Gary Sanchez is the Best Catcher in The Game, and it’s Not Even Close
Gary Sanchez signed with the New York Yankees an international free agent in July of 2009 for a $3 million dollar signing bonus. The 6’2 230 lb catcher made his major league debut for the Yankees on October 3rdof 2015. He was called up to the majors in May of 2016, only to be sent back down to the minors, before returning for good that August, when he was named the American League Rookie of the Month, and the American League Player of the Month. Sánchez became the first player in MLB history with at least 11 home runs and 31 hits in his first 23 career games. On August 29, Sánchez was named AL Player of the Week for the second straight week. On September 21, Sánchez hit his 18th and 19th home runs in only his 45th game, making him the fastest player to reach 19 home runs in the modern era.
For the 2016 season, Sánchez played in just 53 games for the Yankees with a .299 batting average, 20 home runs, and 42 RBIs. On defense, he had the best average pop time to second base of all major league catchers, finishing at 1.90 seconds. He finished second in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year, behind Detroit’s Michael Fulmer.
The Kraken made his first All Star team in 2017, breaking the Yankees single season HR record by a catcher, and hit 3 more in the post season. Sanchez finished the year at .278 with 33 HRs and 90 RBI’s, and won his first Silver Slugger Award and was universally viewed as the best catcher in the game.
In 2018, Gary Sanchez had 2 stints on the DL, struggled in all aspects of the game, and battled through a groin injury to finish a disappointing season at .186 with 18 HR’s and 53 RBI in 89 games.
Some want to write the 26 year old catcher off, even though Gary Sanchez recently hit his 80th HR in only his 284th career game. The only 2 players in MLB history to reach the 80-HR milestone faster are Aaron Judge (264) and Ryan Howard (245). April 7th, 2019 Sanchez hit 3 HR’s in one game against the Orioles, giving him 10 multi -HR games in only 231 played games as a Catcher … Jorge Posada has the most multi-HR games in team history with 16, which he did in 1574 games. Yogi had 15 in 1694 games. Sanchez has 12 in 284 career games, 2 as a DH.
So far in 2019, Gary Sanchez has 11 HR and 21 RBI in 81 At bats over 22 games. And his defense and pitch handling have improved. The Kraken is back and ready to reclaim his title as best catcher in the game.
For all the haters who call him lazy and say he doesn’t’ hustle, last year, Gary Sanchez took the extra base 46% of time, but the MLB average is 42%. Let 2018 go. He was a catcher with a groin injury. He’s healthy, and he’s heating up.
