If there’s any single player that has been lackluster for the New York Yankees this season, it is Gary Sanchez. Offensively, he has been a complete liability and defensively inconsistent. In the batter’s box, he is currently hitting .142 with a .372 slugging percentage. He has 10 homers and 24 RBIs on the year but has also struck out 61 times.
Considering how awful Sanchez has been in every facet of the game, back-up catcher Kyle Higashioka has stepped in to replace his lost efficiency. Even in 2019, Sanchez finished with a .232 batting average, despite earning an All-Star appearance for his first half of the season.
Rewind to 2018, and he had a .186 batting average. Unfortunately, lengthy cold streaks have been a part of his career up to this point. I don’t expect him to break out of his funk anytime soon, but finding a hot streak during the postseason would undoubtedly be beneficial.
Nonetheless, manager Aaron Boone has already declared that Higashioka will likely start games in the postseason, specifically with Gerrit Cole on the mound. Cole has been fantastic with his new personal catcher and hasn’t even ruled out the idea of playing Sanchez on an everyday basis.
- Cole with Sanchez: 3.91 ERA in 46 innings, .224/.282/.494 opponent slash
- Cole with Higashioka: 1.00 ERA in 27 innings, .147/.190/.242 opponent slash
After the Yankees’ loss to Miami on Friday night, Sanchez stated:
“I don’t focus on just who’s behind the plate. It’s important for people to understand we have a team here, and the bottom line is winning. I’m a soldier in this game.â€
Luckily for the Yankees, Sanchez has gone quietly into the night. Despite losing his starting position and being considered on a day-by-day basis, he understands that winning is the ultimate goal. His lack of performance and productivity have forced the Yankees into a corner, and at least he acknowledges that fact.
“Obviously, performance matters and matchups matter and pairing guys matters,†Aaron Boone said on the involvement of Sanchez and Higashioka. “I think both will probably play an important role for us if we’re to go deep in the playoffs.â€
Making a deep run in the playoffs will be a tough challenge for the Yankees, considering they only scored five runs over their last three games. Their hot streaks are manic and cold streaks depression. Relying on home runs to win games has proved to be a failing recipe in the past, but going on a hot streak for a few weeks is all they need. Defensively, they have to be stout during exhibition play, and Higgy simply offers the better option up to this point.