One of the biggest knocks on New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is his defensive efficiency, specifically when it comes to blocking balls and framing pitches. Sanchez has struggled at times with his weight distribution and ability to play consistent defense behind the plate, which has hurt his confidence.
However, this offseason, the Bombers and new catching instructor, Tanner Swanson, are doing everything they can to turn Sanchez into one of the game’s best defensive catchers.
Swanson stated regarding Sanchez’s past stance and development, according to NJ.com:
We can look specifically at the position and Gary was getting into last year, I think, just in general, when when runners are on base, which is over 50 percent of pitches thrown come with runners. Traditionally, catchers are up in this high stance and I think just transitioning now and presetting in a knee-down position, I think, will contribute to less stress. I’m sure there’s some workload conversations that are involved there. I think, just in general will take some stress off the body and by no means are we punting on blocking or throwing and we care about all these things. We’re just trying to find positions where we can be as if not more dynamic, while also really good at the thing that impacts run prevention the most, which is calls in the strike zone.
One aspect of Tanner’s approach that I really like is that he’s attempting to maximize Sanchez’s strength and not his weaknesses. El Gary has one of the best arms in baseball from behind the plate, and putting him in a one-knee stance with runners on base gives him the leverage to jump up and make accurate throws more frequently.
One question about the improvement in all three categories caught my eye.
Q: Some people have said the blocking gets compromised in that stance. Does it?
A: I would say the opposite, and I think Mitch Garver is a case study of that last year. His blocking actually improved. But to be honest with you, when I first started down this path, that was my first thought. Our blocking my regress. Our throwing my regress slightly. But if we’re capturing more strikes, that could be a net win and I wish I could say I knew this going into it and I had the foresight to think we can actually improve in all three categories. So that’s the plan. It’s not just to make Gary a better pitch framer at the expense of everything else. We actually think he’s going to see gains in all of his game.
What should we expect from Yankees’ Gary Sanchez moving forward?
I anticipate Sanchez taking a big step forward in 2020, primarily because of an increase in talent in the starting pitching rotation and his slimming down. Having more athleticism and being in better shape should give him the agility behind the plate to improve his overall game, but his blocking might suffer in the process.