Over the last few years, there were plenty of people who were frustrated watching former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who was traded to Minnesota earlier this week. But, the player who lost his job to Sanchez wasn’t one of them.
“I’m a huge Gary Sanchez fan,” Brian McCann said.
McCann was the Yankees’ catcher from 2014-16, then was traded to make way for Sanchez, who hit 20 home runs in just 53 games in 2016 and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.
“When he came up, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen,” McCann said. “The writing was on the wall for me.”
McCann retired after the 2019 season. Next month, he will participate in the ClubCorp Celebrity Golf Classic in Irving, Texas, along with Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen, and many others.
But McCann has kept his eye on his former team, and the catcher who took his job. The seven-time All-Star maintains a positive view on Sanchez and the job he does behind the plate, especially as that job has become more complicated.
“The catching position in my opinion is one of the toughest positions in sports,” McCann said. “You’ve got to be engaged. You have to work with 12 pitchers – actually, nowadays, you have to work with more like 18 pitchers with how many people go up and down. It’s a tough job. You’re in meetings and going over game plans and you’re still expected to hit. You look around the league at the catching position and it’s hard to do it.”
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And McCann thinks Sanchez has always put in the effort to do that job.
“I loved him,” McCann said. “His work ethic is there, he cares. It’s a tough position, and I know how hard it is. All you can ask for in my opinion is for somebody to work hard, and when I was there, that’s all I saw from him. And in talking to people (since leaving), he puts the work in.”
Enough that McCann expects a big rebound for Sanchez in 2022, even while learning a new staff.
“I wish him nothing but the best. He’s an awesome dude. I expect him to have a big year.”
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