Aaron Boone said X-rays on LeMahieu’s thumb were negative, but he was set to undergo an MRI exam and CT scan.

In 2018, LeMahieu suffered a similar injury and missed 2 ½ weeks.

The Yankees could fill LeMahieu’s spot by inserting Tyler Wade to second base or shifting Gleyber Torres from shortstop to second and putting Wade at short.

Andujar’s return comes a day after hitting coach Marcus Thames said he remained confident in the 25-year-old.

“Miggy basically missed the whole year last year and this year just didn’t get enough at-bats,’’ Thames said Saturday. “He’s still a really good hitter. We believe that, he’s shown that. He’s just got to get the chance to play.”

And Thames thinks that’s more a product of the talent on the roster than an indictment of Andujar’s ability. And he praised Andujar’s work ethic while he was in Scranton. Still, Andujar was just 1-for-14 in five games before he was sent down and the Yankees previously recalled Thairo Estrada instead of Andujar.

“We’ve got a really good team and got a lot of good players,’’ Thames said. “He’s gonna help us at some point this year.”

That point came sooner than the Yankees would have liked and the Yankees will no doubt feel the loss of LeMahieu. They’ve survived the losses of Stanton and Judge, in part due to the continued success of Mike Tauchman and a strong start from Clint Frazier since his return from the alternate site.

But as James Paxton noted after LeMahieu got hurt, “Obviously, DJ can’t be replaced.”