With the New Year approaching, the focus in Yankees Universe continues to be on whether the club will sign Manny Machado, the transcendent, polarizing free agent who’d provide an enormous boost to the left side of its infield. However, regardless of whether Machado heads to the Bronx, it’s fair to say the Yankees won’t reach their peak potential in 2019 without a bounce-back effort from their most polarizing star, catcher Gary Sanchez.
An elite prospect throughout his time in the Yankees’ system, Sanchez burst on the scene in 2016, his abbreviated rookie season. After the Yankees promoted him for full-time duty that August, Sanchez proceeded to swat an astounding 20 home runs in just 229 plate appearances and tie Mike Trout for the majors’ best wRC+ (170). Sanchez came back to earth the next year – his first full campaign – to some degree, though he still left the yard 33 times and registered a 129 wRC+ over 525 PAs.
Based on Sanchez’s output during his initial two seasons, there was little reason to doubt he’d continue serving as one of the Yankees’ cornerstones (and one of the game’s foremost catchers) last year. Instead, Sanchez never really got off the ground during what proved to be an injury-shortened, 89-game campaign, as he slashed a mere .186/.291/.406 (89 wRC+) in 374 PAs. Not only did Sanchez’s newfound offensive struggles frustrate fans, but so did his oft-maligned defense. For the second straight year, Sanchez finished with the American League’s most passed balls (18), which also ranked last in the majors. Unsurprisingly, then, he rated poorly as a blocker at Baseball Prospectus, which graded him second last in that department.
Despite Sanchez’s woes in 2018, general manager Brian Cashman was steadfast in defending the backstop throughout the season, telling anyone who’d listen the Yankees have a franchise catcher on their hands. That hasn’t stopped this offseason, even though trade rumors featuring Sanchez have been plentiful. Earlier this month, Cashman told Jack Curry of the YES Network that Sanchez is “not for sale,” adding that the Yankees expect they’ll be “proven correct” that he’s a foundational piece.
If we’re to take Cashman at his word, it’ll continue to be Sanchez donning the tools of ignorance for the Yankees in 2019 – not a trade possibility like the Marlins’ J.T. Realmuto or the No. 1 free agent available, Yasmani Grandal. Both Realmuto and Grandal outclassed Sanchez last year, but before the latter’s Murphy’s Law 2018, he belonged in the discussion with those two and the game’s other top catchers. It’s understandable Yankees brass has the 26-year-old Sanchez’s back, then, and it becomes easier to see why when considering some of his underlying numbers from last season.
Sure, Sanchez’s overall offensive production was a colossal disappointment, but it still came with some encouraging signs. He continued to flash prodigious power, totaling 18 homers and logging a .220 ISO (well above the league average of .161). Further, compared to his previous two seasons, there weren’t any alarming trends in Sanchez’s strikeout, walk, swinging-strike, chase or contact rates. When Sanchez did put the bat on the ball, he often made it count, as he placed fifth in the majors in average exit velocity on line drives/fly balls (97.7 mph) and 19th in barrels per plate appearance (tying a pretty good duo consisting of teammate Aaron Judge and the Braves’ Ronald Acuna). Sanchez’s ability to make hard contact helped lead to a solid expected weighted on-base average (.343) which easily outdid his real wOBA (.304).
So what went wrong? Poor fortune seems largely to blame, given that Sanchez managed a meager .197 batting average on balls in play – down 111 points from the more normal-looking .308 mark he recorded between 2016-17. Granted, Sanchez didn’t help his cause by hitting far fewer line drives and far more pop-ups than he did in 2017. Sanchez’s 19.2 percent infield fly rate ranked last among qualified hitters, and because a pop-up is essentially an automatic out, that’s going to have to change going forward.
As for Sanchez’s work behind the plate, perhaps it’s unfair to regard his presence as disastrous to the Yankees’ defensive efforts. For one, the cannon-armed Sanchez caught at least 30 percent of would-be base stealers for the third consecutive year. And while blocking pitches has been a problem for Sanchez, Baseball Prospectus has assigned him high framing marks to this point. The outlet did hand Sanchez a negative overall grade in its Fielding Runs Above Average metric last season, though there were still plenty of worse catchers (admittedly, that’s faint praise).
Heading into 2019, Sanchez’s final pre-arbitration season, there’s clearly ample room for improvement both at the plate and behind it. Whether Sanchez will take the field on Opening Day is in question, though, as he’s only about a month and a half removed from left shoulder surgery. Sanchez’s shoulder – which had been an issue since 2017 – may have helped lead to his downfall last year, and if his recovery goes well, there are legitimate reasons to believe he’ll rebound in 2019. The Steamer projection system is on board, as it pegs Sanchez for 3.5 fWAR, a .245/.322/.482 line (116 wRC+) and 31 homers. How do you think he’ll fare?
(poll link for app users)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Fewer home runs however average and OBP will go up. Let’s just hope his defense steps up the most
Comment saying Sanchez will go to the KBO got more upvotes than this comment. MLBTR becoming a joke
If he has a few more seasons like last year the KBO isn’t that far fetched.
IF: The biggest two letter word in the English language!
Snot rocket: idiotic comment. You really believe worst case scenario he signs in the KBO and not with any other MLB team? I’m sure the rockies, diamondbacks, angels and many more teams disagree with your statement
Eric Thames got pushed to KBO…anything possible if he doesnt improve. Yankees have enough SO victims.
Eric Thames is a dime a dozen. Sanchez is a catcher and a good one when not injured
Being not injured as a catcher is in and off itself not exactly easy…
Yes! At the same time their willingness to continue “donning the tools of ignorance” (thanks Connor!) might suggest they are not the brightest of MLB players which is in and of itself ridiculous considering that they ought to be the smartest playing the single most important position on the field.
For what its worth, me thinks that catchers also make the finest MLB managers because of their vast experience and knowledge with their involvement in all facets of the game. Then again, what do I know as a tired old pop star in platform shoes?
Mike Matheny and Brad ausnus have made it admittedly kind of hard in recent years to believe the idea that catchers make the best managers…
He is a power hitter that happens to be a horrible horrible catcher.
He catch baseball bad but injury caught too good. Still, though, Gary is scary with bats. 35HR 240/315/450, I expect. Maybe DH, but not Yankee DH. KBO far fetched joke for laughs. No underwear tangles for that!
Reads like a caveman posted this.
When
But he’s worst catcher in Baseball! What the hell is pitch framing??? I know it’s Fakenews. Umpires follow the ball not his mitt. Fake Stat!
Uh every team in money no team has 2 catchers better than Sanchez let alone 3 unless he looses a leg he’s playing mlb for a few
Totally and utterly incorrect.
Pitch framing is fake? You’re serious?
Sanchez is a lousy catcher. He is a DH who is catching
Uh … Sanchez is a lousy defensive catcher
@JKB
Gary Sanchez isn’t a DH. Tired narrative. Had +6 DRS, despite leading MLB in passed balls. Has elite arm strength throwing out runners
“Gary’s arm keeps pitchers from worrying SB. His throws have averaged 86.8 mph in 2018 — 4th fastest among all Catcher w/ 10+ attempts. In 2017, it was 87.8 mph, 3rd-fastest in MLB.
“Pitch framing – ability to persuade umpires to call strikes — prevented 4.8 runs in 2018, the same number as Austine Romine.”
nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2018/10/whats_gary_sanche…
“YankeesWarriorsPatriots” – that name is a parody, right? If not there’s no way you can comment on someone else’s sports opinions.
On an unrelated note: how many more years without a Yankees WS/ how many more WS do the Red Sox need to win for you to switch over? Just want to establish the threshold for future reference.
You must be new here
Who the heck cares about upvotes. Sad state the world is in that they seek constant approval. Glad I use the app and cant see those stupid things.
ditto
Must not be using the app today, eh?
I ONLY use the app. What an odd comment.
EndinStealth well said!! Unreal how people need “upvotes” from strangers to alleviate their own insecurity
Well Mr. MacPhisto … eh … Endinstealth must not be using the app today … because … why exactly? What is your point?
Your stupid. Stay off this site if you don’t like it
Upvotes are lame coocoo
*You’re
Book em Dano!
No, the people doing the voting are morons.
It’s not the site’s fault.
They are sorority sisters who care more about their dresses and make up than the real purpose here. So if u don’t agree with their bionic analytics and genius self proclaimed GM opinions they play their “game within a game”.
Isn’t it fitting that they use the computer version and not the mobile app for this feature? I don’t know about you, however for me it’s a perfect diversion when I’ve boarded a plane or some other boring travel activity.
The know it all voters have too much time in their hands. Rather than being productive in their computer they try to control the sisterhood.
So let me see if I read this right: Sanchez’s super-high exit velocity and super-low BABIP means he performed very well, and we should all ignore his batting average and extremely low number of hits because it was just bad luck that he couldn’t use that superb exit velocity of his to get the ball past infielders or beyond the reach of outfielders. And even though it’s still 2018, everything Sanchez did over the past 9 months actually happened last year. Got it.
Joey Gallo had the highest Average Exit Velocity in MLB this year, yet hit only .206 on the season. Maybe he should identify as a batting champion, since it was largely bad luck that the ball missed his bat so many times? Perhaps swinging strikes shouldn’t even count in a hitter’s statistics?
Jackie Bradley jr actually had a higher exit velocity 92.2 than trout 90.2 last season, so jbj is better than trout ?
I have said it repeatedly since sabermetrics became the craze the past 5 or 6 years. If a player has a terrible year, sabr labels it bad luck. If a player has an excellent year, it’s often labeled good luck.
For any one that actually watched the Yankees and Sanchez last season, it was obvious that the league had adjusted to him and he didn’t respond accordingly. He swung at sliders low and away all season long and didn’t drive the ball to right center like he did his first 2 seasons.
He also had left shoulder surgery in October which may also have affected his swing. I expect Sanchez to put up very good offensive numbers again in 2019.
I completely agree with you on the misuse of statistics. The notion that a low BABIP is just “bad luck” clearly exposes those who are simply relying on irrelevant calculations instead of actually watching the game. It’s not “bad luck” when a batter continuously hits weak dribblers to infielders for easy outs. They are assuming every out is a line drive or a fly ball to the warning track, which obviously a majority of the time they are not.
Nobody who makes good contact on a regular basis is going to hit .186 for the season. Some people need to move away from the computer and watch the games in person or on TV.
One of the biggest problems in evaluating players like Sanchez with sabermetrics is also that he hasn’t played enough to establish a baseline.
He’s basically had one great year and one god awful one, so who really knows what a ‘typical’ performance for him is.
But if you are hitting the ball with a consistently high exit velocity then in fact you are hitting into bad luck (or rather, more intelligently, hitting into great defensive positions aka the shift) and not “weak dribblers to an infielder.
It’s common sense, folks. Big strong guys who swing really hard are the ones who will typically have the highest Exit Velocity. It’s not a coincidence that Gallo (6’5″ 235) and Judge (6’7″ 282) and Stanton (6’6″ 245) are around the top. It’s basically all or nothing with them, they strike out a LOT because they are swinging for the fences all the time, they are swinging as hard as they can, and in doing so they are sacrificing bat control which is why they don’t hit for a very high average.
Talking again about adjustments, do you know why JD suddenly stopped hitting homers in August (just 6 after August 11)? Because pitchers began throwing higher to him, which made it difficult for him to get the proper launch angle for homeruns. So what did he do? He ADJUSTED his swing and began hitting a lot of line drives.
That’s why in May he hit 13 dingers but batted just .299
And in the other months?
4 homers .312 BA
5 homers .352 BA
7 homers .310 BA
7 homers .347 BA
7 homers .373 BA
So as long as Sanchez keeps swinging for the fences and not adjusting, his BA will likely continue to suffer.
And as the whole world saw in the postseason, you can’t rely on just homeruns to win a championship.
You use the wrong example to the wrong player. Sanchez ko rate isn’t out of line with his previous years. Defensive positioning makes more sense. As for lumping Judge in there as someone “swinging for the fences ” I disagree because he has an elite OBP and decent batting average considering his power. He also takes a lot of called 3 strikes which went even higher once he started swinging at questionable outside pitches that he didn’t trust the umpire to call as a ball. He just has to trust his eyes and in time he’ll get those borderline pitches that Bonds, Rickey Henderson and others eventually got. I think there’s a natural strike zone bias for exceptionally tall hitters and short players too, with Henderson being the example for the little guys.
@FeverPitch
These stats are all relatively new and people seldom use them appropriately.
Exit velocity is used to show how well a player squared up a pitch. When used with players that usually lift the ball it can indicate future homerun potential. In the case of using high exit velocity and low babip it can sometimes point to bad luck as in line drives hit directly into an out.
In Sanchez;s case I think it’s a combo of bad luck and hitting into a highly used defensive shift to his pull side.
All his other metrics are in line with his career numbers. The stats that point out as an outlier (or as much as it can be an outlier for a 3 year career) are his 2018 FB% which is up 6% and his IFFB% up 9%.
I think Sanchez needs to work on his swing to try and hit the ball to both sides of the field? Maybe his shoulder hindered his swing? I don’t think a hitter like him just forgets how to hit and I don’t think pitchers have figured him out as much as a manager’s defensive positioning has.
@southbeachbully I have to disagree with you on squaring up a pitch. Some of the best hitters in the game, guys who hit a decent amount of homeruns, will never have a very high Exit Velocity because they simply aren’t big and strong enough. Mookie and Altuve immediately come to mind, they have excellent bat control but just don’t have the strength to swing as hard as the Stantons and Judges of the world.
I do agree with your first paragraph that people don’t know how to use new stats. Exit Velo is an interesting and fun stat, but it doesn’t in any way shape or form prove that those with the highest average numbers are the best hitters. I’d say good ‘ole OPS is still the best gauge of a hitter.
@southbeachbully I agree Sanchez didn’t forget how to hit, it’s more a matter of pitchers learning how to pitch to him and he hasn’t made any counter-adjustments. I provided an excellent example with his AB’s against ERod in Game 2 and Game 3.
There’s been plenty of Sanchezs in MLB over the years, and I go back to Kevin Maas/Phil Plantier/Joe Charboneau etc. None of them forgot how to hit either, they just weren’t able to make the necessary adjustments after experiencing huge success to start their ML career.
Exactly…and the BABIP went down because he popped up more.
He may be not missing pitches fully, but he is missing them.
Same thing with the barrel contacts.
It’s what you do on pitches not missed and not barrled that determine a lot.
18 passed balls means 18 times runners advanced, just like on a steal.
Maybe, he figures it out. It happens, but it’s not a sure thing.
You’re a true imbecile. So his last year is everything and the prior 2 are nothing.
I honestly wouldn’t trade Sanchez for any other catcher. And the Yankees seem to feel that way too
Also only 13% of the poll believes Sanchez repeats his 18’ #s. So you morons commenting are the minority
To translate what the minority is saying: “Wahhhh!!! I hate the Yankees!!! Wahhhh!!!!”
Lol they’re the same ones who believe a shoulder injury doesn’t hamper your play defensively
Let them cry when Sanchez kills the league next year onward. Him wining the World Series MVP for example would be icing on the cake lmao. Could you imagine the salt on here if that happens ?
Yankees would have to get to the WS first. And while I have a ton of respect for the lineup, I have just about none for the rotation. Yanks need another legit #1/#2 to cover for Severino, and Tanaka needs to have another good year.
1-5 We have one of the best rotations in baseball and only someone blind would say otherwise
Houston has verlander and cole but nothing else. Besides sale the Sox rotation isn’t that great. Oakland doesn’t even have one. The Indians have the best of course
Thanks for the Christmas humor about their pitching.
Did you have mint jelly?
I guess it depends on what you consider 1 of them best… if your talking top 3 then no the Yankees don’t… maybe top 5, probably somewhere 5-10. I would say in all honesty the Yankees are below
Mets, Redsox, Indians, astros, nationals, in no particular order, in the mix with dodgers, Arizona, cardinals in terms of rotation…
It’s not too inspiring, more potential than certain.
Severino – who really knows??
Paxton – very uncertain
Tanaka – trash
Happ – good #4 if he doesn’t fall off a cliff anytime
Cc- could be garbage this year, could be ok
Man I’d say top 5-10 is ceiling potential for the Yankees rotation. Severino could be an ace but hasnt done that for a season yet. Paxton could too but also hasnt proven it. Tanaka is just another inconsistent season closer to over the hill or arm surgery and Happ and CC are late stages of their career. Thats why the Yankee strategy has had to be about lots of bullpen arms.
What percentage of those who did the poll are Yankee fans? I think some of his numbers have to go up, because they realistically can’t go down much further.
Smallpecker….its a poll..only a poll. 2019 will only show if he repeats. you not anyone else can determine his fate. so dont judge 2019 production from a darn poll
I think the defense is the one area where little improvement can be expected. Sanchez has looked disinterested in defense for awhile now. He still has a cannon for an arm but that doesn’t matter much if you can’t catch or stop the ball cleanly. I’d expect the avg. will go up but not by much and for the defense to become bad enough that he’s viewed as a full time DH by the end of next season, which will create some issues with Stanton’s role.
Stanton played 36 games in left field. I don’t think there would be much of an issue moving him there full time by 2020. The issue is going to be if they sign Machado, keep Andujar, and re-sign Gregorious. In that combination, Andujar would be best served slotting in at DH, though he could potentially make a move to first more easily than Sanchez.
True but personally I think Stanton’s defense is already suspect and will probably be in a steady decline moving forward too. Regardless they’ll have at least 3 questionable fielders in Stanton, Sanchez, and andujar with only one DH slot.
Stanton’s defense suspect… Sanchez a terrible catcher… Andujar a terrible 3B… Torres one of the worst defenders… Voit and Didi middle of the pack…
Didi middle of the pack kills cred
Stanton cannot cover that giant left field in Yankee stadium full time. Balls fall in for singles that Gardner would clearly catch.
He’s not a gold glover, but comparing him to Brett Gardner, consistently ranked among the top left fielders defensively, is unfair.
Exactly point. They still have Gardner so talking about playing Stanton full time in left this season isn’t realistic. And for the record, McCutchen was equally way better than Stanton as is any fast and nimble outfielder.
McCutchen is not “way better” than Stanton defensively, that’s nonsense. Look up the numbers.
Considering the Yankees never, ever considered starting Stanton in left over Cutch tells me the Yanks felt much more comfortable with Cutch’s defense regardless of whatever numbers you are focusing on.
Given the choice between Andujar/Machado/Stanton and Stanton/Andujar/Gardner, i’ll choose the latter every time even if it means putting Stanton in left.
I mean, Gardner, realistically, is going to hit what this year? .250/8/55? And that’s if he’s an every day player.
If my left fielder is probably going to hit .270 with 40 homers and 100 RBI, i’ll deal with the step down defensively.
From just watching Sanchez on tv, his problem with passed balls appears to be caused by poor fundamentals. He doesn’t move his body. Instead, he reaches with his glove hand either to the glove side or across his body. If the pitch is in the dirt (I know not a passed ball), the lack of body movement makes it difficult to keep the pitch in front of him. Like defense and rebounding in basketball, catcher fundamentals are a matter of attitude and effort.
I wonder whether his lack of movement behind the plate contributes to his framing numbers and his caught stealing rate.
The movement, or lack thereof, in those three things is entirely different
I suppose for a catcher a predicted .245 average isn’t terrible. Coupled with 31 predicted homes, his value will then rely a lot on his defense.
Trade him for Realmuto.
Why on Earth would the Marlins do that deal? They want elite prospects above all else, especially those with near MLB readiness which the Yankees have considerably less of as we post.
Realmuto is considered the top overall catcher in all of MLB, is 27 years old (28 in March) and has two more years of arbitration eligible control remaining before becoming a free agent. Meanwhile, Sanchez just turned 26 with a downward pointing arrow, has injury concerns, will be arb-eligible in 2020 and only has four more years of control until becoming a FA following the 2022 season.
Realmuto isn’t going to the Yankees anytime soon, with or without Sanchez. The Marlins will trade him to a team that can satisfy their lofty demands in terms of elite young talent, likely a contender in need of a starting catcher such as the Dodgers, Astros, Rockies or Brewers. A near contender with elite prospects like the White Sox or Padres could also be in play if allowed to negotiate a contract extension during any trade discussions.
I think Gary will be improved in 2019. His 2018 was marred with injuries so he struggled to get into a groove at a plate. After returning from injury later in the season his defense picked up and he improved at the plate as well. He’s too talented not too figure it out, and I think he will
He’s too dumb to figure defense out
Sanchez is nothing more than Wilin Rosario with Yankee prospect buildup. He’ll be in the KBO in a couple of years.
YankeesWarriorsPatriots pouting sent me here!
Ha!
Idiotic to compare Sanchez to Wilin. Idiotic for some of you to agree. Even xabial would agree. His response in 3..2…1..
and nothing….keep counting. once you hit 100 you hit Gary’s batting average.
3…2… .100 is Garys batting average
notice how he had to post on his comment rather than reply here….the dude only wants his thoughts at the top.
Wahh I didn’t respond to your comments wahhhhh
#YWPswallowsGary2019
I hope Gary hits his first career triple in 2019. He could make it his New Year’s resolution.
I project: 2019 Comeback player of the year
I agree. Hes also going to HoF.
He’s a prime candidate for sure.
Agreed
IMHO from this point I don’t see him doing anything greater Napoli has done.
I believe all retired numbers should be made available when a player dies. The Bambino can’t get upset if a Yankee wears #3.
But that’s the point of retiring numbers; heroes get remembered, but legends never die. If you let anybody on the Yankees wear #3, you’re just leaving the Babe to be an afterthought, and that defeats the entire purpose of retiring numbers. If it stays retired, Yankee fans will always respect the Bambino and his greatness.
Ehh. I believe you shouldnt be allowed to ask that player of the RETIRED number, permission to wear number.
Cuz if that player says no, he looks like douche.
Everyone deep down knows he will return to his 2017 form or more, they just hope he doesn’t because anti Yankee people want him to fail. He would be the best player on many teams if he is 100%
I don’t think the yankee FO even has this level of confidence
Kevin Maas says hello.
Apparently I need to explain who Kevin Maas is to those who haven’t a clue.
Like Sanchez, he was a Yankee more suited for DH because of his defensive liabilities.
Like Sanchez, he hit an incredible number of homeruns in his abbreviated first ML season.
Like Sanchez, he was runner-up for ROY and came with much hype.
More comparisons to come in the future, I’m sure.
Sheesh, it’s not like I compared Sanchez to Jesus Montero ;O)
You’re dreaming
My projection is that he will be a lazy piece of crap defensively and running the bases or pretty much just in general. Just make him a dh now and let him sit on the bench with his feet up.
Giovany Soto 2.0
Nice try.
Sanchez never won ROY.
Jesus Montero 2.0
Sanchez likely got some mechanics out of whack from injuries which is very common, causing him to get under more pitches.
What’s also common is for catchers to never really regain that form without getting out from behind the plate. Given his defensive woes, this move seems likely at some point (but not yet). The problem is, there are plenty of 1B that hit .280 and 20-30 homers. Unless he plays Gold Glove defense at first, his value will be greatly diminished. With his cannon they could also consider a corner OF position, but they are stacked at the position and his range would be tolerable at best. So whether they trade him or keep him, they really need him to bounce back as a catcher and I think a position change to preserve his bat in the lineup is premature. They also have the luxury of the DH. They have time to give him every chance.
I think we see something in between this year as long as he’s healthy. The Sox made it happen with an awful offensive catching tandem. I’d argue the Yankees are thinking if he represents that much of a hole, they can get something adequate at the deadline. If he bounces back and the Yankees sign Machado/Harper, thats scary.
Sanchez hit 31 home runs as a catcher, though. He would play more games at first base hypothetically, without the extra rest needed. So if he were playing first base I don’t think it’s out of the question that he could reach 35 to 40 home runs. Is that enough offense to be worthy of first base or what?
Could he? Absolutely. But no one is biting on that he will pick up the position and increase his production until they see it on the field.
Sanchez is 26 now, the odds of him becoming an adequate defensive catcher are slim. What other catchers improved that much (among the worst to average) after age 25? I can’t think of any. If the Yanks are smart, they’ll trade for Realmuto and either include Sanchez in the trade or move him to 1B.
New Poll Question:
Who would run harder to 1B on a ground ball?
(A) Gary Sanchez
(B) Manny Machado
(C) Betty White
Robby Cano
Mike Zunino
I have a new poll question, where you dropped as a child? You are seriously adding Sanchez to this when it was reported after that game he did not run hard he suffered a torn groin. Got to love ignorance.
He seemed fine running on it after he realized there was a play at the bag….
(D) Foster Brooks
Yawn
Just a year removed from a near 280/350 line. He’ll be back
He absolutely will bounce back and will be a force next year, he is simply too talented. As a Met fan I am able to get to see him a lot. There are 2 things at play here 1) anti Yankee bias and 2) jealousy, people forget he is 2 years younger than Realmuto. And even with his poor season he had 150 fewer at bats and if you pro rate his at bats, he still would have had more homers and RBI than Realmuto. So it’s pure jealousy.
Fans don’t like that the Yankees have a catcher that potentially could hit cleanup. I tend to discount idiots who look for reasons to dislike anyone based on jealousy because it’s patently dishonest. And that’s why I’m glad that my team has Ramos. We may not have Sanchez but we have a pretty fair facsimile.
The fact is 99% of fans would kill to have a catcher that can hit. And one who can hit like he can, come on pure jealousy
Sanchez could very quite possibly be better than Realmuto this upcoming season(and I certainly wouldn’t mind him playing for Texas), but projecting and comparing part-time numbers from Yankee Stadium against a full season played in Miami is a dishonest comparison.
I am neither bias or jealous (of what?) And I don’t see him returning to where he was.
I guess all those who do have a bias against rhings non NY and are jealous of other catchers
I don’t think anybody here has questioned Sanchez’s power, but the RBI comparison with Realmuto is Realweako. You’re comparing an AL hitter on a team that scored 851 runs against an NL hitter on a team that scored just 589 runs.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess the catcher on the team that scored 44% more runs than the Marlins is most likely the guy with the higher RBI total.
But no need to guess who is the better clutch-hitting catcher.
With RISP: Realmuto .296 and Sanchez a laughable .220
As for teams wanting a good hitting lousy defensive catcher, you obviously didn’t watch this year’s postseason. Because the World Champions had probably the worst hitting catcher tandem in MLB. And yet somehow they are World Champions? Hmmmm ….,
Im not even a Yankee fan I just know that on a per at bat basis Sanchez despite being hurt and hitting .186 absolutely destroyed Realmuto. And has done so every single year of his career. That’s well over 1000 at bats
Realmuto has never had a season like this one before so his season last year could be an aberration
And it is jealousy
Fact he was hurt last year. Forgive me if I take that into consideration
when Mookie Betts crashes into a wall next year and tears his knee to shreds next year and hits .265 I’ll take that into consideration too.
The comments on this thread are a joke. Realistically Gary will probably bounce back and have a good season. He’s too good of a pure hitter.
Thank you
The comments on this whole site are a joke. And it’s a damn shame. This used to be one of the few sites where you could go for intelligent comments and debate on baseball, but it’s basically sunk to the same level as the rest of the social media cesspool. They should start charging a small fee to use this feature.
MLBTR should pay US to read these comments from people like YankeesWarriorsPatriots.
It’s painful to see the stuff he believes
That Sanchez will do better in 19’ than 18’? You’re an idiot if you think otherwise
You’re the one commenting “first” on every post, or try to at least. My account is here because you’re here
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Just another example above
A joke like Gary Sanchez?
To find any median, subtract the best and worst, then average out everything in between. I think he’ll be a good but not great contributor over his career unless his defense vastly improves.
What do you mean?
I’ll see myself out.
It’s fair to question it, but Sanchez will be fine. Those were real skills he showed, and they won’t just disappear permanently unless there’s a traumatic, career-changing injury.
Is MLBTR going to highlight every player in the majors or just members of the Yankees?
Just Yankees.
This guy was hurt last year. A shoulder injury will suck your power dry. And it can’t be easy to perform catcher duties with that injury either
If healthy I would expect the kid to be fine and back to his normal self. Which also seems to be the position the Yankee front office is taking.
It’s hard to perform with a bum shoulder. If he can get healthy, next year should be another all star season for him
His shoulder bothered him off and on throughout 2017, why were his numbers so much better then? He batted .202 in March/April of this year, before it flared up again. I think a better explanation is that pitchers have adapted, and he has been unable to re-adjust.
Perfect example, the homer Sanchez hit off ERod in Game 2 was on a fastball down in the zone. Next game, ERod throws Sanchez 5 straight changeups alternating high and low. Sanchez is lost, he swings and misses on a couple pitches and then weakly grounds out.
Unfortunately Sanchez doesn’t strike me as a guy who will work hard to make adjustments.
There is nothing showing he won’t work hard. This whole “lazy Latino” stereotype needs to stop
Leave it to a Yankee fan to go there in pure desperation. Nevermind the fact that most of the greatest, hardest working catchers of the past 3 decades have been Latino. Or the many great, hardworking catchers of today who are Latino.
What other Latino catchers out there have earned the lazy reputation that Sanchez has earned?
Who else has had anywhere near as many Passed Balls over the past 2 years as Sanchez? And he hasn’t even had to catch a knuckleballer.
Do yourself a favor, Google “Gary Sanchez lazy” and see what comes up..
Leave it to a non Yankee fan to say he is lazy. You don’t watch him every day. The guy was hurt all year and anyone would have a garbage season if they were hurt all year
The below quote is from 2017.
Google is your friend.
nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2017/09/scout_bashes_yank…
“The tying run scored on this play that appeared to be a passed ball but was scored a wild pitch, the go-ahead run moved up to second base as well and the Rangers were on their way to an 11-5 comeback victory.
That wild pitch was one of four in the game by Yankees pitchers, and Sanchez deserves some of the blame.
On his first day back from a three-game suspension for throwing sucker punches in a brawl-filled game in Detroit on Aug 24, Sanchez once again provided offense going 2-for-3 with two RBIs while not having a great game behind the dish.
“Sanchez has got a ways to go defensively, and I knew it all along,” a Major League scout for an opposing club told NJ Advance Media. “He gets very lazy. He wants to reach instead of shifting his feet. He tries to get away with stuff because of his strong arm.”
Fever – please don’t use facts and links to support your argument. Comments are for bragging how you posted first, name calling, whining about downvotes , complaining about previously banned users and testing out multiple usernames so you can behave like a 14yr old on a time out.
Yes……
Unfortunately the comment section is silly, and getting worse by the day.
Someone finds one sentence wrong in 3 paragraphs, and everyone piles on…quoting select statistics and making fun of the writer, baseball theory and techniques.
Same as on most social media boards. We have 3 generations of people that don’t understand disciplines, and believe the world started when they showed up.
1. Don’t go into management.
2. Careful starting a business.
3. Try to work as an Independent.
Are you the writer? Because nobody else has even mentioned him, and you kind of went off on quite a tangent. … or three. For the most part I see only civilized discourse focusing on the topic being discussed, which is Sanchez. Probably a good idea to keep it that way, no?
One cranks opinion, reported by a click bait writer is not “fact”.
2nd laziest man in mlb will be in minors by may
This season will be just one more on his way to the Hall of Fame.
I expect Sanchez to rebound this year offensively. The guy had a .197 BABIP in 2018 sometimes players just unlucky. Mookie had a .268 BABIP in 2017 and rebounded the following year to higher then career average BABIP and the MVP. If you really take a look at the numbers he will be just fine offensively next year most likely. The defense well that might be a little more concerning.
His babip on ground balls last year was under .100 which is absolutely insane. Add the DL stunts and you get the year he had. People want to just deny these truths
Sanchez will absolutely s*it on all catchers next season onward
like i say the commenters are pure jealousy, you can tell when posters call injuries. laziness. that just shows how deep the jealousy goes
those same people dont call buster posey lazy do they?
as ive said im a met fan and I can see it so why cant they. ?
posters like that should just get lobomized, they arent using their brains anyway
The guy is a lazy dog…. fact not jealousy.
I think its safe to see that his 2019 season will be way better than his 2018 season, barring any injuries. His 2016 and 2017 numbers show that he is much better than what haters think an injury riddled season’s numbers mean for when he is healthy.
You didnt give a 4 th option:
Worse than 2018.
I think what’s lost here is the complete lack of character. He’s a jerk. Further, you can win 108 games with catchers barely hitting .200. And both of those guys had solid offensive seasons for one year and didn’t win anything. The position is called catcher. Not hitter. You will find far more World Championship teams with defensive catchers than with offensive catchers. The Buster Poseys who can do both are once in a generation. So really, who cares if he hits 30 home runs if he has 50 passed balls? And creates zero confidence from his pitchers? Oh, but he has a great arm. Giving the utter inconsequential value of the stolen base, what’s that worth? So I go back to character. He’s a jerk.
Jorge Posada has four World Series rings. He played in 6.
With virtually an entire team on the vitamins. Honestly, Mo and Jeter belong in the Hall, but no two players in the history of baseball have had more teammates on the juice. So they get in because no one can say they weren’t clean. Just benefitted from everyone else being dirty. So those teams are World Chumps. And MLB has the black eye of embarrassment for the rest of its history.
But Giambi apologized I guess, never would elaborate for what but he’s a hero for apologizing…just like Petite who only used once and for rehabbing an injury….sure buddy. Two clowns that turned into hero’s for using and then getting standing ovations.
@ whyhayzee;
Wanna talk Red Sox?
When drug testing started, most Red Sox players that showed up in Spring Training that coming season looked like prunes. My favorite was Gabe Kapler. A so-so journeyman that beefed up and suddenly became star material. After the ban he lost 20-30 pounds and reverted back to being a journeyman for the rest of his career. Now the Phillies manager, his new gimmick is that he’s a progressive stat manager. He and the GM see eye-to-eye. Unfortunately, Phillie players, the media covering them, and veteran Phillie fans, have no idea what’s going on from one day to the next. What they are sure of is that the team can’t play baseball.
The 2002 World Champion Angels had an average hat size of 10 1/2.
From ESPN:
The 2002 Angels, for example, are the legitimate champions of an illegitimate time, just as Bonds is the legitimate home run champion of a discredited era. Despite Angels manager Mike Scioscia’s adamant public stand against drugs, people around the game point privately to that club as one of the premier steroid-fueled teams thanks in part to a bullpen rife with career minor leaguers who suddenly began throwing in the mid-90s after their 30th birthdays.
Glaus was the MVP of that 2002 World Series, which is looking more and more like the definitive Steroid Series. Glaus, Brendan Donnelly and Schoeneweis, all of whom have been implicated, played for the Angels that season.
In all fairness, Lackey has always had a huge head.
Man that 2002 Anaheim team was super roided but it was rampant back then so I’m not bashing them for it
Now teams just use elaborate technology to steal signs. So the catchers need to psychically communicate with their pitchers. That will be the next skill set, can you call pitches without the Russian government knowing what the next pitch is going to be.
The first sentence in the ESPN snippet says it well:
“The Angels….are the legitimate champions of an illegitimate time”
The poster who spewed nonsense trying to discredit Posada’s value to his teams because the other Yanks were on “vitamins”, is just one of the many biased, childish and wrong things expressed on this thread.
“The position is called catcher. Not hitter.”
hahahah wait are you serious? so should all position players not be expected to hit well? should DH be the only one in the lineup that is supposed to hit?
By the way, Gary had a DRS of 6 for the 2018 season. But i guess that doesnt matter because hes a “jerk”. There is more to catching than passed balls.
And who wouldnt take 30HR over 50 passed balls? Thats a minimum of 30 RBI compared to a maximum of 50 runs allowed, but most likely only 2-3 runs score off the 50 passed balls (theres not always a runner on 3rd, or even on base for that matter for every passed ball).
Creates zero confidence for pitchers? How? He calls a good game, has slightly above average framing, and allows pitchers to have longer deliveries without having to worry about the runner on 1st stealing.
Boo hoo
They don’t watch him every day and have anti Yankee bias so these facts of your will escape their heads
Merry christmas:)
You can only get a passed ball with a runner on or to put a runner on. They all matter and even if his HRs outweigh the damage done by the passed balls, the damage from those passed balls reduce his overall impact/value. Not being sure your catcher will make a good attempt to catch or block pitches with runners on does impact their confidence in what they throw.
As the article I quoted points out, it’s not just the Passed Balls. When you have a lousy defensive catcher like Sanchez, the pitchers are charged with a lot more Wild Pitches than they would if they had a decent catcher.
Sheesh you’d think with all the Yankee fans watching Game 1 of the ALDS and witnessing Sandy Leon’s brilliance in real time, they wouldn’t have to be educated about the importance of catcher defense.. Perhaps they’ve blocked the entire postseason out of their memory?
I’ve written this before and will try again……
Stats are measurements of what happened. Not all the variables that went into actions by players.
I have watched Yankee pitchers shake off Sanchez like crazy with men on base – especially at critical points in a game. They usually wind up throwing a fastball. Yankee pitchers – rightfully so – do not want to throw a breaking pitch to him in those situations. Runners move up, maybe one scores, the pitcher loses his composure and concentration. So they throw the heater, and the batter knows what’s coming. Interestingly in similar situations in 2018 with Romine catching, there was minimal shaking off of signs and more breaking balls thrown.
Know of a stat for that?
The folks at MIT Sloan have been trying to figure these things out. They have a Sports Analytics seminar every year. Quantifying catcher defense is tough. Even the pitch framing aspect is an ongoing concept for discussion. There is a greater value in the catcher because he’s involved in every pitch. Getting balls called strikes, preventing base advancement, commanding the game, helping the pitcher stay focused. I think the Sox have figured out how to thrive with two defensive catchers but it doesn’t mean everyone has to do it that way.
@ whyhayzee;
The pitch framing nonsense is the most ridiculous stat I’ve seen in any professional team sport……..
So it tells how many times a catcher deaked the umpire and got a ball called strike? Whoopie! But it doesn’t state how many times the same catcher had a strike called a ball. And it doesn’t state the percentages of pitches that are affected.
Am not into single-entry bookkeeping.
And how about this variable……
On borderline pitches, umps tend to give vets the call over rookies. Going further, a quality veteran pitcher or batter is often given the call on the theory that the pitcher/batter has a history of knowing the strike zone.
Does anyone keep count of the batter and pitcher involved on borderline calls that go the wrong way? Why is there an assumption that the catcher is controlling everything?
FO’s are always sending videos of bad calls to the Commissioners Office and the Umpires Union. If a catcher is ringing up an inordinate amount of strike calls that are balls – does anyone think that the Umpires Union is not notified and subsequently the umpires?…..and the umpires are asked to make adjustments?……umps are critiqued on issues like this.
I think ML front offices play along and let the eggheads write and talk about it as if it’s important. And I think they roll their eyes and LOL about it.
There’s a paper presentation from 2015 that talks to the variables involved: catcher, pitcher, batter, umpire. They still think it’s significant enough to study. But it is isolated to pitches that are not swung at so I think it’s incomplete.
Samuel you’ve become my favorite poster here. I like the way you look beyond the numbers, something the stat-heads are unable to do.
So many facets of the game create a ripple effect, and sadly there’s no statistic to capture any of them.
I’ve seen Sandy Leon shaken off too
Agree Samuel that pitch framing, basically trying to steal strike calls, is a ridiculous stat and I’ve been saying that as long as you have.
Again, a new age metric, designed to lift an average to below average catchers overall value.
Don’t agree with all of what you say but good arm not mattering slot great point odds are no one steal 30 bases next year..
The lack of effort by Sanchez is a slap in the face to all Yankee catcher greats.
Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada to name a few
Cheap shots and laziness … I predict Sanchez and Machado will become the very best of friends.
Boy I cannot WAIT for him to have an allstar caliber season (which he’s done for his entire career besides last year) and shut all you ‘he’s going to the KBO’ idiots up. It’s almost like you don’t even realize how intensely biased you are. And for what reason? Cause it’s the Yankees? Grow up. The only reason to hate a team full of players you’ve never met is because you are jealous of how much they’ve won. Nobody would care how much money they spent or how many of their players did drugs if they didn’t have 27 rings.
I do think he will rebound offensively but you do realize when you say his entire career is a silly statement. He has been in the majors for 2.5 years. So his entire career has consisted of 1.5 good years and 1 not so good. This year will be very important for Gary Sanchez. If I were a Yankee fan I wouldn’t worry about his bat but I would worry about his receiving skills because they are poor.
Mel Stottlemyre’s boys used to ride their bikes through my neighborhood. Bucky Dent and Goose Gossage lived in my town. Tommy John and Willie Randolph lived in the next town. I met all 3 of Steve Balboni’s boys, great kids by the way. Al Leiter lives in the next town where I now live. But I’ve only watched thousands of Yankees games and know hundreds of Yankees fans so I can’t possibly know what I’m talking about. I guess I’m just jealous.
somewhere in there there’s the oft written term, cannot be expected to continue that torrid pace.
Hes gonna be like geovany soto without the rookie of the year. Soto never repeated his rookie numbers. And was always overrated. Gary Sanchez is better in every way but I think hes a 1 and done player. He’ll never repeat his season he had last year(2017)
What makes people think he won’t repeat 2017 ? There is absolutely nothing to base that off of. People use injuries as an excuse why certain players ha a bad year and yet it’s different with him ? Why is this ?
Based on over hype by the talking heads.
Gary Sanchez = Greg Bird v2.0
That’s alot more injury…
I predict 35+ HRs, .900+ OPS, 100+ RBI, over 35% caught stealing, top 10 in the MVP voting.
And, being a Yankee, will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame by Labor Day.
Gary will be back to the 2017 version you saw. 2018 was a awful year for him, and he’s also not the 2016 300. Avg 20 HR guy you saw in 200 plate appearances either.
That so many who “never was” feel so comfy commenting upon a man of will whose skill and will have taken him to the cusp of greatness is typical of the 2019 fan.
Gary Sanchez AS IS has accomplished plenty. Included within what he HAS done is to gift we fans a glimpse of greatness. That few fans realize the work required to even get to here is typical of the clueless fan who sees players as equal parts own-able, disposable and existing to be devoured through the mere price of a ticket.
Thank you Gary (and Miggy and Judgee and Gleyber) for allowing us to escape our own mundanity through your amazing abilities!
He was playing hurt, will bounce back for sure and make realmuto #2 again.
Poor defense, mainly blocking pitches/past balls was due to not having full use of his non throwing arm, his glove hand. With that having been operated on your off-season and time to rehab it, I fully expect that part of his game to snap back in 19
Actually the blocking pitches part of his game was poor in 2017 also. His injury may have caused him to be even worse at it in 2018 but it’s poor footwork and reaching for the ball as opposed to get your body in front of it. If you look at good defensive catchers they get there body in front of the pitches in the dirt thus blocking and keeping them in front is them. Gary reaches and doesn’t put his body in front of the pitches and unless he changes this he will always be poor at blocking pitches. It’s a problem because not only does he get a lot of passed balls but your pitchers get more wild pitches as well.
Gary is overrated show me something Gary
Let’s face it, you need to give Gary a chance
to hopefully return to form. He’s still making a base salary which is why he’s still worth the gamble. Go Gary go! I still am a big fan!