#Yankees' Miguel Andujar is having a ? game for @TrentonThunder: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR (5), 2 RBIs in T8. NYY Top 30: https://t.co/yOJKLh6RRg pic.twitter.com/zXLR2ZCLmz
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 28, 2017
After a slow start to 2017, New York Yankees’ top third base prospect Miguel Andujar is finally starting to showcase his skills for the Trenton Thunder.
Entering a season in which the New York Yankees expected their top third base prospect to blossom into a potential top overall prospect, Miguel Andujar couldn’t quite sprint out of the gate.Through his first 34 games for the Double-A Trenton Thunder, Andujar slashed a mere .248/.273/.380 while striking out in 22 of his 129 at-bats to start the season. His OPS of .653 was also worse than the .681 he posted at the same level last year and his OBP of .273 had never reached that low throughout his six-year minor league career. It was the last thing the 22-year-old wanted, especially following a decent showcase in Spring Training.
Since the middle of May, however, Andujar has completely flipped the script on what was starting to look like a dismal campaign. Over the last 14 games, the righty has reached base in 13 of them while raising his batting average from .248 to .283, his OBP from .273 to .313 and his slugging percentage from .380 to .461.
Over the last ten games, he is 15-for-34 (.441) with one home run, 15 RBIs and three walks. Andujar’s latest performance came on Monday night, where he went 1-for-4 with a RBI double in the seventh inning to extend his hit streak to eight games in what was an 8-7 loss for Trenton in 10 innings. The stellar performance this week helped him earn a spot on MLBPipeline.com’s Prospect Team of the Week.
Andujar is currently listed as New York’s eighth-best prospect on the farm, according to MLB Pipeline. Scouts say he has the upside to be able to register a batting average of .270 and 20 home runs at some point, but getting there could be quite the troubling task for the kid the Yankees gave a $750,000 bonus to back in 2011.
Gleyber Torres, the Yankees’ top prospect, was just promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will get reps at third base, especially with Chase Headley struggling in the Bronx. Fans also seem very fond of the potential signing of Manny Machado, which would clog a roster spot for Andujar for the foreseeable future.
But that’s the future. At this moment, he’s easily the most advanced natural third baseman in the system and has immense upside in the majors or, at least for the Yankees, a rather valuable trade chip.
