Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino informed members of the media today that catcher Gary Sánchez is likely to miss eight to ten weeks due to his right knee sprain. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the timeline and the specific diagnosis, which is a sprain of the catcher’s right posterior cruciate ligament.
It’s yet another unwelcome development in a season that’s been full of them for the Orioles. Sánchez’s .231/.297/.418 batting line (101 wRC+) is “only” a touch better than league average, but he’d been riding a blazing .295/.348/.574 hot streak with five homers over his past 66 plate appearances. That torrid stretch dovetailed with IL placements for Adley Rutschman, Maverick Handley and Chadwick Tromp. Sánchez now becomes the Orioles’ fourth catcher on the injured list.
It’s brutal timing for both the Orioles and Sánchez. With so many other catching injuries on the roster, he’d been thrust into the starting role and was making the most of it — all with free agency just a few months away on the horizon. Sánchez might’ve positioned himself as a trade candidate for the O’s if they end up going the seller’s route, and if not, he was shaping up to be a key piece of their turnaround.
With Sánchez shelved for the foreseeable future, the O’s will turn to a pair of recent acquisitions, Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson, to handle catching duties. Stallings signed a minor league deal a couple weeks back after being released by the Rockies. Jackson was just acquired from the Yankees in exchange for international bonus pool space. Both catchers will be tasked with not only trying to get going at the plate after some substantial struggles in the majors but learning a new pitching staff and building rapport on the fly.
The 35-year-old Stallings hit just .151/.225/.194 in 103 plate appearances before the Rockies released him, though he did turn in a strong .263/.357/.453 line as recently as last season in Colorado. Jackson, a former No. 6 overall draft pick and top prospect, was sitting on league-average numbers in Triple-A with the Yankees but has been unable to produce in myriad big league auditions over the years. The 29-year-old has tallied 340 MLB plate appearances but managed only a .131/.224/.232 batting line with an eye-popping 41.8% strikeout rate in that time.
It’s wild how all these “trade candidates” are getting hurt the same month as the deadline
He’s at the buffet planning out his next 19 meals -for tomorrow- even as we speak. Ahahahahahaha!
My buds a huge SD fan and he wants GS back.
I saw Sanchez back when he was in Trenton (AA) a few times. My take was terrific raw power; way too much swing and miss, decent eye but the defense would never allow him to stick as a starting catcher and the bat wouldn’t carry as a DH.
It was good to see that he became a solid enough defender to have a reasonably productive career. Hard work pays off…
The defense improved when he went to SD.
The Twins changed some things and Sanchez was more or less average defensively with them and afterwards. Catcher who generate value at the plate at league average aren’t super common. Having only 100 plate appearances thus far in 2025 suggests the loss of Sanchez is honestly not a big deal to the Orioles as they weren’t playing him anyway.
He only has 100 PA because he was injured.
Kyle Higashioka might actually fetch something in a trade now
Still can’t believe SD let him walk.
I can’t believe the Orioles gave him $9.5 million for 1 year.
Cost Rubinstein a few bucks. He would’ve been easy to dump but no return would’ve came back.
The Kraken injured once again. Definitely nothing new. It’s a new season, same Sanchez.
It’s as if the Baseball Gods keep trying to clear a path for Basallo and the Orioles just aren’t taking the hint..
I’ve been on Sammy’s bandwagon since they signed him, and while I do disagree with a lot of Elias’ decisions, it’s smart to keep his rookie status intact for ‘26.
This season is likely a lost cause, so no reason to rush. They can still call him up late Aug to get his feet wet like they did with Gunnar and Cowser.
skins — I love me some Mike Elias, but on calling Samuel up, he’s wrong. This season is lost, and should be used to get rookies past the transition into MLB. The team has a need for him, his bat is ready…so keep him down so he “might” get ROY picks?!
Almost every player struggles when getting to the bigs, so there is time to get that outta the way now, rather then next year, when the club will be competitive and “learning” adjustments will be harder to allow for.
If they wait till next year to call him up, I fear he ends up like Kjerstad/Mayo — irregular playing time, shuttled up/down.
They bring him up now, he can game all the ABs he wants. Next year, that’s not the case…and still there is no guarantee he gets the ROY picks.
Anyway, as I see it is all. Foolish birds in the bush thinking, imo.
O’Hearn will be gone next year, if not sooner. Sammy will have a more clear path to playing time once that happens. I think they follow the Cowser/Gunnar model, not the Kjerstad/Mayo one – which I agree is a joke.
Sammy will get plenty of ABs between C/DH/1B. Waiting 6 weeks to call him up is not the end of the world. If he gets 5 weeks of solid playing time to end the year in the majors, that will set him up nicely going into next year. I can’t wait to see him at the Yard!
Yeah, I think the the plan is/has been to call him up for the Rookie eligibility intact next year, ala Gunnar/Westy/Cowser. In spring, I was happy with that (It’s worth noting that the extra pick has only happened with Gunnar. Not Cowser, Adley, Westberg, Jackson, Mayo, or Kjerstad, who were all protected/eligible. 1 in 7).
However, plans should be adaptive to circumstances, Nobody expected this outcome, nobody. So, nobody thought of what it would allow for/best be utilized/navigated.
What’d Mike Tyson say about plans and getting punched in the face. Feels like this season is a punch in the face.
There’s time and no pressure for Basallo to learn right now. Delaying his rookie struggling until a contending team next year, for a chance at the 31st pick seems… detached/unaware/foolish?
(And there’s still Mountcastle/Mayo at 1B next year).
It’ll be great Whenever he comes up! Super excited about his promotion/success. When was the last time the Orioles had an International prospect make a run at ROY?! But I’d rather have the WS win…and more ABs for Basallo helps him stay up next year for the 100 win season!
Mountcastle looks closer to a non tender at this point. I doubt we pay him $9-10MM. He might have appeal to another club to see if he can rebound at that price point but he hasn’t regained the power he showed a few years ago. At this point he’s really just not working at Camden yards. I think he’s probably flipped for a lotto ticket in the offseason.
Well call the Brewers on Eric Haase.
Could’ve had James McCann for next to nothing a month ago. Surprised they picked Sanchez over McCann during the offseason but that bat over the last few weeks was starting to sway my mind a bit. Hopefully Adley is back soon and maybe we get a Basallo sighting because you cannot tell me that Alex Jackson is anywhere close to Basallo caliber.
Pretty sure McCann wanted multiple years and the O’s weren’t willing to do that.
I wanted McCann back. Maybe I am smarter than Elias.
everyone is smarter than every GM in baseball if they use hind sight. “Should’ve kept him” or “should have traded him” etc. Every team has the same story
Amazing that Alex Jackson is back. He was historically bad with the bat last year. Desperate times for the O’s.
Meanwhile, down at the yard on Eutaw Street, the amazin’ Mets grabbed a nice win tonight!
The Mets are far from Amazing.
They were amazing enough last night. That and the Orioles just suck. 🤷♂️
If I were the Twins I would have brought Sanchez back in 2023 instead of going to Vazquez. Seems like Gary is quickly overlooked by teams in MLB which makes me wonder if it’s not just something on the field.
As a Rays fan, I hope Alex Jackson can play for BOTH the Yankee$ and Orioles at the same time!
Yeah, because he can’t hit .100
I’d pitch in for his salary for that to happen.
Gary no longer the Sanch-ise he was touted to be.