Yankees: Miguel Andujar could place more pressure on Joey Gallo

New York Yankees, Miguel Andujar
Feb 21, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar (41) winks for the camera during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees have called up former Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar. The team made the announcement this morning that Andujar was being recalled with Aaron Hicks going on the Paternity List as his wife is expecting their new baby.

While Andujar coming up could be looked at as simply filling the spot until Hicks returns, there could be an underlying story to watch. Miguel Andujar is off to a tremendous start this year in AAA while playing some left field.

So far in thirteen games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Andujar is slashing .347/.396/.947. During those thirteen games, Andujar has divided his team pretty evenly between left field and third base. He’s actually looked decent in the field this year out in left.

Questions never surrounded Andujar’s ability to hit. There were just questions from the Yankees regarding his fielding. His third base defense continues to look shaky as he’s already committed two errors in just five games. However, I think the plan moving forward is to keep him in left as much as possible.

Yankees have options outside of Gallo

That is where the potential pressure comes in on Joey Gallo. The Yankees made a huge trade during the deadline last year to bring in the Gold Glove outfielder who has some serious pop in his bat. Problem is, we haven’t seen a fraction of the player he was in Texas.

Gallo has struggled massively during his time with New York. So far this year, he’s batting .146 with no home runs and only one RBI. He’s also struck out 22 times in sixteen games. Now, Gallo did look better in the weekend sweep of the Guardians picking up a couple of hits and having some quality at-bats.

However, Andujar is someone who could make a quick impact for the Yankees. If Andujar gets to play and he shows up red hot, it’s going to put even more pressure on Joey Gallo to perform.

We are already seeing the Yankees limiting Gallo’s playing time from being an every day player. Yes, he’s still in the lineup most days, but we’ve already seen Boone hold him out of spots due to his struggles.

If Andujar plays decent in left while swinging a hot bat, Gallo could be in even more trouble in terms of playing time. Now, I think the Yankees are going to keep him in the lineup as much as possible due to his hitting from the left side and power potential.

However, if he doesn’t start to perform at a higher level soon, it’s going to be really hard justifying his playing time. Good news for the Yankees is they have a quality option in Miguel Andujar. Question is whether or not they will actually go to that option.