Then at the trade deadline, the Athletics dealt Andujar to the Reds. He’s now in the middle of a playoff race. And even though the Reds have a much better lineup than the Athletics do, it’s turned out that Andujar is set up to have a much more prominent spot in the Reds’ lineup than he did with his old team.
Andujar is now often hitting cleanup in the Reds’ lineup, giving the team a consistent right-handed power bat to protect shortstop Elly De La Cruz in the lineup.
“(Andujar) looks like he’s always in control,” Reds utility player Gavin Lux said. “He has been around for a while and been around a lot of good players. He knows what he’s hunting. When he gets it, he doesn’t miss it.”
When Andujar joined the Reds at the end of July, the idea was that he’d be a bench bat who platooned in the lineup and made starts against left-handed pitching. Since the start of the 2024 season, Andujar has been the second-best hitter vs. left-handed pitching in MLB. The only player ahead of him was Aaron Judge.
“(Andujar) has 1.000 OPS against left-handers, that might be the best in baseball,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “That’s a big bat to have in the middle of your order.”
Shortly after the trade deadline, the Reds had a stretch on their schedule where they didn’t face many right-handed starting pitchers. Francona wanted to give Andujar a chance to get his feet under him with a new team, so Andujar got a few chances to start against right-handed pitching. He made the most of them and quickly earned a chance to be in the lineup on most days.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“Miggy rakes,” said Reds catcher Jose Trevino, who played with Andujar earlier in their careers. “The dude can straight up hit a baseball.”
Reds left-handed reliever Sam Moll is the type of pitcher that Andujar does his most damage against. Moll quickly recognized how tough Andujar is to face.
“Since he has been here, it hasn’t really mattered if it’s left or right,” Moll said. “It’s the jump start that we had hoped for bringing him in. He’s finding his way into the lineup every day. You just have to make your pitches against him, and he makes you pay when you don’t. When you do make you’re pitch against him, he’ll fight it off. And he takes advantage of those that you leave over the plate.”
While Andujar has been prone to chase pitches outside of the strike zone, he’s having success with a very aggressive approach. The first impression that he made with the Reds was how aggressive of a swinger he was, and Andujar immediately provided a different style of bat in the Reds’ lineup.
“I swing hard because you can see the pitchers are really good,” Andujar said. “I try to hit it hard.”
While Andujar has made a big difference at the plate, he’s viewed as a subpar defender and the Reds are still figuring out where he fits in the field.
The Reds have 10-to-11 players in the mix for every day playing time, so Andujar has received a few days off over the last three weeks. He has the ability to play first base, third base and left field, but he’s making most of his starts as the designated hitter. But since Gavin Lux has also been regularly in the mix at the designated hitter spot, there’s a bit more of a logjam to get both of them in the lineup. Sometimes, that has led to Spencer Steer or Matt McLain getting the day off.
Regardless of where he plays, Andujar is excited about the chance for a fresh start in Cincinnati.
“Everywhere I go, I try to do the best I can,” Andujar said. “You control what you can control. I always have a plan. I have to execute the plan. Everything looks good right now.”
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