Yankees: 3 X-Factors in Shortened 2020 MLB Season

The New York Yankees are about to play a very unique 2020 season with some tricks up their sleeve.

The New York Yankees are about to play a season unlike any other, and will have to entirely refocus their mindset from 2019. “Next Man Up” is now “Please Don’t Force Us to Bring the Next Man Up From the Taxi Squad in Nashville,” and if there’s any hope of a first-place finish, it will likely feature mostly first- and second-stringers.

So, where are the Yankees most equipped to succeed in a 60-game sprint rather than a 162-game marathon? Where is the depth a notch better than their competitors?

In an effort to look for advantages for the Yanks in a world where the playing field is suddenly much more level and tilted towards those with young legs who can bounce back quickly, these three areas stand out.

3. Yankees: Miguel Andujar

Miguel Andujar could change the complexion of the 2020 Yankees season.

If Miguel Andujar approximates what he did for the New York Yankees in 2018, the NYY will have a Rookie of the Year candidate’s bat at their disposal. They’ll also have the ability to float him around the diamond in a way they were wholly unable to during his rookie year.

When Andujar arrived, he was a bat-first, glove-very-much-last option, and the team had very little recourse for such things. Now, the landscape has changed entirely. The Yankees have Gio Urshela entrenched at third, and the versatile DJ LeMahieu now on the roster, who can play third in a pinch.

Andujar can play third at times if he drastically improves, sure, but the Yanks were insured against his arrival this time around. He can play left. He can DH. He can fill slots and allow Giancarlo Stanton and the other outfielders to rest.

Even if all Andujar does is find the middle ground between his shoulder-marred 2019 and his exemplary ’18 debut, he’d be a valuable weapon for a team that could use elite and movable bats for a two-month blast-off.