HURRY UP & WAIT

ANDUJAR FORCED TO BE PATIENT AGAIN

If waiting for baseball to return is the hardest part for fans, players, coaches, scouts and front-office types during the coronavirus pandemic, it isn’t new to Miguel Andujar.

Unfortunately for the 25-yearold, he has last year to lean on.

Instead of opening a delicious three-game series against the Red Sox on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Andujar remains in Tampa preparing for when MLB and the Players Association can find a way to have a shortened season.

“I miss it a lot. You put together the fact that I missed so much time last year and then working myself back over many months and now we have to wait,’’ Andujar wrote to The Post on Thursday in an email exchange.

After a sensational rookie year in which Andujar hit .297 with 27 homers, 92 RBIs, posted a .865 OPS and played in 149 games, 2019 was almost a complete washout.

In the third game of the season on March 31, Andujar injured his right shoulder diving into third base in the fourth inning of a 7-5 loss to the woeful Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Moved to the injured list on April 1, Andujar missed the next 28 games.

When he returned Andujar started nine games at third base, hit .088 (3-for-34), didn’t homer or drive in a run and posted a .203 OPS. Clearly, something was wrong with the shoulder and he was diagnosed with a torn right labrum and underwent season-ending surgery on May 20. In a dozen games total Andujar hit .128 (6-for-47) with no extra base hits and a .271 OPS.

That led to Gio Urshela being summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and he played so well last year he entered spring training as the favorite to be the Opening Day third baseman.

“I just have to keep a positive mindset,’’ Andujar wrote. “We are in a situation that no one can control so they know now to keep a positive mindset and be prepared for baseball when the time comes.’’

While Andujar waits he does so with the knowledge his shoulder has healed well.

“I feel great. I am working out five days a week building strength, working with the trainers, exercising and doing my best to stay sharp,’’ Andujar wrote. “It’s been almost a year since my injury and I feel 100 percent. I am very happy where I am at physically. For a while I was working out away from [George M. Steinbrenner Field] with a trainer, hitting and staying sharp. I am back at the complex doing everything I can to prepare myself.’’

With Urshela coming off an All-Star-type season with the bat and being a terrific defender, Andujar could be looking at playing time at several positions. At two of those he has almost no experience.

“I am ready to play wherever the team needs me. I am ready to play, period. I’ve continued to prepare to play any position I am asked to play,’’ said Andujar, who played several games during the shortened spring training in left field and one at first base.

Of course, he can be used as the DH, too.

“I look at it as having a number of doors open for me,” Andujar said. “They are all opportunities for me to play and I am going to try to take advantage of everything that is presented to me.’’

What has definitely been presented to Andujar is something he has recent experience with: playing the waiting game.