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.