The New York Yankees have flip-flopped on their approach toward the catcher position this off-season. After the 2020 campaign concluded, management indicated they would be reevaluating catcher, as Gary Sanchez struggled this past year and has been on a downward spiral since his 2017 season.
Sanchez understands that 2020 was an extremely difficult year for him, in both hitting and catching. He finished with a .147 average, 10 homers, and 24 RBIs. He logged a career-high 36% strikeout rate and career-low on-base percentage at .253.
“He felt like 2020 was a disaster for him,’’ Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames said by phone Wednesday. “He knows it.’’
Sanchez has taken part in the winter league down in the Dominican Republic to prepare for the 2021 season. Every rep counts and shows how desperately he wants to regain his status as the top catcher on the Yankees, considering Kyle Higashioka overtook him as the starter in the postseason.
Higgy has also managed to cement himself as Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, which is a demoralizing reality for Sanchez, who was once considered one of the best catchers in baseball.
“The fact he’s playing there says a lot,’’ Thames said. “Not a lot of guys with his credentials play down there. It shows you how much he wants to get better and get back to where he was.â€
Sanchez has just one year left on his contract before he becomes arbitration-eligible, and at that point, the Yankees my I like to move on from him if he struggles again in 2021. He’s quickly running out of time.
The Yankees lose control of Sanchez in 2023, and locking him up long-term is likely not on the table after consecutive poor seasons. However, he is showing resiliency and the desire to get better, but we’ve seen the same trend from him before. Of course, the best-case scenario would be for Gary to return to his 2017 form, as that would solve the issues at the position for the Yankees and alleviate a growing concern in the back of general manager Brian Cashman’s mind.
“I never lost confidence in him,’’ Thames said. “I’d tell him, ‘You’re a pretty good player. You’ll figure it out.’ We only had 60 games last year, so it’s a little hard to evaluate. Those were the cards we were dealt and now he has to put it behind him.’’