New York Yankees Comeback Player of the Year – So Far

New York Yankees, Phil Nevin
May 20, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) is greeted by coach Phil Nevin (88) after hitting a ninth inning three run home run against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

If you watched the New York Yankees come back from a 6-1 deficit on Monday night, you might already know who this article is about. If you didn’t you should really check out the highlights, it was a thriller. However, the man in the spotlight is catcher Gary Sanchez, who slammed home a three-run bullet to close out the game in the top of the ninth inning.

Sanchez has had a solid campaign up to this point, but it comes after a very disappointing 2018 season where fans were calling for his head and never imagined he could succeed at the professional level. Well, he proved those fans wrong. His offense has picked back up to a respectable level — hitting .259 on the season with 12 homers over 29 games.

His defense has also been much improved. Last year, he averaged a passed ball every 4.2 games, this season he’s averaging just one every six games, a near 50% improvement. Injuries did hold him back in a campaign where he batted .186 and allowed 18 passed balls.

The fact of the matter is, Sanchez is back to his efficient self, proving his worth on the baseball field and giving the Yankees justification for sticking with him through the bad times.

He certainly showed his worth on a two-out rocket to left field that propelled the Yankees to a  3-run lead in the final inning of a game that looked lost from the start.

How did the New York Yankees dig themselves into a hole?

J.A. Happ, the pitcher who went 7-0 in 2018, once again performed underwhelmingly. He plunged the Yanks into a 5-run deficit early on and made an embarrassingly bad Baltimore Orioles team look like a bunch of All-Stars.

The Orioles have lost 10 of 12 games recently, and Happ once again looked porous. He currently boasts a 4.44 ERA, and lucky for him, his catcher had to save the day. Hopefully, Sanchez can maintain his health and continue to improve as the Yankees march forward into 2019.