Miguel Andujar Activated by Oakland
The Oakland A's have activated Miguel Andujar from the IL, and sent down third baseman Brett Harris to make room on the 26-man roster. While Andujar mostly played third base for the New York Yankees in 2018 when he broke out, the 29-year-old has converted to roaming the outfield in recent years, and that is where the A's expect to play him.
In five rehab games with the Las Vegas Aviators, Andujar went 7-for-18 (.389) with four doubles, six RBI, a walk and two strikeouts. He showed last year in the Pirates' system that he has conquered the minors, hitting .338 with a .404 OBP, 16 homers, and 86 RBI in 103 games played. That would be why the A's claimed him off waivers back in November.
Andjuar was expected to make the A's roster to begin the season before he required surgery on his right knee at the end of March. Now, two months later, he is ready to make both his season debut, and his A's debut. He will be batting fourth on Friday night against Houston.
Harris, called up to make his big-league debut on May 3, went 5-for-43 (.116) in 17 games with the A's, but his nine walks bumped his OBP up to .291. Three of his five hits were home runs. After starting 11 straight games at third base when he was called up, Harris' playing time had begun to diminish starting on the 14th. Over the last nine games, Harris had started just three contests, with all three coming against left-handers.
Two positives takeaways for Harris in his first stint in the big leagues were that his walk rate (16.4%) and chase rate (19.6%) ranked among the tops in baseball, granted in a small sample size. On the flip side, he hit just .091 against the heater, with his two hits off it being a homer and a single. Improving on hitting the fastball will be tricky to do in the minor leagues, since, in general, minor league pitchers don't have the same command of the pitch.
He will likely be back up a little later in the season when an injury pops up, or the roster is thinned out by trades at the deadline.
Today's lineup vs. Houston - May 24, 2024 at the Oakland Coliseum pic.twitter.com/YzxKWseO7E
— Oakland A's Communications (@AthleticsPR) May 24, 2024
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.