Yankees: Miguel Andujar gets called up after McKinney lands on the DL

We’re only three games into the season and the injuries are already piling up for the Yankees. First, it was Aaron Hicks on Opening Day and yesterday it was his replacement Billy McKinney.

Even before the recent injuries the Yankees were already pretty banged up with Jacoby Ellsbury, Greg Bird and Clint Frazier all starting the season the DL. Now Hicks and McKinney will join them.

Just one day after he made his big league debut and picked up his first career hit McKinney crashed into the left-field wall going for a catch in the first inning of yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Jays. He suffered a left AC sprain in his shoulder and will be out at least a couple of weeks.

It’s a tough break and you really feel for him, but his absence now opens up a spot for highly touted prospect Miguel Andujar to be called up.

The move is a bit of a surprise considering the Yankees only have three outfielders on the roster (one being Aaron Judge playing center field), but manager Aaron Boone said they will find a way to get Andujar at-bats at DH, 3B, and 1B. That’s a positive in the midst of all the bad news because he can rake and it sounds like we’re finally going to see him get some playing time at the big league level.

Since they did call up Andujar and not another outfielder this likely means Tyler Wade will be the fourth outfielder for the time being. That way if Wade does start in left Brett Gardner can move over to center and Judge can go back to his customary spot in right while Giancarlo Stanton moves to DH. Tyler Austin is also capable of playing in right, but the Yankees would probably prefer to keep him at first.

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Another option within the next week should be the previously mentioned Ellsbury who is eligible to come off the DL on April 5th. While most fans won’t be too eager to welcome him back he’s not a bad replacement to have and he will sure up their overall outfield defense.

As for Andujar, it might be earlier than the Yankees expected to recall him, but he is going to help this team and add some serious pop to the bottom half of the order.

You probably won’t see much of him at third, but until the outfield situation is figured out there will be some playing time available at DH. He’s also been working at first-base since his demotion so the added versatility could help him prolong his stay.

I’m sure Tyler Austin will have something to say about that after yesterday’s multi-home run performance, but the point is you don’t bring up a prospect of Andujar’s quality just to stick him on the bench.

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This doesn’t mean he is going to be playing every day but Andujar will get his shot to make an impact. Don’t be surprised if he makes the most of this opportunity and becomes a fixture in the everyday lineup.