New York Yankees: Aaron Boone says Gary Sanchez can be the best catcher in baseball

New York Yankees, Gary Sanchez
Feb 12, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) works out as pitchers and catchers report for spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Over the last four years, New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has climbed the totem pole of respected players at his position. In his rookie campaign, he came in second in Rookie of the Year voting, and in 2017 he found himself on the All-Star team and ranked 22nd in MVP voting. He also earned a Silver Slugger award. Flashback to 2018, Sanchez played In just 89 games, hitting .186 with 18 homers and 53 RBIs. His offense was abysmal, and minor injuries began to take their toll on his health and efficiency on both sides of the ball.

In 2019, Sanchez earned an All-Star selection, hitting 34 homers, 77 RBIs and a .232 batting average. The major issue with Sanchez hasn’t been his offense, though, despite his low average is at the plate the past two seasons. His defense is the factor that remains questionable. His caught stealing percentages have decreased consistently over the last four years, starting at 41% in 2016 and dropping all the way to 23% in 2019.

There is little evidence to suggest that Sanchez is incapable of being a premium level player behind the plate, but his arm has seen a degradation, and his offensive prowess has dipped. In addition, he had 15 errors on a .982 fielding percentage last season, both career lows. The one category he did improve in was past balls, only letting seven by him over 90 games behind the plate. In 2018, he allowed 18 balls to hit the backstop, a disappointing number that he did manage to improve.

While Sanchez has struggled, manager Aaron Boone is confident he can be one of the best catchers in baseball, per NJ.com:

“He could be the best catcher in the sport,” Boone said. “He’s that talented. He’s had some unfortunate nagging injuries that have come up a little bit the last two years that have altered his season a little bit. He’s still amassed a lot of home runs and at-bats and stuff over the last two years.

“But he’s missed some time, killed some momentum at times. For a young player, and I think for Gary, who burst onto the scene, who was a highly touted prospect (and) came up and took the league by storm, I think sometimes what people forget is catcher is such a demanding position. You don’t often see very young catchers come up and become a central figure on a team.”

The New York Yankees need to keep their star catcher healthy at all costs:

The essential key to El Gary playing at peak performance is health. A ping-pong ball hitting his lower back seems to be the catalyst behind resurfacing injuries these days, but the hiring of new strength and conditioning coach Eric Cressey will hopefully allow him to strengthen his weak points through kinesiology and biomechanics. If Sanchez can play solid baseball, the Yankees will have a great chance at winning a World Series this year.