One season of excellent production is cause for excitement, but it shouldn’t guarantee continued success moving forward. In 2019, the New York Yankees enjoyed breakout performances from several players, including third baseman, Gio Urshela, who had previously been a below-average offensive player.
The former Cleveland Indian and Toronto Blue Jay was phenomenal for the Bombers in his first season with the club, replacing the injured Miguel Andujar at the hot corner. Andujar, who’s going into his third season in the MLB, tore his Labrum, giving Urshela an opportunity he undoubtedly capitalized on.
The New York Yankees might be expecting too much of Urshela:
At 26-years-old, Urshela has plenty of baseball left in his bones, and his .314 batting average and 20 homers in 132 games prove he’s more than capable of emerging as a regular starter in Pinstripes. However, it put manager Aaron Boone in an interesting situation.
Either the team sticks with Urshela, who’s far better defensively than Andujar, or they insert the youth talent into the lineup, essentially disregarding the production of Gio in 2019. I believe Urshela will get the first crack starting at the hot corner, which is the right decision, considering Andujar hasn’t played in a live-game in months and is still recovering from his injury.
One avenue Boone could explore is injecting Miguel into the designated hitter role. The infielder has proven he can be a force with his bat, logging a .297 batting average, 27 homers, and 47 doubles in his rookie campaign. He finished as the Rookie of the Year runner up in 2018, but missing all of last season will hurt his progression.
The Yankees have also explored the option of trading Andujar, which would leave Urshela as the lone third baseman on the team. I don’t believe GM Brian Cashman will end up trading away Miggy, simply because his value and potential extend further than the merit other organizations are placing on his head. Allowing him to regain his form and back up Urshela is the ideal scenario. Also, trusting Gio to replicate his performance from last year is an optimistic train of thought — having a talented reserve should be a priority.