Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar has made slugger Giancarlo Stanton take notice.
NEW YORK — Miguel Andujar has been on a tear lately, leapfrogging teammate Gleyber Torres as perhaps the American League Rookie of the Year favorite.
The 22-year-old third baseman notched his 20th home run and a double in an 11-6 win over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
Giancarlo Stanton has definitely taken notice.
“I love it, man,” Stanton said. “He’s enjoying the game — the best part is he’s enjoying playing. What he’s doing out there, it’s even cooler to watch.”
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Andujar has tied San Diego’s Christian Villanueva for the most bombs among MLB rookies.
And he’s the eighth rookie in Yankees history to hit that many in a season, and the third in as many seasons, following Judge’s 52 home runs in 2017 and Sanchez’s 20 in 2016.
Andujar also has the most doubles (36) by a Yankee since Robinson Cano had 41 in 2013 and he’d doubled in four of his last five games.
While Andujar’s defense has been shaky, his bat has been anything but.
In his last 12 games, he’s hitting .388 (19-for-49) with 11 runs, six doubles, six bombs and 15 RBI.
“He’s got a great swing,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s a swing that, first time I saw it, that’s a special look in the box. I feel like, very versatile, can handle a lot of different pitches, can’t just be pitched one way. Not a lot of holes.
“And I think what’s been impressive has been his ability to make adjustments. So he’s shown a real, I think, intelligence in the box for such a young player to be able to understand what teams are doing to him. He picks his spots where he’ll go up and look for something and it’s just a very — obviously there’s power, great bat speed — but it’s a really great swing. He lays the bat in the hitting zone for a long time.”
Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.
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