Yankees Andujar has labrum tear, surgery possible

Third baseman Miguel Andujar became the ninth Yankees player to hit the injured list Monday, and his injured shoulder is reportedly worse than initially feared.

Andujar sustained the injury while diving into a bag. As Hoch notes, the club isn’t making any snap decisions with regard to surgery, but it’s possible Andujar will be lost for the remainder of the season. 

That would be a huge loss. The 24-year-old Andujar is coming off a 2018 season in which he racked up 27 home runs and 47 doubles and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting. Given the Yankees’ hopes that Andujar could improve defensively, he might have been even better in 2019.  For instance, the Sports Line Projection Model forecasts Andujar to bat .297/.339/.522 with 22 home runs and 38 doubles over the remainder of the season. Those outputs, if lost, won’t be easy to replace. 

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Yes, the Yankees have infield depth. For the time being, Gleyber Torres will man second, Troy Tulowitzki will pin down short, and DJ LeMahieu will fill in for Andujar at third. LeMahieu makes quality contact with the bat and will presumably be an upgrade defensively over Andujar. This reshuffling, however, thins out the depth elsewhere and raises the onus on Tulowitzki to stay healthy. Didi Gregorius is slated to return from Tommy John surgery at some point in June, but setbacks are possible. 

That’s a great deal of attrition this early in the season, and it’s a lot of 2018 value that’s absent from the present mix. As for Andujar, the potential loss of such a powerful lineup presence for the rest of the season could be keenly felt in a division like the AL East, in which the reigning-champion Red Sox and upstart Rays have legitimate designs on the flag. 

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