I’m not sure that there’s anyone more unpopular right now with the New York Yankees than Gary Sanchez. Well, maybe Aaron Boone takes the cake there, but they are in a heated battle for the most disliked among the fans.
Sanchez has all the talent in the world, yet he’s arguably been the worst catcher in baseball this year by a long shot. Sanchez has been pitiful defensively, and shockingly, he’s been better defensively than he’s been offensively.
The Yankees catcher is batting .125 on the season with 7 home runs and 15 RBIs. In 118 plate appearances this year, Sanchez has struck out an astonishing 49 times. He’s been so bad that Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided to bench him. A decision Sanchez didn’t agree with.
Yankees Internal Drama?
In a Zoom call, the Yankees catcher stated, “I wanted to keep playing, I’m always ready to play and I wanted to keep playing to find a way out of it. But he (Boone) came and told me (I was being benched).”
It was clear based on the tone that Sanchez was not happy about having his chance taken away. However, what were the Yankees supposed to do. I’m going to be honest in saying Gary Sanchez has sucked this year. There is no way around it.
The Yankees catcher did state that it’s been difficult on him personally. Sanchez told reporters, “It’s been tough for me not to be able to get the rhythm… A lot of our teammates have been down for a while with injuries, and not to be able to contribute and help the team. It’s been hard.â€
While the Yankees have been spiraling out of control, they have desperately needed Sanchez to step up, but he has completely failed. In his first game back following the benching, Sanchez went 0-4 with a strikeout showing no improvement whatsoever.
I’m honestly at a loss with Gary Sanchez. There are some people who are saying the Yankees shouldn’t move on until he plays a full season in 2021. I would remind those folks that he’s hit under .200 since 2018 so these struggles are not something new.
While the Yankees catcher believes he should be given the time to figure things out, I think the bombers need to look elsewhere after this season is over. I wish they could move on now to be honest with you.