The Newest Additions to the Bronx Bombers

By Nick Kazandjian

The new wave of talent to join an already talented Yankees ball club is 3B Miguel Andujar and 2B/SS Gleyber Torres.  These two have already gotten off to a great start and the Yankees offense has been rolling these past couple games. The Yankees have one of the youngest teams in the league and have took their time and built a strong system of prospects to be ready for this season and upcoming ones.  They knew what they had in Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Aaron Judge and now they have added Torres and Andujar to the mix as well. In 2011, the Yankees signed Miguel Andujar as an International Free Agent and have been grooming him since then. Gleyber has been a new addition to the system as they acquired him in 2016 in the swap for Aroldis Chapman with the Cubs.

Torres, the #5 overall rated prospect, received the call recently after the Yankees kept him in Triple-A to gain another year of contract control due to MLB service rules.  Torres has appeared in just 3 games so far and is hitting .250 so far with 1RBI. It is very early in his career but he has shown his confidence at the plate going 2-4 in last night’s contest against the Minnesota Twins.  Gleyber has made good strides and is definitely ready to take over the day to day responsibilities as the Yankees starting 2nd baseman. Torres and Didi Gregorius should make for an extremely strong middle infield for the future.  

Andujar has been lighting it up in his tenure with the Yankees so far.  Andujar was brought up to the 25-man roster with a need at third due to the injury of Brandon Drury, who was set to be the starting third baseman possibly for the season.  Andujar has thrived in his role so far in April hitting .295 3HR’s 11RBI’s .919 OPS through just 15 games. Since April 13th (last 7 games) Andujar is hitting .517BA 3HR 12XBH 1.172SLG.  He has swung a hot bat as of late and if it continues it should be a strong season for the rookie. Andujar has been seeing the ball really well and his swing is a thing of beauty. He also has played well in the field, which was a concern for the Yankees early on, and he has even exceeded expectations in that area playing the ball well.  

With the way the Yankees have put together this roster they should start going on a tear very soon.  They have been lighting up the scoreboard in their last couple games and that’s in large part to Andujar and Torres.  It is early on but definitely exciting to watch.