3.) Brett Gardner, Mike Tauchman, or Miguel Andujar?
Manager Aaron Boone has instituted a revolving door in left field. He has started Brett Gardner, Mike Tauchman, and Miguel Andujar rotationally. Often, he will switch left fielders in the middle of the game, just to give extra at-bats to different options. Gardner, after starting off the season slow, has hit two homers in the last three games. He currently has a .105 batting average and seven strikeouts over 19 at-bats.
Alternatively, Andujar is struggling at the plate as well for the New York Yankees. He has yet to show off his offensive dominance, which showed its face back in 2018 when he had a .297 batting average and 27 long balls. A costly error against the Red Sox almost blew the game several nights ago, which forced Boone to make a change and put Tauchman in left field. Evidently, Tauchman stole second base in the eighth inning and ended up being the tying run. Aaron Judge came to the plate one at-bat later and gave the Yankees a two-run lead going into the ninth.
Andujar’s one hit over eight at-bats isn’t exciting, but such a small sample size shouldn’t deter us from wanting him in the lineup.
However, Tauchman has been dominating in all facets of the game. Looking sharp in left-field defensively and posting a .333 batting average makes me think he should be starting. Over nine at-bats, he has three hits and stolen three bases. He has been the best of the trio so far, but Aaron Boone doesn’t seem convinced in giving him the starting job just yet.