Rookie teammates

I’ve become a weekly blog poster.

I don’t like when that happens, and I never do it intentionally. However, real life stuff has dictated it at this time. I recently started a new job, and have been putting all of my focus into that. It doesn’t leave much room for cards, but I’m sure that will change soon once I become more comfortable and less on edge as it relates to being the new guy.

With the regular season coming to a close, I thought it would be a good time to show this card featuring my two favorite rookies. They’ve both had terrific seasons, and give Yankees fans a lot of optimism for their development moving forward. They’ve each played a key role on a Playoff-bound team, and often times have carried the lineup when the more established veterans were underperforming or out with injury.

I do think Miguel Andujar should be named the AL Rookie of the Year. It certainly seems like forever ago that Brandon Drury was the Yankees Opening Day 3B. Perhaps Ohtani will win, and it won’t be the wrong choice. I could even see Torres splitting a few votes with him. I’m not too worried either way. Cool if one of them wins, but no big deal if not. The Yankees have two budding offensive stars, post-season hardware or not.

This particular Topps NOW issue commemorates both guys having 20-HR seasons. Andujar was always projected to have some power. Torres’ projection was 25 HRs at his peak. He’s got 23 as a 21-year old in 120 games. The power numbers need to be adjusted a bit, but one thing is for sure: he’s damn good for his age and his ceiling is really high.

Best of all, these rookies have played pivotal roles in meaningful games, and hopefully they have a lot more of those this season and beyond.