TAMPA, Fla. — DJ LeMahieu doesn’t need to show the Yankees this spring that he still can be a .300 hitter. His Grapefruit League batting average isn’t what will determine whether the Yankees think he’s worthy of regular at-bats as a third baseman starting most days or platooning with Oswaldo Cabrera.

DJ LeMahieu did something out of character this past offseason: he stopped swinging. The infielder, competing to be the Yankees’ third baseman, said that he took two months off from hitting over the winter.