After a disastrous season that saw him slash .147/.253 /.365 over 49 games during the 60-game season, with a career-low 69 wRC+, New York Yankees‘ catcher Gary Sanchez found himself on the bench come playoff time. He had lost his starting job to career backup Kyle Higashioka.
It was a massive fall from grace from one of the best hitting catcher of his generation. Those days were difficult for Sanchez, seeing how a career 55 wRC+Â hitter took important at-bats in the postseason while he watched from the bench.
Sanchez talked to ESPN’s Marly Rivera from his Dominican Republic home, and opened up about his 2020 experience with the Yankees.
Talking about his benching, the backstop said that “it was something that had never happened to me in my career, whether in the minors or in the majors. When they benched me during the regular season, it was explained to me that I would catch one day and have a day off or catch two days and then have a day off to rest, [to] work on things.”
Then, Sanchez kept explaining, “the playoffs came along, and you start getting excited and you have all that adrenaline. I already felt I was in better form and I had so much desire to contribute to the team, to finally do something, which I did not do in the regular season. Feeling like I couldn’t contribute was very hard. I always kept supporting my team. But the reality is, they never told me why I was benched. I didn’t know why I wasn’t playing.”
He views himself as the starter for the Yankees
For what it’s worth, he still considers himself the Yankees’ starter in the position. “I cannot speak for the team, but I’m ready to be an everyday catcher. Right now, I’m 27 and I don’t see myself as a catcher one day a week, two days a week. I don’t see my career going that way yet. I know that I can play and help the team on both sides of the ball every day.”
He explained how the Yankees handled the situation:
In the regular season, when they sat me down, they told me they were going to give me two days or three days to get myself back together again: “Work on what you have to work, rest a little and work on the areas where you’re failing.” When the playoffs came around, when they benched me the first time, I understood that I was no longer catching the pitcher who was going to pitch that day, which started during the regular season. I used to say to myself, “I’m not going to play that particular game, but after today, I’m going to play.” That’s how things started off, and I understood.
I played the second game in Cleveland, and I played well. Then we went to San Diego, to the bubble. I didn’t play in the first game because I wasn’t catching [Gerrit] Cole. After almost a week without playing, it didn’t go well for me in the second game. Actually, none of us did well in that game. After that, I thought I was going to play the next day, because it had been a very bad game for everybody. I struck out three times, but I felt like I was taking good cuts, good swings. I felt so much better. But I didn’t play. And I said to myself, “What happened here?” But my job is to support my team. But from then on, nobody told me anything. They just told me, “Stay ready.”
Rivera asked Sanchez if the Yankees’ handling of the situation made him lose confidence. “What crossed my mind was that I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know why I wasn’t playing, if it was my defense or because I wasn’t hitting. That was what I was thinking about. So that’s where you start forcing things more than you should, and that’s when you make mistakes. I would have liked someone to tell me, “This is what’s happening — this and that,” and one has to understand and accept that as a man. You focus in that you have to improve this and that. But no one explained to me why.
Sanchez said he requested an explanation from the Yankees, specifically from manager Aaron Boone:
I asked for and had a respectful and very positive conversation with [manager Aaron] Boone. I explained to him that I thought I deserved an explanation for what happened. We had a good conversation, and we talked about all of that and cleared things up. After talking to Boone, everything is fine. Our communication has been very good and very honest since all of this happened. I have been in communication with Boone, with [catching coach] Tanner [Swanson], with management. But really, we have always had good communication. That’s why I was confused when we weren’t in communication in the playoffs.
The interview touched many more stories, including Sanchez not catching Gerrit Cole, his work on defense, and more.