Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela underwent surgery Friday to remove a bone chip from his right elbow, the team announced. He’ll need three months to recover.
Based on the estimated timeline of his recovery, Urshela should be in line to return by the start of next season. If not, the Yankees could hand third base to Miguel Andujar, who was their solution at the hot corner in 2018 before injuries cut him dow the next year. He didn’t play much at all last season, totaling 65 plate appearances in Urshela’s shadow. Andujar has hit a weak .193/.219/.257 with one home run in 105 plate appearances dating back to 2019.
Andujar once looked like the Yankees’ long-term option at third, but his health troubles opened the door for Urshela, a former Indian and Blue Jay who has unexpectedly thrived since New York acquired him from Toronto in August 2018. Going back to 2019, Urshela has slashed .310/.358/.523 (132 wRC+) with 27 homers in 650 trips to the plate.
Urshela will need up to three months to recover. Some recover in six weeks’ time. With top-notch treatment and PT, I wouldn’t expect him to miss any time.
Just imagine having to potentially run Andujar out there at 3rd base if Urshela has complications….
Exactly. He made Devers look good in a comparison. My guess is it really opens the door for DJLM at third who Most expect back. His versatility is why he’s the team’s MVP. The Sox and Mets should both give him great offers just to force the Yankees to spend more. My guess is he takes less to remain in the Bronx but gets a four year deal that tops original projections and hurts the team that last year or two when they try to tie up someone else.
Hmm…”Most?”
Just a typo. Didn’t mean to capitalize the “M” By that least I
I see I person read my post. I appreciate it paddy.
and if no DJLM, there’s plenty other interesting 3B short term options out there in Asdrubal, Maikel, Toddfather, Marwin and Sogard.
No one is seeing DJLM to the Dodgers though? Seems like an obvious move by them after losing Turner.
Yeah, @mcgriff.
What a bum that Andujar is, uh? Rookie of the Year runner up who smacked 74 extra base hits. Well, I suppose that they’ll just have to try and “make do” with that.
I – personally – don’t really have to imagine it. I’d also bet lots of other teams would be thrilled to have a similar contingency plan.
Which, I’m sure was what you were getting at.
Bucky Dent. Yes that’s true 2 long years ago Andujar had a good year. 2019/2020 he’s totaled 109 at bats with 21 hits to go with 1 home run. His value is low.
His trade value is in the tank.
No argument with that.
I’m just pointing out teams could do much worse for a backup third basemen. I still think his bat plays. The defense is…terrible.
The Yanks rave about his work ethic, however. Perhaps he can show some improvement. If he could just be borderline competent he’d be a valuable player.
Andujar’s defense was putrid, though, by any measure. Non-functional except as a short-term plan B. I could well imagine his hitting becoming quite good, but I don’t see any indication that his defense will become even acceptably below average.
Yeah, his defense is really bad.
Historically so, if I remember correctly.
That all being acknowledged, he put up 2.2 WAR (lol 4.6 offensive, so, yeah *really* bad D) in 2018. If the Yankees were forced to roll with him he’s shown to be a viable MLB contributor.
In general, I’m just not sure what exactly to do with Miggy. Yanks have been working him in the OF & at 1B. Maybe some positional flexibility will help get his live bat on the field.
I figure the Yanks’ll just keep him as a hedge against the inevitable injuries that seem to plague their club.
Gasu1, remember when that was a common sentiment regarding Clint Frazier before he was nominated for a Gold Glove? I do.
I doubt the season starts in April anyway. Spring training might not start before March.
He couldn’t have the surgery a month ago?
The injuries for the Yankees have started already. Never a dull moment
Symptoms can go away with rest and treatment. Plenty of athletes with “loose bodies” don’t elect for surgery.
You’re a doctor? There was probably a no surgery option and they went that route because surgery should always be a last resort . All surgery is dangerous .
The non surgical option probably did not progress the way anticipated so he had the surgery. These keyboard doctors really crack me up
Delays are for three reasons:
1- Surgery is always a last resort, ie, Tanaka
2- Rest is always the first option which takes time upon conclusion of the season
3- There are numerous tests, a variation of symptoms, and a plethora of potential pre-surgical solutions to explore
There’s always inherent risk in having surgery and when a baseball player like Urshela, who finally has his shot, is told post-surgical-injury risk is low, BUT it could screw your elbow up, it’s often an incredibly difficult decision.
I’m with you on that,but generally you look at the beginning of the season and work backwards. January February March.
Plus,will rehab curb his ability to swing the bat? Getting up to bat speed and building his throwing strength is critical in spring training.
Good commentary Clipper…absolutely spot on….
With ya, @Clipper.
I’ve had forearm nerve impingment since 2013, my arm is permanently swollen. I need surgery, but live with the pain because I’ve had surgery on my extender tendon, which bothers me all of the time as well. If I wanted to use my thumb again though it was nessicary. My arm still works without the surgery, so I elected to live with the pain rather than having the surgery and possibly living with pain still anyways.
Hope Urshella makes a full recovery from the knife. His story is inspirational to many.
I had an ulnar nerve dislocation, a tear in my right meniscus, and a bone spur behind my achilles. Treatment for the bone spur hurt like heck, but came out perfect. I was literally flipping a coin on a procedure for the meniscus and elbow. I declined on both, and both have turned out well, so far.
I guess the lesson is that these choices are usually not slam dunk decisions.
My understanding is that players try to avoid removing bone chips when possible because doing so can ultimately weaken the area around the elbow ligament and cause the need for Tommy John surgery. Also, probably tried to avoid a hospital visit during the pandemic until he realized surgery was his only option.
Perksy, elective surgeries in this time of COVID aren’t the routine matters they used to be. Perhaps that was a factor in the timing of his surgery.
I can’t speak for professional athletes when I say this, but after taking 3 months off myself and finally getting back on a physical therapy program, and now a throwing program… it feels good. I feel the best I have physically in months, though I might not be as strong as I was when I had to stop 3 months ago, but just getting back into things feels great. I hope Urshela gets that same satisfaction and is able to produce next season. LGM.
Did you get your fanpost up on SB yet?
I was just working on it now. It’s gonna take a while, probably another week. I’m having to get about a paragraph per player, and there’s 15 players. It’ll take a little bit. And since it’s an argument trying to prove that they are candidates for good seasons in 21′, it’s taking a lot of advanced stats.
Hey, I’m trying to narrow down my list of starting pitchers right now. I have like 7 or 8, and I want it down to 5. If you’d like to talk more about this just look up the “Rangers interested in Kim” article on MLBTR. Me and Ducky have had a long conversation over there where I have been sharing my candidates with him, I’d be glad to go into more details there. I kinda want to keep my picks almost secret until I release it. I’ll go to that article too and talk.
Awesome, sounds good.
I’ll post my latest list over there now.
3 months still puts him in line to return for spring training. Yankee fans don’t have to panic about Andujar manning the hot corner yet
Nobody was panicking, we were wondering why Cashman was so slow on procuring Arenado already. …
Goodness, it’s been more than a day, Cash. Sheesh, you waiting for Boone’s contract to expire?!
Do we need another right hand bat?
If Arenado goes to the Yankees, Urshela gets traded where?
Amazing how all the experts at anti-yankee commentary come out every time there is an article that deals with anything Yankee.
Lest everyone forget, Andujar played an entire season at 3rd base and came in 2nd (robbed some would say) of the ROY in 2018, and for all the defensive liabilities that have been realized now that Gio has shown his defensive prowess at 3rd, Andujar was serviceable at the position and still the Yankees made the playoffs as usual….while many would rather he not ever man 3rd base….guess the wheels really didn’t and probably won’t come off the bus because if he manned 3rd… right!
Same kind of commentary Yankee fans have heard on this site about Frazier in the past.
Wow, I thought Urshela was around 25ish.
He’s been around a lot longer than you realize. Still has a lot of good years ahead of him
Doesn’t sound like an issue but I guess resting didn’t help which explains why he didn’t do this 3 weeks ago.Lucky the Yanks have Andujar so they have two starting 3rd baseman on the roster
He has 100 at bats in the last two years and Yankee fans are willing to sell him off for nothing? Wow
He’s a full-time DH masquerading as a defender, he doesn’t have much trade value, if at all. In the history of this fine sport, there have plenty of “beginners luck” or “1-year wonders” and Andujar stinks of both those. He can hit for sure, but so can many bat-only guys all over AAA. Someone really needs to throw his mitt into the east river.
Wow, if you admit he “can hit for sure” how exactly how in the heck can in your mind consider him a 1 year wonder? Hitting gets players paid pal, and while the jury’s still out on this guy, he has hit at every level in the Yankee organization he’s ever been at….while it’s been his glove that has always been the question….don’t comment when you haven’t done the research!
If there’s fit problems for Andujar in this league it will be because of his glove….and if the NL does go for the DH, his value will certainly be better than “stinks” for sure!
Andujar has an .802 career OPS in the majors, .736 in the minors. If he were a gold glover with a spotless medical history, that’d be a good bat and a highly-sought trade commodity. For a DH-only quality glove, it’s not good enough for anything more than a cheap look. Nobody these days is paying much for bat-only players unless they’re putting up David Ortiz numbers. He’d have been worth more 20 years ago when full time DHs were more popular.
His minor league stats got progressively better as he moved up. It’s not that uncommon for 17 year old out of the DR to start slowly the first couple of years. If he stays healthy, he should level out in the .850 level. That’s assuming he doesn’t add loft to his swing, since during his rookie year he mostly hit line drives.
That’s the issue in a nut shell. He can apparently hit some, but his minor league stats don’t predict any great hitting. He had a good year in 2018, but that came with a 97/25 K/W, which is tough to survive with.
As a RS fan, he reminds me of Middlebrooks and Chavis. You start off well, but unless you can bring the K/W down to 2:1, the pitchers will catch up to you. If you have a glove, you can buy 5 years, and incrementally improve your hitting. But without a glove to rely on, those 4:1 K/W ratios drag you down quickly.
You can even compare him to Dalbec. Nice start, but unless the K/W improves, I am not relying on him.
Rodney Dangerfield over here like “I can’t get no respect.”
Urshela should be nicknamed The Savior. He came in and completely broke out above and beyond anything he ever produced in his career while the Yankees saw player after player go down to injury. Unexpected surprise. Urshela has been so good it’s unbelievable to any Indian or Jays fan to witness.
I wouldn’t have written such superlatives over a guy who definitely is not even a top 10 3B in MLB, cool your jets, he’s not that great. He’s good though, but “team savior” he isn’t: thats Judge or Cole, or even DJLM if you mean last year. Plus, Yankees didn’t win a title, so what does “savior” even mean in this scenario. Curious.
Everyone uses “superlatives” just like you did in a previous post when you said Andujar “stinks”! Whats so curious about that?
I did not say Team Savior. I said The Savior.
Did you see Urshela in 2018? 2017 and every year prior. Nobody expected him to play at the level he has played at.
Did you see how many guys went down to injury in NY?
DJ Lemahieu has just been a stud. Judge has been hurt and Cole did not play in NY in 2019. Urshela breaking out was absolutely shocking and very much needed at that time.
Do I need to continue or do you understand how important Urshela has been to the Yankees?
I can agree with what you are putting out. Yankees would have been in trouble in 2019 without Urshela. Big reason that team didn’t sink with the injuries. It was outta no where too. Kinda like a savior would do.
DJ was important to as to not discredit anyone. But without Urshella how far would have they gotten with DJ? Baseball is definitely a team sport.
If Cole was the team savior he wouldn’t have taken 324 million. That deal will handcuff the team, even with the Yankees money printing machine I can see this bottlenecking them. That and the guaranteed money they owe Stanton to sit on the bench year after year.
that’s why if DJ wasnt the best player in baseball in 2019 he was very likely the most important. he was a stabilizing factor on that team.
Imagine if Andujar has to go out there plays and hits great better than Urshela. Can the guy who got Wally Pipped Wally Pip the same player?
He’d never be able to play defense the way Urshela does to outright take back the position but man would I love to see his bat return to 2018 form. Always plenty of ABs to go around with this team’s injury history.
Hoping he has a speedy recovery and is 100% before ST. He has been the second most important player these past 2 years behind DJ.
Recover faster!
I CAN’T. ITS A GIO!
Andujar could still turn out to be a very good hitter, he just needs to realize he has natural contact ability so he should wait for HIS pitch. He swings at too many pitchers pitches and it leads to weak contact. 2018 was good, but he has can be so much better with a little mental adjustment .. one that he likely will never make.
Trust in himself and let the count get deep while looking for his pitch and he becomes a legit threat.