The New York Yankees are hanging on to first place in the American League East as April draws to a close, with a 17-12 record thanks mainly to a formidable offense that has maintained an MLB-leading .809 OPS – the only team in baseball over the .800 line in that statistic.

The Yankees are keeping up their pace in spite of a series of devastating injuries, such as the loss of 2023 Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery and the ongoing injuries to both elbows suffered by slugging designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

Those are just the two highest profile injuries on a lengthy list. But the Yankees had recently shown some optimism about the return of 2022 Gold Glove-winning third baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who missed all of spring training and the entire season so far with a left calf strain.

The 36-year-old, 14-year veteran – in the fifth year of his six-season, $90 million contract – had been on a rehab assignment since last week and was progressing in impressive fashion, stroking six hits including a home run in 10 at-bats.

And then, on Tuesday, the Yankees announced that in addition to the calf strain, LeMahieu was coping with a whole new injury – this one to his hip.

“LeMahieu had a cortisone injection in his right hip today,” wrote MLB.com Yankees correspondent Bryan Hoch. “(Manager) Aaron Boone said it was ‘preemptive,’ as LeMahieu ‘felt something coming on.’ Boone said they hope LeMahieu can return to minor league game action on Thursday or Friday.”

But can he? Cortisone injections are not generally administered unless pain is serious, and the injections themselves require at least a couple of recovery days, independent of the underlying pain.

By the end of this week, the Yankees should know how LeMahieu has responded to the injection, and whether the hip injury is one that could keep the third baseman out for an even longer period of time.