The New York Yankees, now that they have committed to having the struggling Gary Sanchez the catcher of choice for the 2021 season, must decide who will catch for Yankee’s ace Gerrit Cole in the upcoming season. On the New York Yankees Hot Stove last night on the YES Network, the ace said that the Yankees have two outstanding catchers in Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka.
However, the results of Cole pitching to Higashioka in 2020 are undeniable; the results pitching to Highasioka were better than when Gary Sanchez caught for the ace. Now the New York Yankees have to decide if their best pitcher will pitch to both or if Higashioka will remain Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher for the 2021 season.
Last night on the Hot Stove, Cole did not tip his hat on whether he preferred Gary Sanchez or Kyle Higashioka going forward. In an interview on the YES Network’s “Hot Stove†that aired Thursday night, Cole said he expected to work with both backstops during spring training.
Mid-season Kyle Higashioka became Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher. Gerrit Cole ended his first season with the New York Yankees in strong fashion, with four straight solid starts to finish the regular season and three more in the playoffs, all with him pitching to the call of Kyle Higashioka. It would be hard to believe that the Yankees would fiddle with that matchup that has been so successful.
Cole’s ERA rose to 3.91 in his last games during August. When switching over to throwing to Higashioka in his last four starts in September, he pitched to an ERA of just 1.01; how do you ignore that change? The pitching matchup was also effective in the postseason that saw primary catcher Sanchez only catch two postseason games none for Cole.
As the season progressed, primary catcher Gary Sanchez’s struggles became more noticeable, so much so that manager Aaron Boone benched him in games. Boone became more comfortable with Higashioka catching than Sanchez. Sanchez is now catching in the Dominican Republic in the Winter League to improve his game, but it has gone concerningly for the Yankees as Sanchez has continued to struggle. Nevertheless, Sanchez has been given a tendered contract that will pay him about $5 million during the 2021 season.
In other Hot Stove news, Aaron Boone would like to see the Yankees thread the needle to financially allow the return of both Masahiro Tanaka and Brett Gardner, who they have a ton of respect for. He reiterated that their primary need is to re-sign slugger and batting title owner DJ LeMahieu.
In a conversation with Micheal Kay during the Hot Stove broadcast, they talked about the Yankees facing the Boston Red Sox during 2021. Kay believes that the Red Sox would have to take a giant leap to compete with the Yankees, although it is best when the Yankees and Red Sox are at the top of the division and facing each other. He said that Red Sox would have to substantially address their pitching needs to compete at the top of the league and make up for the loss of Jackie Bradley Jr. in centerfield when he becomes a free agent after this season.
They also talked about the rising Toronto Blue Jays and the division leader Tampa Bay Rays. Kay feels the Yankees will have to compete with both the Jays and the Rays for the division in 2021. Noticeably there was no talk of what the New York Yankees will do about their pitching needs. They did mention the acquisition of Adam Warren to strengthen the bullpen.