Yankees’ Josh Donaldson undecided if he’ll play in 2024

BOSTON — Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson hasn’t decided if he’ll play in 2024 or if he’ll call it a career after this season.

“I don’t know,” Donaldson told The Athletic on Sunday before the Yankees lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “It kind of just depends on how I feel going through this year and this season and all of that and talking to my family. But that’s really — I get asked that from not just you, but from other people.”

Donaldson, 37, is in the final season of his four-year, $92 million contract. It’s the Florida native’s 13th big-league season, a career that’s included an American League MVP award in 2015, three All-Star appearances and stops in Oakland, Toronto, Cleveland, Atlanta and Minnesota.

He said he hasn’t given his baseball future much thought.

“It would be, ‘What would be best?’” he said. “If I feel like I want to play still, and I feel like with my family situation that’s what I want to do. … But I haven’t put more thought into it.”

Donaldson will enter Monday’s off day hitting .151 with six homers, eight RBI and a .724 OPS in 17 games. He missed about two months at the start of the season with a strained right hamstring.

While he’s still clearly a high-level defender, his production at the plate of late hasn’t quite matched the reputation he built that earned him the “Bringer of Rain” nickname. Donaldson hit .222 with 15 homers, 62 RBI and a .682 OPS in 132 games last season — his first in the Bronx.

On Sunday morning, he said he’s been feeling “really good” at the plate in recent days.

“I’ve hit a lot of balls hard,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of them haven’t fallen at the moment. … I feel really good about where I’m at, and I haven’t really gotten to the point where I’m playing every day.”

Donaldson’s average exit velocity going into Sunday was 92.2 mph — better than the 90.7 mph average exit velocity he put up last season. He said he feels better physically this season than he did last year.

“The fact that I am making solid contact (and) hitting the ball hard in the air and the more that I can do that, I feel like I can get results at the plate,” he said.

Manager Aaron Boone said he’s been encouraged by Donaldson’s at-bats.

“He’s hitting the ball hard, which is good,” Boone said.”I think if you dig through and go through the at-bats, even though the (batting) average isn’t good yet, he’s hit a lot of balls hard. (If) he continues to do that, we’re going to be in a good spot here when we look up seven months from now. It’s been good to see him hitting the ball as hard as he has. Hopefully, he starts to get more results with it. I feel like he’s moving great in the field but hopefully, he can continue to build on what I feel like are good at-bats he’s having.”

(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)