MLB: New York Yankees at St. Louis Cardinals
USATSI

The New York Yankees are going to place infielder DJ LeMahieu on the injured list prior to Thursday evening's game, manager Aaron Boone said on a radio show Thursday afternoon (via Jack Curry). The move isn't entirely surprising, as LeMahieu has been dealing with an injured big toe on his right foot for weeks. 

In fact, LeMahieu missed both ends of a doubleheader on Wednesday due to the issue and Boone said then there was a possibility the Yankees would place LeMahieu on the injured list, calling the situation "complicated" (nypost.com). 

LeMahieu, 34, is hitting .262/.358/.381 (113 OPS+) with 18 doubles, 12 homers, 46 RBI, 74 runs and 3.8 WAR this season, but as he's dealt with the toe injury, his performance has suffered. In his last 10 games, LeMahieu is 2-for-38 (.053) with seven strikeouts and zero extra-base hits. 

Earlier this week, my colleague Mike Axisa outlined some of the ways the Yankees could stave off what would be a historic collapse and number one was to get healthy. Since then, LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo have been placed on the injured list. They join, among others, Matt Carpenter, Andrew Benintendi, Luis Severino, Aroldis Chapman and Scott Effross. 

Also, Josh Donaldson is currently on the paternity list, meaning the Yankees are moving down the depth chart for corner infielders in the short term. Ronald Guzmán or Marwin Gonzalez can handle first with Oswald Peraza at shortstop moving Isiah Kiner-Falefa to third base here the next few days. 

From July 8-Sept. 3, the Yankees went 18-31 and saw a 15 1/2 game lead in the AL East dwindle to four games, but they've won four straight and hold a five-game lead in the division now. They'll play the Twins Thursday night before a very-important three-game series against the Rays starting Friday.