Andujar, Torres proving they belong in the bigs

ANAHEIM -- The Yankees opened the campaign with Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres stashed on the roster of their top farm club, having decided for one reason or another that the kids could use more seasoning. Flash forward a few weeks, and this newest "Baby Bombers" are proving they belong right here in the big leagues.
Andujar and Torres continued to impress in the Yankees' 11-1 rout of the Angels on Saturday evening, combining for five of the club's 14 hits, including a pair for extra bases. Andujar leads the Majors with 12 doubles, and the Yankees have won each of Torres' first seven games in The Show. Torres checks in at No. 1 on the Yankees' Top 30 Prospects list and No. 5 in MLB Pipeline's Top 100. Andujar ranks fourth on the club and 63rd in all of baseball.
"We started the year in the Minors, but the intensity of training never changed," Andujar said through an interpreter. "Now we're here, and we're playing good baseball and we're happy doing that. As long as we keep getting the opportunity, we're going to go out there and give the best we have."
Andujar's excellent play promises to create a wrinkle for manager Aaron Boone, who may soon have to explain to the rehabbing Brandon Drury why his playing time will have diminished -- or perhaps vanished altogether.
Including his first-inning double on Saturday, Andujar has logged an extra-base hit in 10 of 12 games, hitting .429 (21-for-49) with 16 extra-base hits (12 doubles) and nine RBIs over that span.
"Miggy continues to earn opportunities," Boone said. "It's hard to deny what he's done. More good at-bats tonight, nice play in the field. He's earned his keep, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, Torres has found his footing after being summoned to the big leagues from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a week ago. Torres was hitless in his first seven big-league at-bats before connecting for a single up the middle in an April 23 win over the Twins in New York.
Since then, the 21-year-old has gone 7-for-19 (.368), playing slick defense at second base that Boone remarked earlier on Saturday has reminded him of the Cubs' Javier Báez. It is a comparison that Torres appreciates.
"I know Baez a little bit from playing before with the Cubs," said Torres, who was sent to the Yankees in a trade for closer Aroldis Chapman in 2016. "I've got a good relationship with him. I've heard a lot that I play similar to him. It's good. He's a good player. I feel good about that."
Scouts rave about Torres' focus and presence, which he showed in the second inning on Saturday, as Angels reliever Eduardo Paredes dusted the rookie with a 93.7-mph fastball up and in. Torres rose and whacked the next pitch into left field for a run-scoring single, swelling the Yankees' lead to 10 runs.

"I'm hungry and waiting for him," Torres said of Paredes.
An infield with Andujar at the hot corner and Torres up the middle was something that the Yankees discussed extensively over the winter, though the depth chart was disrupted when they acquired Drury from the D-backs in February and signed Neil Walker to a one-year, $4 million deal in March.
Yet as the calendar is about to turn to May, Boone's defensive alignment looks exactly as it might have in December, and it is working. Good thing that Andujar and Torres opted not to sign apartment leases during their time in Triple-A, instead resting their heads at the team hotel. They could be here to stay.
"I've always said, it's about doing your job, and it doesn't matter what's going on and what different situations are around you," Andujar said. "For me, it's about doing my job, coming here and preparing myself, learning from my coaches and from my teammates and making the best of the opportunity. That's the way I see it."