Why Is Miguel Andujar Not Playing?

After going 3 for 13 in the Yankees’ opening series against the Baltimore Orioles to begin the 2019 campaign, Miguel Andjar was put on the injured list on April 1st due to a right shoulder strain.



The Yankees were quite afraid that he could need surgery to repair a labrum rupture, which would force him to miss the rest of the season.

He didn’t have surgery (at first) and returned to the lineup on May 4; however, on May 13 he went 3 for 34 in his brief return before returning to the injured list due to the same issue.



Miguel Andújar
Miguel Andújar

The Yankees revealed on May 15th that he would have the season-ending procedure. He participated in 21 games with the Yankees during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, hitting .242 with 1 home run and 5 RBIs.

To ease the strain on his throwing shoulder, he was shifted to the outfield, a change that ended up being very much permanent.

In the postseason, he was absent. He played 45 games for New York in 2021, batting.253 with 6 home runs and 12 RBIs, but he was unable to reestablish a regular position on the team due to additional injury absences.

He also participated in 16 AAA games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

At the beginning of 2022, it was more of the same as he started the season in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, was called up to New York at the end of April as the team experienced a string of injuries, and then went back down and back up once in the following month.

This began to aggravate him, and on June 4th, after being optioned back to Scranton a third time, he asked the team for a trade, saying that he wanted to join a team that would offer him an opportunity to play frequently.