Ever since the New York Yankees lost Giancarlo Stanton to an ankle injury about two weeks ago, they have called on Miguel Andujar to supplement in the outfield and bat clean-up.
There is a good argument to be made that Andujar should be starting in left field, hitting .268 with three RBIs and a 16.3% strikeout rate over 12 games this season with the top team. Andujar has spent the majority of the 2022 campaign with Triple-A Scranton, but he showed enough production to justify more opportunities in the majors.
However, the Yankees sent Andujar back down to Triple-A on Friday after the team’s blowout win over the Detroit Tigers.
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Per the Yankees:
- Returned OF Tim Locastro from his rehab assignment, reinstated him from the 10-day injured list, and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
- Optioned INF/OF Miguel Andújar to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Bombers reinstated Tim Locastro from his rehab assignment in the same breath. He will also feature with Scranton until the Yanks need him in the outfield.
With Aaron Hicks starting to piece together a few more productive outings, manager Aaron Boone might want to continue rolling with him. Over the last three games, Hicks has contributed four hits and an RBI with a .444 average and 58.3% on base rate. If he’s able to get hot in the month of June, the Yankees will likely inject him back into his regular starting role in center field, which would move Aaron Judge back to right.
However, Andujar played well enough to at least stick with the active roster and be the first alternative in the outfield.
This season, the homegrown talent is hitting .333 against right-handed pitchers and .200 against lefties. He has yet to hit a homer, mainly settling for contact, generating four singles past the left side of the infield.
Defensively, Andujar has a perfect fielding percentage in left field with 22 put-outs over 88 innings of action. Despite him being sent down, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him right back up the second Boone needs to mitigate any fatigue.
The expectation is that Stanton will make a return on Sunday against Detroit in the final game of a three-game series.