Fighting for a roster spot, Andujar reminds Yankees of potential

TAMPA, Fla. -- It's fair to say Miguel Andújar knows George Steinbrenner Field pretty well by this point. After a decade in the Yankees' organization, Monday was his first game there as a visitor.

"I know a lot of guys over there, played there for a few years," Andújar said. "Real fun to play against those guys with this team." 

And while the Yankees would get the best of the Pirates Monday, coasting to a 9-2 win, Andújar got the best of his old club, picking up an outfield assist in right field and lacing a double at the dish:

Consider it a solid outing for a player fighting to rejoin the Pirates' roster.

After years of injuries, inconsistencies and bouncing between the majors and minors, the Yankees waived Andújar last September. After being connected to him in trade rumors for years, the Pirates quickly grabbed him off waivers and gave him an opportunity to play and a guaranteed $1.525 million deal to avoid arbitration.

That didn't necessarily guarantee him a roster spot though, and he was designated for assignment in January after Andrew McCutchen signed. No team was willing to take on that salary for someone on the waiver wire, so the Pirates were able to retain him, keeping him essentially in the same spot he was going to be in anyway: He has to earn his major-league job.

"We still view him as a major-league player," Derek Shelton said earlier this spring. "He got in a little bit of a roster crunch, but he’s firmly embedded in that competition in the outfield."

That outfield competition includes plenty of younger players, like Cal Mitchell, Travis Swaggery, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Ryan Vilade and Ji Hwan Bae. A third baseman/outfielder by trade, Andújar has been picking up the first base glove more this spring to try to add to his versatility.

And while the situation is not nearly so black-and-white, Andújar and Connor Joe are both outfielders who can play first and are seemingly in that roster spot competition against each other. Going off of spring results, Joe would have the advantage, as his .273 batting average and .793 OPS dwarfs Andújar's .154 average and .385 slugging, though the sample sizes are still very small.

"It feels really good," Andújar said about playing first. "I'll go wherever the team needs me to play."

Versatility would go a long way, and it would certainly help the Pirates to have a right-handed bench bat they can turn to. Finding those types of hitters have been elusive the last couple years, and the Pirates could certainly use a player like that on their roster, regardless of it's Joe or someone not currently on the roster.

And having to re-earn his roster spot is hardly an issue for Andújar.

"I try to do my job, I try to do the best I can and help the team to win," Andújar said.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• One of the single game performances from 2022 that really stood out to Pirate coaches late last year was how Luis Ortiz pitched in Yankee Stadium last September. The rookie had just been called up to the majors and was facing a first-place team in a hostile environment, and he didn't flinch. He went after those hitters and turned in a solid start.

His second time around against the Bronx Bombers did not go so well, as he was tagged for five runs on seven hits and a walk, and threw 45 pitches over 1+ innings.

He wasn't discouraged about the evening, though.

"I felt pretty good," Ortiz said via interpreter Stephen Morales. "I was trying to attack the strike zone, using all my pitches. Maybe the outcome wasn't what I was expecting, but I felt good. I was able to attack hitters."

One pitch that looked off was his changeup, as he missed consistently to his arm side and up. That pitch was a focal point this offseason, but it has been inconsistent thus far in games.

"I know I need to throw the changeup more, in the strike zone more," Ortiz said. "I struggled a little bit with it tonight. I just have to come back tomorrow and keep working on it in the throwing program and in bullpens, and hopefully it will get better."

• Things didn't get much better from there. Colin Selby allowed a home run to Aaron Judge in relief, Johan Oviedo walked four over 2 1/3 innings, Wil Crowe and Yohan Oviedo were both charged with unearned runs after Ji-Man Choi threw away a force play at home. Mix in just four hits on offense (one was a Chavez Young home run) and it is just a long night at the ballpark.

• Hey, at least Jared Jones looked good. He hit 99 mph on the gun and touched 2,700 RPM on his breaking stuff. Not a bad showing for my pick of the minor-league breakout pitcher of the year.

Besides that, not a lot worth hanging onto from this one.

• Actually, Young's bat flip is worth noting. That's an 80-grade flip, even if it came in the ninth inning of a spring blowout.

• Some good news, bad news on the injury front. Starting with the latter, Jarlín García is being pulled from the World Baseball Classic. García exited Saturday's game with left arm tightness and the team is still gathering information on it.

“We don’t have a timeline," Shelton said. "The more information we get, we’ll have a better timeline on the injury itself.” 

And to reiterate what DK reported Sunday, all's good with Andrew McCutchen's left hand after getting hit by a pitch in Sunday's game. It was a completely precautionary measure, and I asked how he was as he was grabbing a bat and about to head out of the clubhouse. He went through a full workday Monday and could potentially play Tuesday.

• This game was miraculously just 2 hours, 43 minutes. When one team puts on 23 base runners, that's incredible. Praise be to the pitch clock.