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Yankees: 3 reasons why Miguel Andujar, not Shohei Ohtani, should win AL ROY

By Carl Scott

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 31: Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by Luis Severino #40 after he hit a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium on August 31, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 31: Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by Luis Severino #40 after he hit a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium on August 31, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 28: Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees follows through on a sixth inning two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 28, 2018, in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 28: Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees follows through on a sixth inning two-run home run against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 28, 2018, in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Andujar has out-hit the Yankees historic Opening Day lineup

The 2018 New York Yankees were expected, by some, to break the 1997 Seattle Mariners single-season team home run record (264). After leading the majors with 241 home runs in 2017, the Yankees added the 2017 NL MVP and NL home run king, Giancarlo Stanton.

The surprising addition of Stanton made the Yankees lineup appear to be unstoppable. Their rookie phenom Aaron Judge hit 52 home runs, and now they added Stanton’s 59 dingers. Judge, Stanton, and the mighty Gary Sanchez were the three-headed monster destined to give opposing pitchers nightmares.

Along with those three goliaths, veterans Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and Brett Gardner all emerged as 20-plus home run power threats in 2017. A healthy Greg Bird was also supposed to provide some serious pop from the right side of the plate, and Tyler Austin was supposed to platoon with Bird against lefty-pitchers because of his powerful swing against southpaws.

Besides Stanton, another new addition to the Yankees lineup was former Silver Slugger recipient, infielder Neil Walker. Lastly, off-season acquisition third baseman Brandon Drury was reported to be on the Yankees radar for a while, and some of their analysts thought he had the potential to belt 30 home runs someday.

Here was the official starting lineup for the New York Yankees back on March 28:

1. Brett Gardner, LF
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
4. Gary Sanchez, C
5. Aaron Hicks, CF
6. Didi Gregorius, SS
7. Brandon Drury, 3B
8. Neil Walker, 2B
9. Tyler Austin, 1B

Luis Severino, RHP

Fast forward five and half months later, and we see that Miguel Andujar is batting in the heart of the Yankees lineup every day.

He’s batting .292 with RISP, which is second to fellow rookie Gleyber Torres (.295) on the team. He also leads the team in doubles (40) and batting average (.298). He’s second in RBI’s (79) behind Giancarlo Stanton (84), but he’s ahead of Stanton’s .504 slugging percentage with a .521 clip, and only trails behind the injured Aaron Judge (.548).

Unlike the Angels’ expectations for Shohei Ohtani to be a huge part of their offense in 2018, Andujar was not expected to be one of the leading hitters for the Yankees, but he has been. And unlike Ohtani, Andujar’s valuable bat is in their lineup every day.

Andujar’s bat is fantastic, but some analysts believe his poor fielding will cost him the Rookie of the Year. Here’s why that’s hogwash.

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