Yankees’ Gary Sanchez is confident he’ll be ready for Opening Day

Yankees’ catcher Gary Sanchez has been working hard to get ready for the 2020 season and thinks he’ll be out there for all nine innings against the Nationals. 

With limited time to get ready, fans are starting to question that. However, Gary Sanchez is very confident that he will be ready. In a press conference yesterday, Sanchez stated, “I think two weeks is going to be enough for me to get ready and catch all nine innings.” Despite the long break, Sanchez didn’t seem to lose a step. He said, “I left to go to the DR because I have a complex there,” where he was working on his “offense and defense.” He finished by saying, “I can tell you, anytime my name is in the lineup, I’ll be ready to go.” Very confident from the young catcher.

Yankees’ Aaron Boone also showed confidence in Sanchez

Boone stated, “from a catching standpoint, the foundation has been very solid” and that he’s “encouraged about where he is right now.” Boone then praised the work that Tanner Swanson has done to keep Sanchez ready. 

Tanner Swanson is a catching coach that the Yankees added to their staff this off-season. Swanson worked with the Twins and Mitcher Garver last year and is teaching Garver’s style of play to Sanchez. Sanchez, no doubt, took a step up defensively last year. In 2018, Sanchez led the league in pass balls allowed in only 653 innings of work. The average catcher can catch up to 1,000 innings in a single season. However, in 2019 Sanchez averaged a passed ball every 86 innings. A huge step up from the previous year. But, it will be interesting to see how Swanson can improve Sanchez as an overall catcher.

Sanchez has always been a force to be reckoned with at the plate but hasn’t reached his full potential from behind the plate. Hopefully, Swanson will work to make Sanchez a complete player. Look out for a lot of new things defensively from Sanchez.