Hobbled Yanks lose another star, place DJ LeMahieu on IL

NEW YORK (AP) — The injury-riddled New York Yankees placed infielder DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list Thursday with inflammation of his right second toe.

LeMahieu had been dealing with the injury for several weeks but managed to play through the discomfort until recently, missing the first three games of New York’s series against Minnesota. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who has 15 players on the DL, thinks the issue began to impact LeMahieu during a three-game set at Boston from Aug. 12-14.

One of New York’s most consistent hitters, the two-time batting champion was 0 for 12 last weekend in Tampa Bay and has scuffled at the plate since that weekend at Fenway Park, batting just .143 (10 for 70) with no extra-base hits over his last 18 games.

“It’s just been sore and I think it’s just prevented him from really getting off his swing,” Boone said. “I talk about these guys, they’re like race cars. A little something’s off and it prevents you from being that race car.”

The Yankees had hoped the reliable LeMahieu could avoid the IL. That outlook changed on Thursday, with Boone noting that treatment and playing through the pain simply hasn’t worked well enough.

“There’s pain things. We’ve talked about the orthotics he’s got. We talked about the treatments that they do on it every day,” Boone said. “Are there other injections that are safe and effective? These are all things that they’re talking about.”

The move was retroactive to Monday, allowing LeMahieu to return Sept. 16 at Milwaukee. While Boone was cautiously optimistic, he did not set a timetable for LeMahieu’s return.

“I’m concerned about it obviously because DJ’s been dealing with this now for a few weeks where I think it’s clearly compromised him,” Boone said. “So yeah, there’s that concern but there’s also hope with that.”

Leading the AL East by five games entering Thursday’s action, New York has been hampered by a rash of injuries to key players lately.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo landed on the IL Wednesday with headaches that followed an epidural injection to treat lower back pain.

Slugger Giancarlo Stanton is still dealing with the after effects of fouling a ball off his left foot in the series opener Monday. He was expected to participate in a full pregame routine Thursday and could be available over the weekend when the second-place Rays visit the Bronx.

Matt Carpenter was seen rolling through the clubhouse Thursday on a scooter, his

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