Yankees: Miguel Andujar’s hot bat could force Drury over to second base

Although it is only a week into Spring Training, it is already clear to many Yankees fans; Miguel Andujar’s bat is something to be reckoned with.

Although Miguel Andujar has played in just five games so far, he has already shown just how valuable his bat can be for the Yankees. In those five games, Andujar has hit four home runs. And while this spring provides a tiny sample size, Andujar’s OPS of 1.857 could be lowered by 1000 points and still be considered reasonable.

While Andujar was the favorite to win the starting third-base job coming into the spring, the acquisition of Brandon Drury pushed him a spot down. However, while Andujar has said that he isn’t competing with Drury and vice versa, only one of them can win the starting job.

"“I can’t pay too much attention to this being a competition,’’ Andujar said after a 6-4 Yankees win at Spectrum Field.”"

Source- New York Post

Across the infield, the Yankees seemingly have a hole at second to be filled by top-prospect Gleyber Torres.

After mashing in Spring Training last year, along with the opportunity to play in the big leagues due to a Didi Gregorious injury, many called for the then 20-year-old to jump from A-ball to MLB.

However, without any experience at any of the higher levels of the minor leagues, the Yankees decided to send him Torres to Double-A Trenton. After hitting in Trenton and being called up to Triple-A Scranton, Torres caught fire and hit .307 in his 23 games.

With Chase Headley struggling at third base, a call-up to the Bronx seemed imminent. However, a fateful headfirst slide into home ended Torres’ season with him tearing the UCL in his left elbow.

After trading Starlin Castro in the Giancarlo Stanton trade, it was clear that the Yankees were handing the reigns at second base over to Torres.

Although many expected the Yankees to wait a couple of weeks to push back Torres’ service time, it seemed inevitable that the 21-year-old would man the position sooner rather than later. For most of the offseason, it looked as though Andujar and Torres would be the primary starters at second base and third base.

However, once Drury was acquired, it was apparent that one of them would lose playing time.

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Although Drury plays both second and third, general manager Brian Cashman indicated that the plan was to play Drury primarily at third. Drury at the hot corner meant that Cashman felt that Andujar’s glove was not yet major league ready.

After Andujar hit two home runs in his first four games, Cashman made it clear that it was his glove that Andujar would have to prove to win the spot.

However, if Andujar continues the fireworks that he’s setting off now, it would be a hard sell sending his bat to Triple-A and starting Ronald Torreyes at second base for two weeks. I don’t have anything against Torreyes, but his .292 batting average makes him appear better than he is.

Torres has played a total of 23 games at Triple-A. That is unusually low.

Like Andujar, Torres has played only five games so far this spring, so that’s a small sample size to contend with. However, Torres’ bat has been more like a stick of dirt while Andujar has had a stick of dynamite. Furthermore, Drury

Furthermore, Drury, too, has hit in his limited games this spring. That being said, two of the Yankees’ third basemen are hitters while the club currently has a hole at second.

An easy solution to this would be to slide Drury over to second and let Andujar start the season at third base.

There is no doubt that his bat is major league ready. It is highly unlikely that Andujar would be a black hole in the lineup, but it is likely that he’d be an above average hitter.

After spending the offseason working on his defense, Andujar has looked good at the hot corner so far (as a matter of fact he has no errors compared to Torres’ one). Scouts have often said that he has the tools to be an above average fielder. His arm is rated

Scouts have often said that he Andy the tools to be an above average fielder. His arm is rated plus-plus by MLB.com. It may be that his work this offseason let him grow into his skills and allowed him to become the fielder he could have always been.

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As for Torres, he is still only 21 and has barely played above High-A. His natural position is shortstop, and he has played minimal second base compared to Drury who has spent most of his big league innings there.

Torres can start in the minors to push back his service clock and can then be called up once either Andujar or Drury struggles.