Yankees Andújar, Torres ready to build on rookie success
By Roberto Salvador Klapisch
Miguel Andújar spent the winter and most of spring training tracking the number of times Manny Machado’s name appeared in a headline – and with it, the breathless news the Yankees were on the verge of signing the game’s top free agent.
Andújar didn’t need the rest explained to him: the tabloids were counting down the end of his career in the Bronx.
To this, Andújar would shrug and tell himself: whatever. He was neither insulted nor worried. “I understood” is what the 24-year-old third baseman said about Hot Stove fever. That is, after all, one of baseball’s busiest seasons, when rumors run rampant through social media.
Like his infield partner and fellow Yankees rookie Gleyber Torres last year, Andújar had his own business to attend to this winter.
“My goal was to be a better player (in 2019) and not worry about the things I couldn’t control,” Andújar said.
Turns out the Yankees never did succumb to Machado’s availability. They’re banking on both Andújar and Torres, the two kids determined to reward the Bombers’ faith.
That’s not a crazy bet, not when you consider Andújar and Torres finished second and third in the 2018 American League’s Rookie of the Year voting. Together they slugged 51 home runs with 159 RBI. Andújar led all Major League Baseball rookies in hits (170). He also broke the Yankees’ single-season rookie record for doubles, eclipsing the 44 doubles Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio had as a rookie in 1936.
On Monday, however, Andújar was placed on the injured list by the Yankees with a strained right shoulder. By nightfall the news had turned decidedly worse. An MRI revealed a torn labrum, which could result in season-ending surgery. For now, doctors will treat the injury conservatively – two weeks of rest followed by physical therapy.
Andújar is confident he can return to action without going under the knife, but the odds are long. Labrums do not heal on their own and most players who suffer similar ruptures inevitably require an operation. But the Yankees are trying to remain upbeat, if only because the idea of losing Andújar for 2019 is so unsettling.
As for Torres? All he did was smash 14 homers in his first 59 games and earn praise from Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar.
“Gleyber has a chance to be one of the great ones,” Alomar said in May. “ I watched him in spring training and loved his natural instincts and grace.”
That’s why questions about Andújar’s and Torres’ progression are met with gentle pushback from manager Aaron Boone. He doesn’t believe either player has to necessarily raise the bar in 2019. That was already accomplished in 2018. Instead, Boone says the two young stars merely have to “play hard every day. The talent will carry them. They’re already very, very good players.”
That’s not to say Andújar and Torre can afford to coast. To the contrary, both have areas of weakness the Yankees are looking to address. Andújar, for one, is a concern on defense, having committed 15 errors last year, many of them throwing miscues.
Torres has surer hands but made mental mistakes. There’s no question he became homer-happy after his fast start, dropping 80 points off his average from May to June. That led to a face-to-face visit with Alomar.
Despite working as a consultant for the Blue Jays, Alomar was nevertheless willing to speak to Torres about his mid-season slump. At the request of a Yankees official, Alomar sought out Torres in the theater district on a Saturday night in July, where the young infielder was taking his wife to dinner and a show.
Moments before the curtain would go up for “The Lion King” the two stood outside the theater and compared notes. Actually, it was Alomar who did most of the talking, observing Torres’ left, lead leg had developed an exaggerated coil as he began his stride.
“Lift the leg straight up and down,” was Alomar’s advice, promising it would quicken Torres’ path to the ball.
The lesson paid a dividend, as Torres’ average and on-base percentages climbed in both July and August. On balance Torres’ season was a success. He was third in the AL among second basemen in home runs, fourth in RBI and OPS and ninth in average and OBP.
And here’s one other critical detail: Torres is only 22, which is why Boone and the rest of the Yankees’ hierarchy preaches patience. They know Torres is a key to the team’s hope of closing the gap on the Red Sox this season. In fact, the natural-born shortstop may be asked to change positions for the second time in his career.
After being turned into a second baseman to accommodate Didi Gregorius, it’s not impossible to imagine Torres taking over at third base should Andújar continue to struggle on defense.
Andújar himself addressed the deficit in the off-season, working with infield coach Carlos Mendoza at the club’s Tampa facility in December. At a time when most ballplayers were home with their families, Andújar was busy re-learning the fundamentals of the position.
“What we (were) focusing on (was) his pre-pitch setup,” Mendoza told reporters in spring training. “We’re trying to put him in the best position so he can react at contact, making sure that he finds a spot where he’s comfortable on his setup so he can have a better first step, a better read on the ball to create better angles. It starts with his setup and his ready position.”
Andújar’s goal is hardly trivial. He needs to gain (and keep) the Yankees’ trust. He hasn’t forgotten being benched in Game 4 of the Division Series against Boston. At the moment of truth, facing elimination, Boone picked Neil Walker to play third. Andújar’s reaction was perfectly professional; if he was offended it didn’t show.
But a virtual neon sign has already been put up at third base, capturing Andújar’s feelings about anyone trying to take his position in 2019: no trespassing.
Featured Image: Alex Trautwig / Getty Images Sport