Thursday, April 18, 2019

Yankees 3B Andujar's Recovery Going Smoothly; Boone Discusses Next Steps

Miguel Andujar throwing earlier this season. Photo by Jason Schott.


When Yankees third baseman Miguel Andújar went on the injured list on April 1 with a right shoulder strain, the plan was to have him not rush his rehab, while there concern that he would need season-ending surgery.


Just a bit over two weeks later, Andujar has consistently been throwing, and he took a major step on Thursday.

Andujar took batting practice on the field and was able to swing at 90 percent effort.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone, in his pregame press conference on Thursday, said Andujar is making "good" progress and added, "He threw again today, felt good, hit on the field. Hitting's not an issue for him.

"Tomorrow, I believe, he'll actually throw from the infield, so it's continuing to progress, to getting to that point to where, you know, do we think he can get to a point where he can truly make the throws he needs to make and not hurt himself more.

"I definitely think he's making steady progress, and it feels like the last two days, in his mind, I feel like he's made a lot of progress from just his ability and comfort level and making throws."
Boone was then asked, if they determine he can hit like normal, but throwing is an issue, would he consider making him a designated hitter, and he said, "Look, those are conversations that we'll have and, I guess to some degree, have already started those conversations.

"We'll put, in Miggy's case, I would want to put his best interests long-term. If this is something we feel like he can get through, and look - surgery's not always the answer and not always the best way to go - so we're going to exhaust this and see and try to make the best decision possible for us, but for him as well, too. So, if we get to that point, I'm sure those will be conversations that we have, but we'll want to do what's best for Miggy."

Boone then spoke of possibly using Andujar at first, something that has been talked about as a good position for him and would help considerably with Greg Bird out, "Those will be, when we get to that point, conversations that we have and, you know, can we do that on a short-term basis and put things off? Those will be the conversations that we're going to have to have, but I don't think we're there yet. I think we're going to have to get through these kind of rehab days, see where we can get him from a throwing standpoint and then make those evaluations, but that will probably be in the conversation somewhere."

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