As the New York Yankees season continues, we will keep bringing our takeaways from the Yankees games. And today, we will look at three takeaways from today’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays (2/23/2020). And be sure that if you missed out on the Yankees Spring Opener, check out our review.
Depth will be Important
Building up depth for any organization is a must. The Major League Baseball season is often nicknamed a “War of Attrition.” Watching at today’s game, however, gave me a sense that the Yankees need more depth. The Bronx Bombers would be ravaged by injuries during the 2019 season, seeing a record 30 players make a record 39 IL stints. Depth always plays a part in every season for every team, and the Yankees will want to continue adding depth for those “Just in case” scenarios.
Miguel Andujar playing for a Job
Miguel Andújar arguably should have won the 2018 Rookie of the Year award over Shohei Ohtani. And in 2019, Andújar was poised to take the next steps in his development, but injuries would derail that option. 2019 would be lost to Andújar and so too his starting job at Thirdbase. This offseason, the Yankees would have Miguel working out at Third but also Firstbase and Leftfield. Moving Andújar around the left can elevate his value to the Yankees. Miguel Andújar has the type of bat that plays huge in the Major Leagues, but making sure he can play defense at the same level is also extremely important. Andújar is playing to continue his Major League career, and today was a good first impression.
Welcome back, Miggy 💙 @MAndujarPapa pic.twitter.com/7jhD3N31Cv
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 23, 2020
Jonathan Loasiga’s Battle for 5th
With the injuries to the Yankees rotation, Jonathan Loaisiga has an opportunity to make the Yanks rotation out of Spring Training. Loaisiga pitched an inning of work and notched a strikeout in the process. One thing I noticed about the way Loaisiga was pitching was he seemed to be pitching a little bit timidly. Loaisiga has “good stuff,” and that was on display. The Yankees will need Loaisiga whether as a starter or coming out of the bullpen in 2020. So this was a good first outing for Jonathan in his battle for the fifth starter’s job in the rotation.
