BIOGRAPHY
DJ LeMahieu was born July 13, 1988, in Visalia, California. He is a second baseman in the MLB.
The Cubs selected LeMahieu in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft out of LSU, and he made his MLB debut for the Cubs in 2011 before being traded to the Rockies before the 2012 season. With Colorado, LeMahieu won Gold Glove Awards in 2014, 2017, and 2018, was named an All-Star in 2015 and 2017, and won the National League batting title in 2016. After becoming a free agent following the 2018 season, he signed a two-year contract with the Yankees, where he has played as a third baseman, second baseman, and occasionally as a first baseman.
His versatility on defense and hitting ability earned LeMahieu the nickname "LeMachine" by Gary Sánchez. He was also called Big Fundy, due to his fundamentally sound techniques. With the Yankees, he was named a starter on the 2019 All-Star team and won his first career Silver Slugger Award that same year. LeMahieu won the American League batting title in 2020, becoming the first player in the modern era to win a batting title in each league.
On January 27, 2021, LeMahieu signed a six-year, $90 million deal in free agency to return to the Yankees. On May 7, 2021, during a game against the Washington Nationals, LeMahieu recorded his 300th career hit with the Yankees, doing so in his 225th game. This was the second fastest in team history behind Joe DiMaggio, who accomplished the feat in 200 games.
In 2022, LeMahieu batted .261/.357/.377 in 467 at-bats with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. 60.1% of the pitches to him were fastballs, the highest percentage of those to any major leaguer. He swung at a lower percentage of pitches in the strike zone (54.7%) than any other major league batter. He became the first recipient of the American League Gold Glove Award for a utility player.
