Prior to Saturday’s doubleheader, the New York Yankees announced that backup catcher Kyle Higashioka would be headed to the IL. He suffered a right oblique strain on August 6th.
To replace Higashioka, the team signed Erik Kratz to the Major League roster and activated him. The 40-year-old made 21 Major League appearances in 2019, and is expected to play sometime on Saturday. With the doubleheader, Kratz and Gary Sanchez will each play one game.
Maybe Kratz will be the spark that the team needs behind the plate. Sanchez and Higashioka are off to rough starts, both having trouble collecting hits. Higashioka is 2-for-9, but Sanchez looks completely lost. Gary is just 3-for-33 with one home run and three runs batted in. Of 30 times retired, 19 are in the form of the strikeout.
This is the third year in a row now that Sanchez has struggled to get hits. Nothing before has been as bad as this season, but something needs to change. Maybe Kratz can come in and have a few good games and put a little pressure on Sanchez. The team has given him a lot of chances, and if he doesn’t improve soon, the team could start shopping him.
The Yankees drafted a catcher in the first round of the 2020 draft out of Arizona, and he could be big league ready in a few years. Maybe it will be him, Austin Wells, as the catcher of the future.
But in the meantime, Kratz joining the team might not be the worst thing to happen. It sucks that he’s coming up because of an injury to someone else, but hopefully he will produce and make his presence felt.