Miguel Andújar

Career

Miguel Andújar first joined the New York Yankees organization in July 2011, signing as an international free agent. His professional career began the following year with the Gulf Coast Yankees. Over the next few seasons, he moved through the minors: he spent 2013 with the Gulf Coast Yankees 2, then 2014 with the Charleston RiverDogs in Single-A. In 2015, he played for the Tampa Yankees in High-A. He started 2016 with Tampa before earning a promotion to the Trenton Thunder in Double-A. That fall, he participated in the Arizona Fall League, and the Yankees added him to their 40-man roster afterward.

In 2017, Andújar began the season back in Trenton. Through 67 games, he hit .312 with seven home runs and 52 RBIs, leading the Eastern League in that category. When Gleyber Torres suffered a season-ending injury in June, Andújar moved up to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in Triple-A. After just seven games there, the Yankees called him to the majors on June 28, replacing the injured designated hitter Matt Holliday. That same day, he made his big-league debut against the Chicago White Sox, serving as the designated hitter.

He went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk, setting a new Yankees record for most RBIs in a player's first game. The next day, the Yankees sent him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre so he could keep playing third base every day. After the RailRiders' season ended, where Andújar had batted .317 with nine homers and 30 RBIs in 58 games, the Yankees brought him back up on September 16.

Did You Know?

• Andújar broke Joe DiMaggio's 1936 record for most doubles by a Yankees rookie, finishing with 47 in 2018.
• In his MLB debut on June 28, 2017, he went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk, setting a Yankees record for most RBIs in a first game.
• He hit his first career walk-off on May 4, 2018, an RBI single that gave the Yankees a 7-6 win over the Cleveland Indians.
• Andújar saw the lowest percentage of fastballs of all MLB hitters in 2018, at 46.0%.
• In March 2022, he was robbed at gunpoint at his farm in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic; he was beaten but not shot, though a relative was shot in the finger.