Yankees: Miguel Andujar outhitting Manny Machado since trade deadline

The Yankees were engulfed in Machado Mania only a few weeks ago. Bad opinions ran rabid about general manager Brian Cashman snagging Manny Machado, a rental player, for the likes of Miguel Andujar.

Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar is a kid who has been lighting up major league pitchers at a rate that rookie incarnations of Barry Bonds and Mickey Mantle would be jealous of.

Since the deadline, both Andujar and Manny Machado have been productive, but Andujar has had the type of effect you’d expect from someone you’d trade the farm for.

As for Machado, while he’s still been very good, he isn’t exactly leaving pitching rotations in shambles.

The way things currently stand, it’s looking like Cashman made the right decision by staying put and sticking with his rookie gun, because that Miguel Andujar clearly doesn’t care about pressure.

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Miguel Andujar over the last month: 8 HR, 26 RBIs, .352 AVG, 1.026 OPS, 18 K’s:

Machado’s numbers during that same time: 4 HR, 10 RBIs, .254 AVG, .761 OPS, 31 K’s

Misery is not being nine games behind in the AL East standings. A comfortable win in the Wild Card and a trouncing of the Red Sox in the divisional series can fix all that. No, misery would’ve been Cashman succumbing to the Baltimore’s demands and sending over our young, tornado of a third baseman to the Orioles.

Watching him slice his AL Rookie of the Year-like numbers in Baltimore while also realizing there’s a soon to be ultra expensive Manny Machado on the horizon — that would be a Yankee fan’s equivalent of being stuck between two circles of hell.

That reality now belongs to the Dodgers as they sit 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for first in the NL West. Machado came over, and the LA needle didn’t move much. For now, at least, the Dodgers are looking at the same type of production they’ve had all year while Andujar has made the Yankees a better team as they suffer through a rough patch without Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.

This ‘Miggy Show’ we’re all watching take place in the Bronx on a nightly basis is a fantastic sequel to the classic occurrence Aaron Judge put on last year. Sure this production doesn’t have quite as much pop, but it gives you different reasons to celebrate. Andujar is a spectacular player but in a much different way than Judge.

Andujar’s greatest asset has been his ability to adjust like a veteran. He started the season with the Yankees in a slump. After some time, Miggy began hitting doubles at such a historic pace; the YES broadcast salivated over the use of graphics which compared him to Mickey Mantle.

After one more short slump, Andujar adjusted again and went from a decent hitter that was almost as good as Gleyber Torres, to now absolutely flying past him and every other rookie in the league in all categories.

Miguel Andujar is smacking the ball with such ferocity, his last month of productivity isn’t far off from Giancarlo Stanton’s.

Here’s what Stanton has done in the last month: 9 HR, 23 RBIs, .308 AVG, 1.012 OPS, 29 K’s

It would do the Yankees well to make sure Andujar is as high up in the order as they can put him. He and Aaron Hicks both have an OPS of .800-plus right now. The hotter bat at the time could take that leadoff spot and the other could either hit third or fourth.

It’s best to have the lineup set up like this when the Yankees decide to put in a guy like Luis Cessa and make us suffer through another loss to a team like the Rays. Early runs could give a mediocre pitcher like that confidence.

Success with Andujar, Judge, Torres, Luis Severino and Gary Sanchez should prove to the Yankees that the only model they should be focusing on is the Baby Bomber one. Andujar is the latest example.

And since these Yankee prospects mature so quickly, instead of throwing out Cessa or A.J. Cole for games that matter, let’s give prospects like Chance Adams and Justus Sheffield a shot.

Even if Sheffield and Adams struggle this year, at least we know it isn’t because they’re just not capable of big game situations. They just need to get experience under their belts before they can flourish. Look at 2016 Aaron Judge and compare it to 2017 Judge. A little experience went a long way.