New York Yankees: Miguel Andujar a difference-maker in title hopes

New York Yankees Miguel Andujar could be a difference-maker in the franchise gaining their 28th World Series title.

After his rookie season in 2018, New York Yankees infielder Miguel Andujar appeared to be on the fast track to baseball stardom. Andujar batted .297 with 25 HRs, 47 doubles, 97 RBIs, and .855 OPS in 149 games played. This offensive production earned him a second-place finish to Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani as the American League Rookie of the Year.

His future seemed limitless, but it all came to a crashing halt in the third game of the 2019 season. In what looked like a harmless play, Andujar torn his right shoulder labrum sliding back into third base. Season-ending surgery was inevitable, but Andujar tried to come off an IL stint and play. He was ineffective and showed no power at the plate.

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With the rise of Gio Urshela at third base, you figure Andujar reached the proverbial “fork-in-the-road” in his Yankees career. Au contraire as this young slugger has played himself into becoming a difference-maker for the Yankees in 2020.

The Progression of Miguel Andujar

Andujar made one of the biggest splashes onto the major league scene in recent times. But the next step in the progression of his career is to become a more complete player. We have all seen Andujar’s offensive brilliance at the plate, but he is a liability in the field. Now is the perfect time for him to upgrade his defensive proficiency.

In fact, Andujar came into spring training with that attitude as he was eager to learn how to play first base and the outfield while improving his defensive play at third. Andujar’s athleticism has allowed him to learn new positions around the diamond. At times, his natural talent seemed to overtake the fundamentals needed to play first and the corner outfield positions. And for his effort, Andujar has played himself into the mix.

Now, we must see flashes of improvement in the field as this will gain Andujar more playing time. It’s unclear how many starts he will receive at each position. This is very much a work-in-progress as Andujar will make errors that cough up runs for the opposition. But 2020 is the season for him to show growth with his glove.

New York Yankees youngster Miguel Andujar’s bat is simply electric.

If you ever saw one of Andujar’s at-bats, there is no denying that he has one of the sweetest swings in all of baseball. He is a right-handed hitter who has power to both gaps in the outfield. His batting eye is outstanding as he has a good walk-to-strikeout (25 base-on-balls to 97 punchouts in 2018) ratio in this era of “swing and miss.” Andujar quickly recognizes a starter’s pitching pattern and patiently waits for the right pitch to hit. It’s all about working the pitch count, which has been a Yankee tradition since the Jeter Dynasty of the 90s.

Once MLB re-opened their doors, Andujar has opened some eyes with his bat. No other Yankees player hit the ball harder and more consistent than him in summer camp, intrasquad or exhibition games. Andujar hit two opposite-field home runs against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in separate intrasquad games.

This type of hitting prowess should convince everyone that Andujar has returned to the level of play we seen in his rookie season. Still, he must transform the summer camp hype into actual production on the field. Yankees manager Aaron Boone hopes this trend continues into the regular season. But there is always a concern for peaking too soon in baseball.

Last season’s devastating shoulder injury did temporarily derail Andujar, but he has rebounded nicely to create an opportunity for himself with the New York Yankees moving forward. And in return, the Bronx Bombers are counting on Andujar to deliver with his bat and become that player who jump-starts the offense from anywhere in the lineup.

Either way, Andujar should be a difference-maker in 2020.