At the bottom of the eighth inning with the New York Yankees down 7-6, a base runner was desperately needed. Rewinding a bit, manager Aaron Boone deployed Miguel Andujar in left field to start the game. Andujar suffered a bad error that allowed the Red Sox to drive in a run and subsequently gave up a homer on the next at-bat to Xander Bogaerts, driving in two more. He was evidently pulled after the error and having been unable to produce at the plate.
Boone sent in Mike Tauchman, who brings more defensive stability than Andujar but has a lesser bat, so I thought. The Yankees have been sifting through Brett Gardner, Andujar, and Tauchman to find their everyday starter. If you didn’t watch the game on Sunday evening, the Yankees managed to walk away with a 9-7 victory and a complete sweep of the Red Sox.
The final win of the series can be attributed to one massive stolen base in the bottom of the eighth inning by Tauchman. After earning a walk to get to first, Boone gave him the green-light to steal second.
When you have DJ LeMahieu at the plate, having a runner on second base is extremely impactful. LeMahieu slapped an opposite-field single, and Tauchman was able to score with ease. This tied the game at seven and allowed Aaron Judge to walk up to the plate with more confidence. Judge went on to smash a two-run home run, giving the Yankees a 9-7 lead which secured the win.
The New York Yankees need to make a decision:
The stolen base by Tauchman gives him a massive boost in consistent reps in left field. While Brett Gardner did hit his first home run of the season, which was also his first hit of the 2020 campaign, he’s been unable to find his offensive groove.
Tauchman is currently hitting .333 on the year with three hits over nine at-bats. He also has three stolen bases, making his influence that much more significant. Gardner has zero stolen bases and a .063 batting average over 16 at-bats. There is no question that he is struggling, and Tauchman is deserving of consistent work as a starter.
I would be remiss not to mention Andujar, who is currently hitting .125 with one hit over eight at-bats. It is clear that Tauchman is the leader of the three, and I fully expect him to lock in the left-field spot in the coming days.
His success on the base paths and simply being an offensive threat has made him an essential player. It’s also easy to forget how great he is on defense, having allowed just one error last season in right field.
Tauchman started 59 games in left field last year, posting a perfect fielding percentage and earning three assists. Based on his statistics and production so far this year, Boone should consider cementing him as their starting left-fielder.