New York Yankees News: Cole talks pitching today, Judge’s future, and pivotal year for Miggy Andujar

Gerrit Cole talks pitching today on the YES Network

Today you can get a rare intimate view of the new New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole.  Cole was acquired by the Yankees during the winter meetings in San Diego for a record-breaking deal worth $324 million over the next nine years.  Cole is one of the top three pitchers in all of baseball, but Yankee fans don’t know that much about him, except that they didn’t want to face him when he pitched for the Houston Astros.

During the coronavirus, baseball shut down Cole has been hunkered down in his newly purchased home in Greenwich, CT.  He has been keeping in form by pitching to his pregnant athletic softball star wife Amy and to Yankee manager Aaron Boone who lives nearby.  With the shutdown, Cole had time to sit down with fellow Yankee pitching star, Yankee legend, and perfect gamer David Cone.  The two spoke with Jack Curry on a variety of pitching subjects.  Cole is an analytics nut and explains his thinking on the mound.  Check it out tonight at 7:30 pm on the YES Network.

What can Aaron Judge’s future look like?

Will Aaron Judge be the next huge New York Yankees star, or will he end up being the flop that could have been big?  Everything with Judge is if he can stay healthy.  The massive hulk of a man has had problems in two of his three seasons remaining injury-free.  Now at 28, he is no longer a spring chicken and must prove that he can be that Yankee star all Yankee fans want him to be.

Judge could be the next Yankee Captain as he is loved by Yankee fans, he could be the next Mickey Mantle, or he could be the expected star that never really made an impact and was always injured.  In 2017 when he came in second in the MVP voting, he hit .284 with 52 home runs, he did strike out 208 times but looked well on his way to becoming an All-Star player for many years to come.

Fast forward to 2018, and Judge played in only 112 games due to a few injuries one inflicted by a pitch to the wrist.  2019 turned out worst when he only played in 102 games suffering an injury that caused him to be on the IL.  He missed two of the first three months of the season with a left oblique strain.  Late in the season in September, he diving for a catch fractured a rib which caused a partially collapsed lung.  The injury wasn’t discovered until spring training this year, but it was significant enough that he was unable to play in any games during the shortened camp.

Even missing 60 games last season, Judge was still able to come up with 27 home runs although he had his worst batting average at .272.  Judge can hit for power for sure and is stellar in right field with an accurate cannon of an arm. He has all the attributes of the next Yankee superstar.  His future all depends on if he can stay on the field.  This year will be telling for what the future will hold for Aaron Judge.

The Miguel Andujar quagmire

Miguel Andujar, like Aaron Judge in 2017, looked to be like another big superstar for the New York Yankees.  He hit for power, and for contact, he led the team with a .297 batting average and hit 27 home runs in 149 games.  He even came in second in the Rookie of the Year voting.  The only flaw in his game is that at third base, he only had a .948 fielding percentage.

Going into the 2019 season, he played in only 12 games before suffering a shoulder injury. He ended up having right shoulder labrum repair surgery that ended his season.  After just three games, he went on the IL.  The thinking was that it wouldn’t affect his hitting. When he returned in eight games, he only hit .088, and that’s when it was determined he indeed needed the surgery.

The quagmire comes in when the Yankees needed a replacement at the hot corner.  They selected Gio Urshela from Scranton Wilkes/Baree to fill the void.  What they got was a surprise Gold Glove type player in Urshela.  Gio ended up playing in 139 games with a .314 batting average, only second on the team to DJ LeMahieu.  He also had some power-hitting 21 long balls.

Because of Urshela’s ability to hit for contact and maintain excellent defense at third, the New York Yankees have announced that Urshela will be the starting third baseman through not fault of Andujar’s.  So, the Yankees have a problem, what to do with Miggy.  They have tried him at first and also in the left field.  During spring training, he showed that he could play in the outfield.  The only problem with that is that the Yankees have Giancarlo Stanton in left, leaving Audjar as a bench player or DH.  When the delayed season starts it looks as if Stanton, Andujar, and Mike Tauchman will share the duties in left.  How much playing time Miggy will get in is dependant on injuries and how often he can be DH.  When he does play he has to show that he is worth keeping or he just might be trade bait in the 2021 offseason.