Getting settled
More playing time pays off for Andujar as hitter
NEW YORK — Miguel Andujar fell off the radar a bit when shoulder surgery wiped out his 2019 season.
A hand injury put him on the shelf at the onset of this season, but now getting steady at-bats as an unlikely left fielder Andujar is showing why he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and made the Yankees reluctant to trade him.
A home run to right field Tuesday gave him two opposite-field dingers in as many days. His ability to hit the other way has always been there, manager Aaron Boone said, it’s just finally showing up with regular at-bats.
“Miggy’s a line-to-line guy,” Boone said. “At his best he’s bat-to-ball — a lot of line drives, spray the ball around, and occasionally hit for some power the other way. It’s good to see him start to impact a little bit.”
Andujar has started 12 of the Yankees’ last 14 games, making 11 starts in left with a spot start at first base sprinkled in. He’s hitting .296 over that span with an identical .296 on-base percentage, as his notoriously swing-happy approach has not yielded a walk yet. Andujar’s home run in Monday’s matinee was just his second extrabase hit of the season, a somewhat encouraging sign for a team that’s had the power zapped from its bats recently.
If there was any period of mental adjustment for the third baseman-turned-outfielder, it’s not showing up in his offensive stats. Andujar is hitting .285 this season when he plays left field and is 1-for-12 in his limited time as a third baseman.
Lucky Luetge: In one of the more miraculous stories of their tumultuous season, the Yankees are getting brilliant performances from Lucas Luetge, a man who last played in the bigs in 2015 prior to finding a home in the Yankees bullpen. Luetge has now completed three straight outings without allowing a run, including a perfect 10th inning in Tuesday’s walk-off win.
He’s been one of Boone’s most reliable late-inning arms, taking some of the sting away from losing Zack Britton, Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson to miscellaneous bumps and bruises.
“He’s been great,” Boone said of Luetge. “I’d say, as good as his numbers are, he’s been even better than that.
“The times he’s gotten hit, he’s kind of been dinked and dunked.”
Deal completed: The player to be named later in April’s trade between the Yankees and Giants has been revealed.
The Giants are sending minor-league infielder Connor Cannon to New York. Cannon was a 17th-round pick by San Francisco in 2019. He played collegiately at University of California, Riverside.
In his only minor-league season, Cannon spent 35 games with the Giants’ rookie league team in 2019, where he was named a postseason All-Star. Hefinished the year with two games at short season Single A.
In his 55 minor-league plate appearances between both levels, Cannon hit .324 with 13 homers, 39 RBIs and 38 strikeouts to just 11 walks.
The power-hitting, righthanded first baseman is 23 years old and listed at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. He has not appeared in any professional games in 2021.
Thi s transaction completes the trade that sent Mike Tauchman to the Giants in exchange for Wandy Peralta.