Second Base: DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees
2019 fWAR: 5.4
When he signed with the Yankees last winter, it seemed like LeMahieu was a strange fit. However, with about a million players hitting the injured list this year in the Bronx, the former Colorado Rockie ended up being one of manager Aaron Boone‘s most valuable players. He enjoyed a 25-100-100 campaign for the first time in his career, and did it with a 13.7% strikeout rate. That’s among the 20 best in baseball when looking at qualified hitters.
Even though he hit 11 more homers, LeMahieu’s fly-ball rate went from 29.0% in 2018 down to 26.2% this past year. His performance on fly balls jumped from 125 to 238 during this period of time, which was powered by a rise in hard-hit rate (44.4% to 51.1%) and despite a drop in pull rate (14.1% to 9.6%).
LeMahieu didn’t have to deal with people saying his success was a product of Coors Field in 2019, but Yankee Stadium isn’t the worst place to play for as a position player. Of the 26 homers he did hit, 19 of them came in front of the home crowd.
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