With Aaron Hicks on paternity list, Miguel Andujar getting another shot with Yankees
Yankees outfielder Miguel Andujar takes batting practice during spring training baseball workout, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/John Raoux
Aaron Hicks going on the paternity list is providing an opportunity for a largely forgotten Yankee.
Though just how much of an opportunity it will be for Miguel Andujar remains to be seen.
“We’ll see how this week unfolds,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before his team started a three-game series against the Orioles at the Stadium. “Obviously, his bat off the bench is going to play a role…we’ve got a guy that’s off to a good start down there (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) and coming off a good spring, and we feel like he can play key role for us in these next couple of days.”
Boone said Hicks is expected to miss the entire Orioles series, which concludes Thursday afternoon. The Yankees start a three-game series in Kansas City against the Royals Friday night and the likelihood is Hicks rejoining the club then.
Hicks was placed on paternity leave Tuesday and Andujar being recalled was the corresponding roster move.
So that wouldn’t seem to leave too much in the way of chances this week for Andujar, who has largely fallen almost into irrelevance since 2018 when he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting (Andujar, who hit 27 homers that season and tied Fred Lynn’s AL rookie record with 47 doubles, finished second to the Angels Shohei Ohtani).
Andujar, hitting .347 with three homers and a .947 OPS so far with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, suffered a fluke injury just after the 2019 season started, and it’s been an uphill climb for him since then to get regular time in the big leagues. An assortment of injuries has been the biggest factor to him playing a combined 78 games in the majors the last three years.
Andujar, who came up as a third baseman but has gotten time at first and in leftfield the last couple of seasons – said he believes he can recapture his 2018 self if given the opportunity.
“If I’m healthy and get the chance, I can put the numbers [up] and have something similar to ’18,” Andujar said through his interpreter Tuesday. “Right now, I’m blessed that I’m healthy, just looking for that opportunity.”
Andujar, whose work ethic has stood out behind the scenes to the Yankees since he joined the organization as a 16-year-old in 2011 when he was signed out of the Dominican Republic, is coming off a spring training in which he impressed the club.
“I’m sure it’s weighed on him and been frustrating and difficult at times,” Boone said of Andujar’s health issues. “But I feel like he’s also gotten to the point where [he’s saying], ‘I know I just need to take care of myself, get myself ready to go and go perform.’ We were really pleased with what we saw in spring training, and he’s carried that into the start of the season and certainly earned this opportunity.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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