A's Miguel Andujar is shredding spring training. Will revival carry over to season?
Once one of the hottest young hitters in baseball with the New York Yankees, Miguel Andujar is proving that he still has something to prove in the MLB.
The Oakland Athletics outfielder is slashing .406/.424/.813 with four home runs, 13 RBI and zero strikeouts in only 32 at-bats this spring, but most importantly he looks healthy for the first time in years.
On a team with possibly the lowest expectations in all of baseball, Andujar figures to get ample playing time as long as he can produce. His signing could end up being one of the most underrated offseason moves in baseball.
After a brief taste of the majors in 2017, Andujar put up one of the best rookie seasons in recent memory in 2018, coming in second place in the American League Rookie of the Year award behind two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.
Slashing .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs, 92 RBI and a Yankees rookie-record 47 doubles in 2018, he was once thought to be one of the faces of the franchise in New York.
But he struggled to replicate his success after a barrage of injuries, playing in just 78 games at the major-league level from 2019-21. He slashed .228/.257/.331 with 12 extra-base hits and 18 RBI during that span and was ultimately traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2022 season.
Fast-forward to 2024 Andujar is now a member of the Athletics after being claimed off of waviers this offseason from the Pirates. And he is destroying the ball in spring training.
Could 2024 be the year that Andujar bounces back and shows the league that he can still be a productive major league player? If so, the Athletics will have a potential trade piece as they continue their rebuild.
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