New York Yankees‘ third baseman Gio Urshela had probably the most surprising season of all players on the team in 2020.
Urshela started the year in AAA and was called up after just two games to replace the injured Miguel Andujar. He went right to work and pieced together an incredible season.
The 28-year-old third-baseman native to Colombia hit .314 with 21 home runs and 74 RBIs. Additionally, his slugging was .534, and his OPS was .889.
Urshela was never known as an offensive threat before 2019, but he showcased his newfound success all season long. He previously was a defense-first player, but that may have changed even though his defense hasn’t.
He had a .954 fielding percentage with 13 errors. A lot of the plays he missed were routine or just bad throws, and that can’t happen. But, there were a ton of tough he played that not many players can make.
2020 Expectations:
Gio Urshela is expected to have a year similar to 2019.
It seems that he will continue to be the starting third baseman, with Miguel Andujar learning new positions and preparing to DH a lot more. To maintain the third base role, Urshela needs to continue to hit around .300 and drive in runs. He needs to be a bit more consistent in the field, and make the routine plays along with the tough ones.
If Urshela doesn’t perform well in 2020, Andujar could easily shift back to third, so he needs to play well. One cold streak for Urshela and one hot streak for Andujar could be it for Urshela. It’s expected that the Yankees will have a relatively short leash on Gio. His offense in 2019 could’ve possibly been a fluke, but there’s only one way to find out.