DJ LeMahieu, the player Gary Sanchez calls “the machine”, the Yankees’ big free agent signing. He’s known for great defense, prodigious hitting with runners in scoring position, and so on and so forth.
I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about a multi-year streak LeMahieu’s on—a streak that may not be totally noticeable until one delves into the data.
LeMahieu is one of about two dozen players that has yet to see an infield shift this year. In and of itself, that’s not that unbelievable. It’s still June, and while it’s probably too far into the season to say it’s early, it’s early enough that certain wonky things are still being worked out across baseball.