Yankees' DJ LeMahieu Fouled a Ball Off His Throat

Stephen Douglas | Jul 11, 2024

LeMahieu takes one off the neck. /

The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Wednesday at Tropicana Field. Trent Grisham drove in two runs for the Yankees and that was enough to get the job done thanks to a strong showing by the Yankees' bullpen.

DJ LeMahieu, batting ninth in the order, went 0-for-2 at the plate and only reached base when he was hit by a pitch. Then to make matters worse, he hit a foul ball that bounced up and hit him in the throat. It was a play that was as rare as it was painful.

DJ just fouled a ball off his neck. He was down for a bit but he's staying in the game pic.twitter.com/7CZQSTTbdH

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 11, 2024

The way his skin moved like in that old footage of the guy getting shot in the stomach with a canonball. It's just a horrible thing for the people at home to see in high definition, but that's the thing you have to deal with as a sports fan in 2024.

As for LeMahieu, this is just the latest lowlight he's suffered at the plate this season. He's batting .202 this year with a team-low .525 OPS. He actually spent most of the season below the dreaded Mendoza line before he went on a three game tear where he went 5-for-10 at the plate and pumped his batting average from .175 to .206.

This is a guy who won batting titles in 2016 and 2020. When you're having this kind of year at the plate, fouling a ball off your throat is actually a sign you're trending up.