The Yankees have activated catcher Gary Sanchez from the disabled list. While it’s commonplace for clubs to activate players from the 10-day disabled list on September 1st even if they aren’t entirely ready (due to roster expansion), he’s also in today’s starting lineup against the Tigers.
Groin injuries have limited the young Sanchez to just 279 plate appearances on the year. The first occurrence of this injury came on June 25th, when the 25-year-old hit the disabled list with a grade one strain. Though he was activated on July 19th, he succumbed to the injury again just five days later after a game in which he seemed unable to hustle down the first base line much to the consternation of the Bombers’ fan base.
Even while on the field, Sanchez certainly hasn’t shown his best work so far this year. While his 14 homers have certainly been a positive, a .188 batting average and .283 on-base certainly aren’t what the Yankees had imagined seeing from him after a .278/.345/.531 sophomore season in 2017.
To be fair, though, a shockingly low .194 BABIP has suppressed his offensive performance considerably, and that seems unlikely to continue to such an extreme. Additionally, his .303 wOBA is a far cry from the .361 xwOBA accredited to him by Statcast for his contact quality and launch angle. The Yankees will surely be hoping his luck will turn around as they prepare for a postseason berth that seems likely to begin with a one-game Wild Card playoff.
Third time’s a charm!…let’s hope
Gary Sanchez in September .336 11 HRs
Imagine Sanchez as a full time DH. Might work..
I thought the same thing. Romine is a great catcher
Yes, what ARE the defensive metrics saying about him?
Top 3 defensive catcher. Top pitch framer. Best arm at catcher.
Right
The only thing Sanchez really needed fixing was his passed ball rate. Other than that he is above average in all other fields defensively
Judge Judy do like to make things up Sanchez is not the top pitch framer and he does not have the best arm.
He is above average in both categories and I also don’t think he is a top 3 defensive catcher. He is an above average defensive catcher though that just seems to let his mind wander at times.
Wrong on Top Pitch Framer (According to Baseball Prospectus).
Judge Judy was referring to Romine.
Like Romine a lot, calls a very nice game, defensively gives you much more than average, and has the team game plan in mind for 9 innings.
However, Yankee pitchers are terrible at holding runners on and in the playoffs, the running game putting runners in scoring position will eventually kill the Yankees.
As challenged as Sanchez is defensively, his arm is a weapon and will alter the oppositions running game at least making them think twice about trying to get runners in scoring position at 2nd base via the steal.
You’ve got to start Sanchez at catcher and alternate Cutch, and most likely Stanton at DH looking forward.