Bleeding Yankee Blue: MIGUEL ANDUJAR IS MAKING A STATEMENT

Friday, March 2, 2018

MIGUEL ANDUJAR IS MAKING A STATEMENT

(Photo: Joe Robbins, Getty Images)

I love what we’re seeing out of Miguel Andujar this last week. It’s hard to ignore four home runs in five games. He knows the odds are not in his favor of making the team on opening day, yet he is refusing to go down without a fight. He is getting his money’s worth every time he steps into the batter’s box. That kind of determination is one of my favorite aspects of spring training baseball. Like any 23-year-old baseball prospect (today is his 23rd birthday – Happy Birthday Miguel!), he wants to make an impression facing major leaguer pitching. He’s certainly making one.

(Photo: Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports)

The signs of greatness in Andujar is nothing new to the Yankees. They knew it early on when they signed him at age 16. He has been working his way through the Yankees farm system since then. Last year, between the Trenton Thunder and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, he hit 16 homers, held a slash line of .315/.352/.498, and an OPS of .850. He made his major league debut last June 28, when he went 3 for 4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. He had a couple more games towards the end of the season, when things were really heating up for the Yankees. You can’t blame him for wanting to get back to the big leagues.

(Photo: Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports)

The thing about Andujar is his fielding at third base. In the minors last year, he committed 17 errors in 115 games and recorded a .930 fielding percentage. That’s the highest fielding percentage he’s recorded over any single year he’s played at any level. By comparison, the major league average for third baseman last year was .955. In the prior two years his errors were in the 20’s over the same number of games per season. The Yankees know that he has to work on this, which is even more reason why he will likely start the season in the minors.

(Photo: Lynne Sladky, AP)

When the Yankees signed Brandon Drury, Miguel Andujar had to know that the odds of him being the third baseman of the New York Yankees were stacked against him. It was obvious. Nevertheless, he came to spring training ready to make Aaron Boone at least think twice about who will start at third base on opening day. He’s young and ambitious, and I expect he has a bright future ahead of him. In the meantime, I’m loving watching those shots come off his bat and land over the fence.