The case for riding rookie’s hot hand - even when Drury returns
The Yankees quickly are approaching a place where they truly will have an embarrassment of riches on their major league roster.
Who knows how long that will last? Professional athletes get injured a lot. Yet if Brandon Drury returns shortly from the disabled list — he plans to play in a rehabilitation game Wednesday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — then, man, will Aaron Boone have himself some options until the next mishap. And let’s not even dive into the prospect of a Greg Bird return.
Should he get to this happy juncture, Boone must walk the line between juggling and disruption, and here’s how he should lean on what will be the most pressing issue upon Drury’s activation:
Miguel Andujar and his bat must get as many starts as possible.
If Drury becomes this generation’s Wally Pipp, then so be it.
“I think he’s a real gifted hitter,” Boone said of Andujar on Tuesday, before the Yankees continued their series with the Twins. “He’s settled in a little bit, and the talent takes over.”
No one has disputed the rookie Andujar’s talent, which kept him a Yankee when the Pirates asked for him in return for pitcher Gerrit Cole (who wound up with the Astros). Nevertheless, no one questioned the Yankees’ February trade with Arizona for Drury, who immediately leapfrogged over Andujar on the third-base depth chart. Why not give yourself options, especially given the Yankees’ grand ambitions?
Then Drury went on the disabled list with migraines and blurred vision, and Andujar took over the hot corner. He has rebounded from a slow start to take an eye-catching .316/.333/.649 slash line into Tuesday’s action, with three homers, a triple and eight doubles (tying him with five others for the American League lead through Monday’s games) in 57 at-bats.
The slugging percentage probably will come down, yet Andujar’s blazing start can’t be shrugged off in the way one could other Yankees rookies like, say, Kevin Maas or Shane Spencer. It should be viewed as more legitimate in the way we saw Gary Sanchez take over in 2016. That’s because Andujar just turned 23 last month. The ceiling is high, and he sure seems ready to try to reach it.
So start Andujar the bulk of the time — primarily at third base, but some starts at first base and designated hitter would work, too. Let Drury, who actually has played more games at second base and left field than third base, be a Ben Zobrist type.
“Versatility is a nice thing, especially when you’re trying to get guys ABs and also rest guys,” Boone said.
see also Miguel Andujar's historic start means difficult Drury decision Miguel Andujar joined Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio as the...
Drury’s return prompts a question about not only the Yankees’ lineup, but their roster as well. Whom should he replace? That’s not an easy call. Going from 13 pitchers to 12 represents the cleanest call, yet the Yankees are amid an 18-day stretch of games, so that’s not very palatable.
Releasing Neil Walker makes the most sense in the moment. As poorly as Walker has hit, though, it’s too early to pull the plug on him and his $4 million, especially given how well he performed just last year with the Mets and Brewers.
“This is a really good hitter,” Boone said Tuesday of Walker.
Maybe if Gleyber Torres continues his slow start, he can return to Scranton with the understanding he’ll be back soon enough. Optioning Tyler Austin to Scranton appears the slam-dunk move if and when Bird gets back. Before then, however? Eh.
No great option exists, which speaks to that embarrassment of riches.
“Baseball has a funny way of kind of working things out,” Boone said. “You think you have a particular decision coming up, something happens here.”
As long as Boone writes Andujar’s name in his lineup more often than not, he’ll be juggling capably enough.