Miguel Andujar, acquired to crush left-handed pitching, delivering big for Reds

New York Times

a day ago

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds' trade deadline didn't make headlines, with three small moves to tweak the team's roster rather than overhaul it. Chief among the team's moves was its last, as the team completed a deal for Miguel Andujar from the Athletics in the final hour leading up to the deadline.
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Andujar wasn't one of those names bandied about in trade rumors, nor was he more than a footnote nationally, but he's already made a difference for the Reds in a key category targeted at the deadline by president of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador: hitting against left-handed pitching.
Tuesday, the Reds battered Philadelphia Phillies lefty Ranger Suárez, posting six runs on 10 hits in Suárez's 5 1/3 innings. Suárez's ERA rose from 2.94 to 3.28, partly due to Andujar's second home run as a Red and his first against a lefty, in Cincinnati's 6-1 victory at Great American Ball Park.
'Well, it's a good night,' Reds manager Terry Francona said of his team's 10 hits against the Phillies starter. 'But we are situated where I think we can be more competitive against both sides of pitchers because of the moves that got made.'
Andujar's .991 OPS against left-handed pitching over the past three seasons is the third-best mark of any player with at least 150 plate appearances against lefties over that period, trailing only Aaron Judge (1.256) and Tyler O'Neill (.992).
The Reds have faced just three left-handed starters since Andujar arrived. However, Andujar didn't get to face the Atlanta Braves' Austin Cox at the Speedway Classic in Bristol, Tenn., as the game was stopped by rain just as Andujar stepped into the box for his first plate appearance in a Reds uniform. The Reds beat the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday in a game started by lefty Shota Imanaga. While Imanaga allowed only one run, it came on an RBI double by Andujar.
Tuesday, Andujar launched his first home run against a lefty as a Red, a solo homer in the fourth inning off of Suárez to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.
Before Andujar joined the Reds, the team was 19th in OPS (.690) against left-handed starters, hitting .226/.307/.383 against lefty starters overall. Since then — in just 53 total plate appearances as a team, including Tuesday's game — they're 11th in OPS (.798) against left-handed starters, with a .320/.358/.440 slash line.
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Tuesday, Francona rolled out a lineup with just one left-handed hitter, leadoff man TJ Friedl, against Suárez, with Andujar in the cleanup spot.
'(Andujar) has 1.000 OPS against left-handers, that might be the best in baseball,' Francona said. 'That's a big bat to have in the middle of your order.'
Andujar is now 2-for-6 against lefties since joining the Reds, but more than that, he's 8 for 23 (.348) overall in a Reds uniform, with half of his hits going for extra bases.
'Miggy rakes — I've seen him in New York with me, the dude can straight up hit a baseball,' said Reds catcher Jose Trevino, who was a teammate of Andujar's with the New York Yankees. 'He brings some versatility for us, being able to hit lefties really, really well.'
Andujar, 30, finished as the runner-up to Shohei Ohtani in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2018, when he hit 27 home runs with a .297 batting average for the Yankees. That's been his best season to date, maybe until this season.
Although the Reds have faced only three left-handed starters, he's started six of the 11 games the team has played since he joined it. Andujar homered off of Pittsburgh right-hander Mike Burrows in Sunday's win and had a first-inning single Monday against the right-handed Taijuan Walker.
'I can hit both, I think,' Andujar said. 'I feel comfortable with lefties and righties. I go up with my plan, I watch a lot of video and I watch the games, too, against righties, too. That helps me contribute.'
Friedl not only earned his way into the lineup against left-handed pitching, but has also stuck in the leadoff spot against pitchers of either persuasion. Friedl is better against right-handers this year with a .797 OPS, but two years ago, when facing left-handers, he had a .962 OPS.
From his spot atop the lineup, Friedl said Andujar has helped the team's lineup overall.
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'He's a well-disciplined, high-contact guy, but he's got thump,' Friedl said. 'You saw that in Pittsburgh and today where he just gets the head (of the bat) out, and I think his plate discipline and his sights of where he wants to put a ball is so advanced, it helps him know when he can let it rip like today or if he wants to just take his hit the other way — that's a special thing.'
With the right-handed Noelvi Marte's transition to the outfield, which was possible because of the team's addition of Ke'Bryan Hayes on deadline eve, Francona has enough right-handed bats to stack them against left-handed pitching. He could even use the right-handed-hitting Santiago Espinal at third base for the left-handed-hitting Hayes, and then late in the game, remove Espinal, a fantastic defender, to put in a transcendent fielder in Hayes as a defensive replacement. The result is a more potent lineup against lefties with seven right-handed bats in addition to Friedl and the switch-hitting Elly De La Cruz.
Was Tuesday just a good night against a good lefty, or have the Reds found a way to improve against lefties? They won't have to wait long to find out, as left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who is 11-3 with a 2.36 ERA on the season, takes the mound in Wednesday's series finale.
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