2:15 pm: Sánchez has been diagnosed with a contusion on his index and middle fingers, but x-rays came back negative (via Hoch). He is currently listed as day-to-day.
2:08 pm: Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez was removed from this afternoon’s game against the Rays before the bottom of the fifth inning, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to relay (Twitter link). Sánchez was struck in the right hand by a foul tip in the prior inning. While he stayed in the game to take his next plate appearance, Sánchez was replaced by Kyle Higashioka thereafter.
There’s no indication Sánchez’s injury is serious at this point. If it does require he miss time, Higashioka would figure to pick up the bulk of the playing time behind the dish. Those two are the only catchers on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, so another move would be forthcoming if Sánchez isn’t able to make an immediate return to action.
Rob Brantly and Robinson Chirinos are both in the organization on minor-league deals, but the latter remains on the mend from surgery to repair a wrist fracture last month. That seemingly suggests Brantly is next in line should additional catching depth be required in the Bronx.
Sanchez is the least of their problems!
Yankees need to get out of the Funk they are in ASAP!!! I Blame Cashman for basically going with the same team for the last several years. This roster does not work. Way too many players who can’t make contact. A starting rotation who can’t go at least 6 innings. I hate to say this about my team but they are very boring and very predictable. Not sure who to blame Steinbreners or Cashman. Either they can’t make changes because they are on a budget or because they refuse to get rid of the dead weight and revamp the roster. DJ is not a lead off hitter. Get a legitimate lead off hitter and Bat DJ second can make a world of difference. Have the guts to make the bold trade of Judge, Torres, etc. Its obvious this team is lacking. Now that you have Cole don’t waste him and get him some help.
@mlbnyyfan- I hear you bro. I’ve been saying Ca$hman has been the problem for the past few years now. It is still early on though, just give them a chance. If we end up trading Judge the lst call I make is to the Mariners and ask for Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez or Kyle Lewis.
Why on earth would the Mariners want Judge at that price? he is always hurt. This is the reverse of the typical Yankees fan proposal of give me your best player for one or two of our bench players.
@whynot- the Mariners could of had Kelenic and Lewis start this season in the majors but declined. Judge is a star and plays in the majors now, and the Mariners would be getting him 2 years before free agency. @mlbnyyfan- still not ready to trade Torres. Castillo is really good but not worth Gleyber or Dominguez. They can have Schmidty, Deivi and others for him though.
They declined to include them in the major league roster because they know they are not quite ready to compete. They better keep those player and see what they have in them than send them away for a player that can’t stay healthy.
Kyle Lewis is the product of a good month. He’s the AL’s Aquino.
LolYanks
@ mlbnyyfan;
Good to read a Yankee fan that sees the truth.
That is a terribly ill built roster.
The biggest problem? The same all FO’s that value stats over fundamentals have when they put together rotisserie-like teams- NO LEADERSHIP.
Defense is needed to support pitching. The 2 most important defensive positions are Catcher and SS. That’s where leadership of some sort has to come from. Sanchez and Gleyber can’t even play their positions, let alone set an example for others. The only true leader on the team is Gardner – playing part-time in the OF. And funnier yet, Yankee fans don’t even like him.
Sanchez has no one to blame but himself for this injury. He lazily left his throwing hand dangling in front of him during the pitch. Every professional catcher knows to keep their throwing hand behind their back during a pitch to prevent foul tips being deflected into their bare hand. Yet another example of Sanchez’s lazy approach and lack of attention to the details that are required of a professional catcher.
Sanchez has worked very hard for years. Unfortunately, he’s not a very good Catcher, and never will be. The only position he can play is DH. He’s a big, RH power hitting guy – the same a Voit, Judge, and Stanton.
Yankees roster resembles the White Sox’s a lot.
@Samuel.. Judge may be injury prone but he’s a great defender and his injuries tend to happen when he’s at bat, not in the field.
Yes, I know.
Here’s the problem – you leave Judge in RF and DH Stanton. What do they do with Sanchez and Voit?
Is there a team in MLB that will take on Stanton’s contract…..one that says he can eject a trade if he wants? While teams might take on Voit and Sanchez, how many really need them enough to trade back much of value? Even if the NL goes to DH in 2022, most teams already have guys that will take bats from the DH position.
The Yankees needed a guy that could play SS to move Gleyber back to 2B ASAP. They bring in Odor, a HR or nothing guy that plays 2B.
They’re not going to HR hit their way out of the mess they’ve put themselves in.
Clear this up then I am out of here.
Don’t buy into the narrative that Gary Sanchez is a “bad defensive catcher”.
It is wrong.
Do some research.
For his career he has totaled 1 DRS. Which – for real – sums him up perfectly with the glove.
No. He is not a gold glover. He is more than passable defensively however, narrative be damned.
30 seconds at fangraphs will tell you all you need to know. & watching him, you will see how his work with Tanner Swanson is really paying off.
& Voit is acceptable at first. No, he is not Texeira. But there is no need for him to DH.
Alright.
I’m outta here. You fellas have blessed & productive days.
Catch you all Sunday.
Ducky – When Fangraphs comes up with a stat for laziness, Sanchez will be rated the worst. That’s why scouts have been quoted as saying “Sanchez has got a ways to go defensively, and I knew it all along. 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.”
@ Ducky Buckin Fent;
A Catcher’s #1 priority is to call a game and handle a pitching staff. Look at the problems that the Braves are having with Flowers gone and d’Arnaud playing full-time (today the Cubs had 13 runs when d’Arnaud was taken out in the 5th inning). Fangraphs have anything on that?
As for measuring a Catcher’s defense, that’s just a joke. How ’bout measuring this – which I see all the time and it applies to Sanchez…….
A runner is on 3B. Pitcher wants to throw a hard breaking ball to the batter. The Catcher is bad at blocking balls in the dirt. Oftentimes the Catcher won’t call the pitch, and if he does, the Pitcher will shake him off. Batter sits on the fastball, and gets it. Has Fangraphs got a stat for that? Make no mistake, it literally happens multiple times a game. It’s why the Nationals always had Gomes catch Corbin in their championship season – Gomes was great at blocking balls in the dirt, Kurt Suzuki was terrible at it.
Although he’s improved some the past few years, Sanchez is not a good defensive Catcher and everyone knows it. His value is with the bat. Getting beaten up by catching regularly dampens what he can produce with the bat. He would be workable as a platoon Catcher that also DH’s. Something impossible with the Yankees roster.
You need to spend less time reading fangraphs and more time watching actual baseball games. Sanchez sucks defensively.
@samual
For a white sox fan (I think?) you seem to pay lots of attention to the Yanks, uh?
“All the time”.
Bash modern statistics all you want.
Go nuts with it.
But: you are making things up to rip on Gary.
“All the time.”
No.
You don’t.
Sanchez has (easily) one of the 20 (maybe 10…it is not worth taxing my memory) throwing arms I have ever seen from a Catcher. He did have an issue with passed balls early in his career. 19 of them in ’17. But (oh no! more modern stats) he graded out as a very good framer.
There is a well known inverse relationship between framing & blocking. & that makes sense on an intuitive level.
Well…for those of us who are analytical about our posts as opposed to spewing HOTTAKES!.
Bridging that is what the knee down stance is intended to do. Hence why Swanson was stolen from the Twins.
In the end: BS take is BS take.
This reeks of your usual wild & overly verbose takes in re to the NYY.
@FPG
Link? But…nah, right?
“Lazy”.
Early in his career (as in teenager) the Yanks disciplined him because he was slacking on his game prep.
This is true.
I would like to see – however – a scouts name attached specifically to your “quote” rather than nameless “scouts”. You are confusing a BUC’s (Flaherty) who now calls Yankees games as “scouts”.
Lazy?
Gary Sanchez has put in tons of extra work converting to the knee down stance with Tanner Swanson. & he spent the winter in the D. R. playing winter ball to work on his swing.
He is a 2X All Star, Silver Slugger winning player. That’s retty unheard of, bro.
Yet you want to cling to your narrative of “lazy” in spite of all contradictory evidence.
Well…full speed ahead, I guess.
@TJ. Ah. The old “you don’t watch enough baseball” insult. Tell that to my girlfriend, please.
I have watched (sometimes listened to)…man…99% of Sanchez’s games with the Yanks as a good guess.
I cited fangraphs in order to provide some form of (well regarded) statistical evidence.
That seems to me good argumentation as opposed to he “sucks”.
So.
Top Jimmy – That is a very astute observation. You are 100% correct, Sanchez is probably the laziest catcher in MLB. If he was a better hitter he could probably be shifted to 1B, but right now his bat doesn’t warrant that switch.
@mlbnyyfan
I couldn’t agree more on all of this, especially the part about having the guts to pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade. This roster has not worked in the past & it’s not going to work now, period.
The Yankees honestly should of traded Torres for Castillo. Why are the Yankees going with rotation of Kluber, Tallion, German. All 3 guys are questionable. Why not take a chance on one of them to fill out your rotation not 3. The fact that the Yankees want to be on a budget is BS. They are the Yankees who print money. So many moves by Cashman have been head straching including getting Stanton instead of Yelich. Why didn’t they trade for Lindor? Why didn’t they sign Bauer? If your going to cry poverty then fire your entire scouting department and find guys that can draft and develop better players especially starting pitchers. All I keep hearing is how great Garcia, Schmidt, Abreu, Gil, Medina, etc are well let’s see it prove it. Yes it’s early and they will probably be recover but still it’s a boring predictable team.
@ mlbnyyfan;
Help me here……
The Reds have 4 guys that can play 2B that are better than Gleyber.
Why would they trade their top starter for him?
Sam.. Because the rumor at the time was the Reds wanted Torres in any trade for Castillo.
Rumors often have no basis in fact.
Phat Sancho off to a good start.
Thus it appears my defense of him over the winter was (thus far) justified.
We need Gary to be the talented catcher he is.
Good news on the day to day. I’m not overly interested seeing Lucroy or whomever.
@Samuel. I’m just using Castillo as an example trade Torres, Judge, etc for someone just have the guts to make a blockbuster trade. The Yankees roster needs changes. It hasn’t worked for the last several years so why not go in a different direction.
You are then creating two holes in order to to fill a different one. I don’t get that.
Also: these are All Star caliber players, man.
Gleyber & Judge are *not* part of the problem (a sketchy rotation). We needed to sign one more decent starting pitcher. Put Hiro on our staff – for example – & I feel a whole lot better about it.
@Ducky.. I gotta agree there should have been a trade or two of some of the bigger names on the team. This team does have a problem and it just hasn’t produced a championship. I’ll give some leniency on 2017 for obvious reasons. I’m usually patient, something’s gotta give.
I’m not insensitive to were you guys are coming from.
But change for the sake of change doesn’t strike me as prudent.
Obviously, our lineup is scuffling right now.
But.
’17-’19 we were first or second in runs scored. & even in the ’20 pseudo season we finished fourth. As it’s basically the same guys I would be shocked if were not a top 3 scoring offense again.
Needed another SP.
That was weird “budget” stuff though.
Which is unfortunate & puzzling.
Personally, I wouldn’t trade Judge or Torres.
They are very good & would need to be replaced.
Well. That game sucked. I’m going goose hunting.
I shall drown my sorrows in spent 10ga shells.
Probably better than what I’m drowning my sorrows in: Michelob Ultra.
Bourbon shall follow hunting.
Maybe I’ll check back from the field.
But I will be back tomorrow (forewarned is twice warned).
3 for 3 last night.
3-7 this morning.
Sorrows properly drowned.
Not sure what I shall do about today’s new ones.
Ah. I’m lyin’ Joe:
Cook a big meal, have 1 or 2 too many ales, & work on my own personal banging scheme.
Outta do the trick.
@ mlbnyyfan;
What team will trade much for Judge, knowing he’ll want over $300m in a year-and-a-half? He’d be seen as a rental. Typically a player like him gets back 2 or 3 prospects at best.
As for Gleyber, he’s a 2B – not a SS (he couldn’t scoop up a low throw today from Higaskioka on a SB that beat the runner…. the batter then hit a HR which cost the Yankees a run……there’s no stat that shows Gleyber did anything wrong……which is yet another example of why stats are so misleading). There’s hardly a shortage of 2B’s around MLB that would cause a team to make a “blockbuster trade” in order to acquire him. He’s a nice player under control for another 3-4 years. You tell me what that brings back.
They’re not trading Judge. He’s worth more to the Yankees than other franchise. His popularity and leadership potential alone make him worth the risk, not unlike Mattingly’s situation later in his career.
The offense has been essentially the same going on 5 years now. I’m looking at the coaching and whoever is giving the analytical directives for thier approach at the plate. The “good” at bats seem few and far between.
I’m generally a Cashman supporter but if Ford and Estrada were not even worth giving a shot over Bruce and Odor then why were the kept on the 40 in the off-season? The defense is what it is. Same with the starting pitching. Off-season options appeared limited. Iglesias might have been a fit for the INF. I thought Walker and Musgrove could have been decent alternatives. Kluber got way too much guaranteed $’s.
I see Gray or Marquez as trade targets this season.
@StudWinfield- oh please no Gray, remember last time he was here he was like a deer in headlights. Marquez is interesting though, maybe he comes here with Trevor Story at the deadline. Keep an eye on Zac Gallen or Luke Weaver on the Diamondbacks especially if Severino comes back and isn’t Severino. I wanted no part of Walker, but I did like Musgrove, who looks great so far in San Diego. Let’s see if Taillon and Kluber can get better for now. We have Deivi and Schmidty if they falter.
Gray? Lol you guys are hysterical. They just need to start hitting. Usually it gets late early in this division, but they’ll start hitting. Everyone can’t stay this bad.
John not Sonny. Highly unlikely they trade for Story. If they end up with him it will be as free agent when they can revamp the roster in the off season
Lolyanks
Baseball journalists who write/post or comment on baseball should attempt to understand the nomenclature and rules of the game before posting – The tittle of the article suggests Sanchez was injured by a ” foul tip” – This is incorrect and misleading by definition- A “FOUL TIP” by definition travels directly from the bat to the catchers glove and is caught, its is a live ball and is a swinging STRIKE- all runners may advance at their own risk.. .
I suggest Sanchez was injured by a foul ball which is a dead ball, all runners must return to the base occupied before the pitch.
He “caught” it with his finger, hence it’s a foul tip. If it went in his glove and fell out it would be a foul tip. If it hit his chest protector and fell to the ground, it would be a foul tip. A foul ball changes direction more substantially whereas a foul tip goes more or less in the same direction the ball was already traveling.
Lol – Good One.
Jury’s out if that was a joke. Would have been funny if just the first line was left.
Harrumph. I was wrong. Google tells me so. So, yes it was a foul ball that injured Sanchez, not a foul tip. I was going more on a generic definition than a specific rule based definition. I wasn’t thinking that it was a “foul tip” ONLY after the catcher catches it.
Always like when a fella is a big enough man to admit he was wrong.
Lord.
I’ve had to do that often on here.
+1.
Sanchez likes just the tip.
A real foul tip was whomever recommended Boone to manage this team.
I Say That They Trade Gleyber Torres,Jay Bruce,Alexander Vargas & Luis Gil To The Colorado Rockies For Trevor Story & Then They Trade Luis Medina,Alexander Vizcaino,Yoendrys Gomez & Miguel Andujar To The Washington Nationals For Max Scherzer.
Rockies trade idea could get you more than Story with the Yankee players involved.
It Will Go Through.
Last place Yanks bahahahaha. I love all the trades proposed for the duds. Who wants Jay Bruce???
It Will Go Through.
Saw both catchers leave their hands exposed in-front of their chest protectors during a pitch. Why bother showing up with a glove? Who is the Yanks catching instructor and does the job pay?
Voit is a void in the lineup.
That’s the biggest issue. Bruce has been awful replacing Voit. They can move DJ to 1st, but then they have a hole at 2nd with Odor. And, while I think Torres is a good hitter, he isn’t a SS. And neither is Urshela. And neither is DJ.
And that’s not an insurmountable problem, but then they also don’t really have a #2 SP. They have a good team, but they also have some cracks,.
I’d slide Urshela to SS, Torres back to 2B and begrudgingly play DJ at 3B. If they were willing to do that they could have went after Todd Frazier instead of Odor. That way DJ goes to 1B and Toddfather to 3B against lefties at the very least.
They aren’t outhitting their problems. Voit certainly helped them do that.
@ WereAllJustGuestsHere;
That roster has you in circles.
Urshela is a very good 3B. He is not a SS, anymore than Gleyber is. They need a major league SS, even if he can’t hit.
A few years ago they had Gleyber @ 2B, Didi @ SS, Andujar @ 3B, and Ronald Torreyes coming off the bench. Great chemistry. Great future.
Andujar gets hurt. Lot’s of teams have guys that get hurt. They find a temporary stop gap, and rehab the player. Not the Yankees. They don’t make measured moves. They buy a new expensive kitchen sink and throw it up against the wall. They go FA hunting for Manny Machado. That fails, they bring in Urshela and hit a HR (I’ve loved him since I saw him play in AA). They let Didi go. Than they confuse the heck out of Audujar by playing him out of position @ 1B and LF as well as 3B. Surprise – injury healed but now he can’t hit. Gee, why do you think that is? So with Didi gone because they have to overpay for relief pitchers as they can’t develop any of their own pitchers (relief or starting), they proceed to ruin Gleyber (as they did Andujar) by moving him to a position he can’t play – SS. Now you show up seeking to move Urshela to SS, a position he can’t play on a full-time basis.
The bottom line – the Yankees are stuck with too many long-term contracts for one-dimensional power hitters and overpaid pitchers that they cannot move to other teams. (They do that because they can’t draft and develop players.) They’re trying to make up for those moves in the infield and at Catcher by compromising the staffing of those positions. As with the Jacoby Ellsbury contract all they can do is wait some of those contracts out. But as we learned with the Ellsbury contract, like a kid that squandered his allowance only to squander the next one – they’ll overpay yet another declining / injured player and give him multiple years. The fans will be ecstatic in the offseason, and wonder why the team isn’t getting any better once the season(s) play out.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Samuel this isn’t about circles, it’s about putting out the best defensive alignment. Range aside, Urshela is head and shoulders the best starting SS on the Yankees current roster.
However, that puts a hole at 3B that DJL can’t fill. He’s much better on the right side of the infield. That would mean DJL at 1B for now (until Voit returns) and Torres at 2B. Again, 3B is a hole if they were to do that. So that leaves Urshela holding down 3B and praying for Torres to bring stability at SS with the unstable Odor at 2B.
Can’t rely on Andujar. Not now. He is an afterthought.
Yes on all the rest of your points. The Stanton deal and the firing of Girardi started a snowball of WTF decisions. Urshela, Voit and some bullpen pieces have saved the Yankees. As they reach arbitration there will be consequences with their decision making. If not now, soon.
Sorry, you don’t get it…….
Doing what’s expedient instead of what’s right never works.
So you’re weakening Urshela’s bat by taking his attention away to play SS which is a far, far more taxing position to play mentally than 3B. This is exactly how they ruined Gleyber and Andujar.
You’re telling me that they can’t find a defensive SS from some AAA team or ML bench that they could trade for? Why in the world did they bring in Odor?
You want to talk Voit and bullpen pieces?…….
Is Voit much better then Choi in Tampa or Cooper in Miami? Yanks gave both of them up. As for the bullpen – Gallegos has been fine in St. Louis. Cashman is taking you in circles. The fact is that the Yankees can’t develop their own players at the major and minor league level. They do a fine job of ruining what they have…..by being expedient.
“So you’re weakening Urshela’s bat by taking his attention away to play SS which is a far, far more taxing position to play mentally than 3B.”
About as stupid a comment as I’ve seen. Ask Cleveland and Toronto what they thought about Urshela’s defense at SS and his bat. He moves to play SS and suddenly he loses his ability to hit. Yep, sure.
“You’re telling me that they can’t find a defensive SS from some AAA team or ML bench that they could trade for? Why in the world did they bring in Odor?”
Evidently, yes. If they did they would have pulled the trigger on that decision.
“Is Voit much better then Choi in Tampa or Cooper in Miami? Yanks gave both of them up. As for the bullpen – Gallegos has been fine in St. Louis. Cashman is taking you in circles. The fact is that the Yankees can’t develop their own players at the major and minor league level. They do a fine job of ruining what they have…..by being expedient.”
Voit is better than Bruce and Ford. That is all that matters to the Yankees at this point. Yes they’ve given up on guys and they’ve found hidden gems like Urshela. But the main point is you somehow believe Urshela will stop hitting if he moved from 3B to SS which is an absurd claim with no fact or basis. Urshela has experience at shortstop. He is slick, good hands, good arm. SS stability. Good teams need that.
Just wait. If the bats don’t wake up and support Cole today it will get nasty.
I Say That They Trade Gleyber Torres,Estevan Florial,Alexander Vargas & Luis Gil To The Colorado Rockies For Trevor Story & Then They Trade Luis Medina,Alexander Vizcaino,Yoendrys Gomez & Miguel Andujar To The Washington Nationals For Max Scherzer.
If I’m the Rockies, I’d do that first trade. But I don’t think the Nats are looking to sell.
@YankeeClipper, aka “Clip”.
Where the hell are you, bro?