Despite Issues Yankees & Anjujar Are Optimistic

By Rich Mancuso/ Sports Editor

Luis Severino, Didi Gregorius, Giancarlo Stanton, Jacoby Ellsbuty, Dellin Betances are among the all-stars out of the Yankees lineup and pitching rotation and on the injured list. Then there is Latino Sports 2018 AL Rookie of the year Miguel Andjuar who became the latest casualty and diagnosed with a small labrum tear in his right shoulder.

Not the plan the Yankees had to start the 2019 season and of course there are always contingency plans with the Yankees’ roster of depth. Of course, GM Brian Cashman can always reach out to other teams for a reinforcement in the event Andujar faces season sending surgery.

For now, Anjujar will undergo a few weeks of physical therapy and hope for the best. However, injuries like this don’t always fair for the best and the inevitable option is surgery. The Yankees will take this day-by-day and hope for the best as they utilize Tyler Wade, DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki to fill the void.

As for Andujar, who finished second in voting for AL 2018 AL Rookie of the Year, he remains optimistic. The Yankees as a whole, they are prepared either way to accept his absence but hope for the best.

“We’re in the very early stages,” said manager Aaron Boone Tuesday afternoon “I think it’s just got to play out over the next few days. Then as Andujar starts ramping back up, I think it will become clearer.”

Sooner the better for the Yankees. And sooner the better for Andujar who was hoping to duplicate or top a 2018 season of 27 home runs, 92 RBI, in 37 doubles in 149 games.

“I’ve always had this positive mind since it happened,” Anjujar said through a Yankees translator. “I feel good. I know there’s an injury, but at the same time I was able to finish the game.”

Anjujar injured the shoulder diving into third base during the fourth inning in the Yankees loss to the Orioles on Sunday. Never mind that the weather was not suited for baseball with wind chills of 35 and a wet field. But baseball is meant to be played in warmer elements and there is no pointing to blame the conditions that contributed to this injury.

“When I went back, I kind of landed a little weird,” Andujar explained. ‘I felt a little discomfort but nothing at the moment I thought was going to be serious that was going to take me out of the game.”

But the implications are now a reality. Miguel Andujar has been shut down and this is a waiting game. The Yankees with a potent lineup are expected to get by not seeing their third baseman on the field for the next three or four weeks.

Anjujar said Tuesday, “There’s still a chance we can go through this and I can get back on the field.” Boone and the Yankees hope for the best with nine others on the injured list as the season begins.

That’s a lot of punch out of the lineup. And before CC Sabathia returns to the pitching rotation, Luis Severino is still a month or more away from returning to the mound with inflammation to the right elbow.

A source said Tuesday, indeed there is a contingency plan in the event Andjuar is gone for the season. that could include a late free agent signing of a low level infielder on the market. Then, there is Brian Cashman, the GM who always has a plan when talking constantly to the higher ups in command and with other baseball personnel.

“It’s tough, you know,” Andujar said. “But at the same time I’m optimistic because my shoulder is strong.”

Question is, are the Yankees tough enough in the early going to deal with this unexpected and early season adversity?

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