Gary Sanchez has shown off his dynamic power multiple times so far this spring, clearing the batter’s eye in dead center field while sending another home run halfway up a light tower, but struggles that plagued him since the second half of 2019 still remain.
In 34 spring training at-bats, Sanchez has 14 strikeouts, including seven strikeouts in his last 13 at-bats, while going hitless in that span. Many feel Sanchez is entering a crucial season with the Yanks, one that could determine whether he remains a part of the team’s future, and a solid spring showing could have boosted confidence that Sanchez was poised to return to his 2016, 2017 and early 2019 form.
Despite the lack of results, Aaron Boone isn’t stressing over spring outcomes, instead focusing on the pitch-by-pitch at-bats leading up to those outcomes.
“Just some pitches that he should put in play with authority that are ending up in the net,” Boone said of Sanchez’s spring so far. “It’s close, they’re fouled straight back, but in this game, especially with the pitchers being as good as they are and as powerful as they are, when you get a chance to put a ball in play with authority, you have to take advantage of it.”
Sanchez’s .684 OPS this spring would hardly be a concern if the clocks were wound back three seasons, when he was coming off an All-Star campaign following a historic rookie season, but given the prolonged slumps that have followed, his spring at-bats have carried heavier interest. Boone believes Sanchez is just one small step away from consistently showing the hitter he was three years ago, when he was widely considered to be among the best catchers in baseball.
“That’s just hopefully tightening up some final tweaks from a timing standpoint to get him locked in,” Boone said. “He is doing a better job of controlling the zone and getting himself into deep counts, but when he gets that pitch, now is that time to start hammering it into play with authority.”
Sanchez’s 2020 was disastrous from beginning to end, with Kyle Higashioka seeing playing time in the playoffs after Sanchez finished the season with a batting average below .150, and even though his strikeout percentage dropped less than one percent over the final month of the regular season compared to the first, Boone saw signs of better at-bats from Sanchez, much like he has seen so far in spring.
“Even though last season was 60 games and short, but in my head I chopped his season up into a couple of halves there,” Boone said. “He was different in the second half of last year. It was more of the better job controlling the zone, still putting too many pitches in the net or when you get that pitch to do something with, missing it, whereas in the first half I felt like it was a real struggle for him where he was leaving the zone a lot.”
While Sanchez is entering an important season with plenty of eyes fixated on his performance in spring training, Boone doesn’t believe his catcher is putting as much stock in his spring numbers as others might be. After all, his spring OPS in 2019 was below .600 coming off a 2018 season that rivaled his brutal 2020 slump, yet he stormed out to a 148 and 150 wRC+ in April and May, respectively, to earn an All-Star nod in 2019.
“I think he feels good and he’s actually pretty confident right now in what he’s doing,” Boone said, “It’s always nice to get results, especially if you’re coming off a tough season but those real good feelings and upticks in confidence can happen in one pitch. All of a sudden game one or game four, you get a big moment or a big hit, can really settle things down a bit.”
With just a week to go in spring training, Boone doesn’t need to see Sanchez go on a tear and head into the season on a high note in terms of performance, and doesn’t think Sanchez needs to see that from himself either. They’ll leave the worrying to the fans.
“I just want him to keep working hard and fine-tuning that timing here as we get down the stretch from spring training, and go from there,” Boone said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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