A few weeks ago, I bought some lucky bags on an online sports card shop. After opening the first one, I found a DJ LeMahieu blue parallel card, which is numbered to 150. The card is from the 2017 Topps Finest. On the front, we can clearly see a photo of DJ LeMahieu, who looked ready to swing. And he was in the Rockies uniform.
LeMahieu played for the Rockies from 2012 to 2018. In January 2019, he and the Yankees agreed to a 2-year deal. And in January 2021, LeMahieu and the Yankees finalized a 6-year contract. It’s LeMahieu’s 6th season with the Yankees. While seeing this card, I began to think about some questions.
LeMahieu spent 7 seasons with the Rockies, hitting .299/.352/.408 with 49 home runs and 345 RBI over 918 games. Coors Field is known as a hitter friendly ballpark and the home of the Colorado Rockies. After leaving the Rockies, does LeMahieu still hit well?
To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the 2 great websites, Baseball reference and Fangraphs.
LeMahieu collected more than 1000 hits during his 7 seasons with the Rockies. He was selected to the All-Star game twice. Moreover, he won the batting title in 2016, hitting .348/.416/.495 with 11 home runs and 66 RBI over 146 games. He finished the 2016 season with an OPS over .900.
In addition, let’s take a look at another star player, Nolan Arenado. Arenado played for the Rockies from 2013 to 2020, slashing .293/.349/.541 with 235 home runs and 760 RBI over 1079 games. From 2015 to 2019, he finished each season with more than 30 home runs and at least 110 RBI. Without doubt, during those 5 seasons, it was very tough for pitchers to face Nolan Arenado. Before the 2021 season began, Arenado was traded to the Cardinals.
LeMahieu and Arenado did hit well while playing for the Rockies. Nonetheless, did they still hit well after leaving the Rockies? From 2019 to 2023, LeMahieu slashed .285/.358/.430 with 73 home runs and 276 RBI. Looking at LeMahieu’s stats over the last 5 seasons, it’s actually quite interesting. His batting average was lower than his batting average in the Rockies uniform. Nevertheless, he did crush more home runs than he did with the Rockies. Moreover, his OPS of .788 was higher than his OPS of .760 while playing for the Rockies.
And looking at Arenado’s performance over the last 3 seasons, there were 2 times that he finished the season with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI. Furthermore, his OPS was over .800. Well, Arenado’s numbers weren’t as impressive as the numbers with the Rockies. Nevertheless, over the last 3 seasons, he still had an OPS of .800, which was good.
Good hitters are good hitters. LeMahieu and Arenado were hitting well while playing for the Rockies. After leaving the Rockies, they still showed that they could hit. Interestingly, LeMahieu did hit more home runs and had a higher OPS. Arenado’s numbers dropped a little bit, but he still hit well in the Cardinals uniform over the last 3 seasons. However, this season, there are some obstacles for them. LeMahieu came back from the IL in late May and by far, he’s hitting .178/.274/.178. In the meantime, Arenado’s OPS is below .700 thus far. It will be worth watching if they can bounce back soon.
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