TAMPA — To the scouts who have been writing up Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar as a left fielder in waiting, Willie Randolph has a message:

“Watch him this spring.”

A standout Yankees second baseman in the ‘70s and ‘80s who now is a spring training coach, Randolph has been watching Andujar the last few days and sees “night and day” improvement from last spring.

“I see a difference,” Randolph said Thursday after watching Andujar field groundballs on a back field.. “I worked with him a little bit last year and he was a little bit stagnant with his feet. He got a little bit flat. Sometimes when you go from Triple-A to the big leagues, the ball gets on you quicker. The infields are faster, guys are stronger

“So I think he got into a thing last year where, ‘I’ve just got to stop the ball.’ This spring already, (infield instructor Carlos) Mendoza is doing a great done with Andujar. He’s got him on the balls of his feet. He’s pouncing. He’s got rhythm. And he’s dancing now. Dancing! You have to be a dancer when you play third base especially.

“We know it’s the hot corner, but you can’t get like, ‘Oh boy, here it comes! You’ve still got to attack the ball and you’ve to be able to move. The thing that I love about what I see about Andujar this spring is he’s moving his feet really well, and that’s what I want to see, He’s got a fluidity of movement that I didn’t see last spring. So that’s encouraging.”

Randolph’s voice oozed excitement as he spent six minutes talking up Andujar, who hit his way into being voted the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up.

“I think he can be above average at third base,” Randolph said. “Listen, if you give me average defense, I’ll take that because the way he can hit. I think he’s going to be a batting champion one day.”

Batting champ?

"If he stays healthy, I really think so,” Randolph continued. “If he keeps his head on straight and stays humble, I think he has that skillset because his bat path is so flexible. He does things that guys don’t do. He’s hitting balls down and up. He’s not getting fooled a lot. He’s got great eye-hand coordination. Listen, it’s a big prediction from me, but I see the potential in that.”

Andujar, who turns 24 on March 2, hit .297 last season as a rookie with 47 doubles, 27 homers and 92 RBI in 149 games.

Defensively, his 15 errors in 287 chances added up to a subpar .948 fielding percentage that tied for second lowest among 20 major leaguers who appeared in at least 100 games at third base.

But ...

“If someone would have told you at the beginning of last year that this kid is going to get a chance to play and he might make 15 errors, I think we would have signed up for that,” Randolph said. “I’m not saying that’s great, but for a rookie there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if you’re learning how to play the position at this level.

“I’ve worked with some great infielders who struggled when they were young. Derek Jeter made a lot of errors the first couple of years. Adrian Beltre made a lot of errors. I could go down the line. You’ve got to be patient with these young kids."

The Yankees have very patient with Andujar, who finally appears to be making big strides defensively early into his seventh season as a pro.

What took so long?

“That’s an excellent question,” Randolph said. “They teach (in the minors), but it’s a different type of focus for kids in the minors. These kids are trying to get to the big leagues. They think they’re working sometimes, but maybe they’re not totally locked in.

“Right now Andujar knows people are watching. He knows defense is important. He’s got a pitching staff that counts on him to make the play. In the minor leagues, if you boot a ball, it’s ‘OK, sorry man, my bad.’ Up here, you’ve got CC Sabathia and all these cats looking at you like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ So you feel that extra focus.

“That focus should have been there already. It’s a mentality really, and I think a lot of kids come up wanting to swing the bat and you just take for granted your defense. Yeah, he can catch the ball, but are you really focused? Are you doing the fundamentals with your feet and how you move and thinking, ‘Every play is mine?’

“Minor leaguers take little breaks (during games). It’s up and down, up and down (with the body preparing for pitches). It gets boring, but the minute you get flat and you stop, that’s when they hit it to you. And it’s like, ‘Oh damn.’ But if you’re ready to go, you’re ready to move laterally.”

Randolphia is seeing that this spring.

“I love what I see so far from Andujar,” he said. “He’s worked his ass off. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff because I’m noticing a difference. It’s like night and day. He was stagnant last year. He was worried about the ball not getting by him.

“To me, it’s all about feet, all about dancing. Watch him this spring. He’s doing it. Now he needs to be consistent and sustain that.”

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.