Yankees could have co-AL Rookie of the Year Award winners

Coming off of Aaron Judge’s record-breaking first-year campaign and subsequent AL Rookie of the Year Award, the Yankees now have two Baby Bombers each worthy of this season’s honor. So why not give it to both?

Only twice since Major League Baseball first starting giving out Rookie of the Year Awards in 1947 (Jackie Robinson), have two players from the same league shared the honor in the same season. However, a pair of young Yankees; Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, could become the next duo to accomplish the feat.

The first co-ROY winners were in 1976 and came from the National League when relief pitcher Butch Metzger of the Padres and starting pitcher Pat Zachry of the Reds split the vote. That year, Metzger went 11-4 with a 2.92 ERA and 16 saves in 77 appearances. As for Zachry, he went 14-7 in 38 appearances (28 starts) and pitched to a 2.74 ERA across 204 innings.

Then in 1979, this time in American League, third baseman John Castino of the Twins shared the award with shortstop Alfredo Griffin of the Blue Jays.

Castino, whose big league career lasted all of six seasons, hit .285 with eight triples and 52 RBIs in his freshman campaign. As for Griffin, who played for 17 seasons for four different clubs hit .287 with 10 triples and 81 runs scored.

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The Yankees, for all their Postseason glory have had a total of nine players collect the award — well behind the Dodgers who’ve had 19 recipients, Cody Bellinger, most recently. However, with a little more than a month and a half left to play in the 2018 campaign, it would appear the Yanks are closing in on ROY No. 10 — and maybe even 10B.

Just the other day I appeared on the wonderfully produced Bronx Bombers Podcast. One of the questions host Joe Rubenstein asked me was which Yankee I thought would win AL ROY.

My first thoughts immediately went to Gleyber Torres because of the spark he offered a listless club upon his promotion in late April, which carried him to being named to the AL All-Star team. This is no small feat for a 21-year-old converted shortstop still recovering from Tommy John surgery the season before.

However, before the Midsummer Classic, Torres suffered a hip strain that cost him 20 days on the DL. And since his return, Torres’ timing at the plate has been off. His leg kick isn’t acting as the same powerful trigger it once did, and because of that, Torres isn’t whipping the bat through the zone with quite as much force.

Overall, in his last 30 games, Torres began hitting the rookie wall, which when combined with the hip injury has led to a dip in productivity: .243/.328/.466 with 13 runs scored, five home runs, 19 RBI and a 28:14 K:BB ratio.

However, in what looks to be a sign of him coming around, Torres slugged a two-run homer on Monday night vs. the White Sox — his 18th of the season.

Speaking to Joe on the podcast, I did say there was still plenty of time for Miguel Andujar to leapfrog his teammate for the prestigious award. Well, Miggy must have heard me because on Tuesday, not only did the 23-year-old smash a seventh-inning home run to tie the game (his 15th), but he also drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the 13th inning.

Andujar’s blast was his third in his last eight starts — the last two games he’s played have come as the team’s DH, following two significant errors in the series finale with Boston on Sunday.

The thing about Andujar’s stick is that aside from a stretch of 24 homerless games, he’s still produced at a regular rate because he approaches each at-bat with an innate ability to make changes on the fly. Over the span of his last 30 contests, Andujar is still slashing .318/.370/.464 with 16 runs scored, three homers, 12 RBIs and a 25:7 K:BB ratio.

By now, we know that both Torres and Andujar are in the majors for what they do with their sticks (Andujar has made six errors since July 6). Their defensive shortcomings will assuredly keep them busy this winter as they look to better their glove work, footwork and overall throwing angles.

Although Andujar has played 136.9 more innings in the field than his teammate, both have made 10 errors and predominately feature negative defensive statistics — so it’s clear the ROY will be handed out according to offensive accomplishments.

Torres (May’s AL rookie of the Month): .274/.340/.529 in 263 at-bats with 35 runs scored, 11 doubles, 18 HR, 52 RBI and a 75:25 K:BB ratio.

Andujar (June’s AL Rookie of the Month): .292/.326/.499 in 383 at-bats with 52 runs scored, 30 doubles, 15 HR, 50 RBIs and a 74:17 K:BB ratio.

The thing is both players are having stellar first seasons. They are quite comparable especially when you take into account the time Torres missed due to injury. But more so, both young men are integral parts of not only the Yankees future — but the here and now.

Without one or the other, I’m not entirely convinced this club makes the playoffs. So for all of our sakes, we should be rooting for dual AL Rookie of the Year winners.