Hall of Fame catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez thinks the pressure has gotten to Gary Sanchez, and the two-time Yankees All-Star has to get back to a good place mentally where he is relaxed and enjoying the game.
"He doesn’t enjoy baseball right now,” Rodriguez said. “He feels like…he comes to the ballpark and it’s a depressing thing for him right now. That’s what I see when he’s playing.”
Rodriguez spoke via Zoom to promote the Thurman Munson Awards on February 2. He is one of six honorees – others include Yankees Luke Voit and Gio Urshela – at the 41st annual Munson Awards, which is virtual this year. (For sponsorship, viewing, and donation options visit https://www.ahrcnycfoundation.org/munson2021).
Sanchez is coming off a nightmarish 2020 season in which he hit just .147 with 10 home runs and a .618 OPS. Sanchez also led the American League in passed balls for the third time in the last four seasons. He was benched in favor of back Kyle Higashioka, and started only two of the Yankees seven postseason games last fall.
“I think he has too much pressure on himself. He’s trying to do too much. I’ve talked to him a few times and he’s very positive. But Gary plays in an organization and in a city where obviously, you have to do a good job pretty much every night.”
Rodriguez says he believes Sanchez is still young enough and talented enough to be great player, but echoing Nick Swisher on Moose & Maggie on Monday, Pudge said that the mental part of the game is where Sanchez needs to make the biggest strides.
“That’s the part of the game that he needs to work the most, Rodriguez said. “The pressure part of the game he needs to work on. He needs to breathe, he needs to relax himself. He needs to believe that he’s a great player. Now because (the mental) part of his game is not there he feels like everything else he doesn’t have.”
Rodriguez believes Sanchez can get peace of mind by just going out to play the game, playing loose and letting his talent shine again. When asked about the trouble Sanchez has had with passed balls, Rodriguez mentioned again how it comes back to his mental state.
“It’s because he’s too tight,” Rodriguez said. “When you’re tight everything moves fast, but when you’re relaxed, everything will slow down. When your mind is already anticipating what’s going to happen everything slows down. Right now, he doesn’t know, so everything moves like lightning.”
Sanchez is 28 as he enters 2021. By the time Rodriguez was 28 he had won eight Gold Gloves and an American League MVP Award. Rodriguez likes Sanchez and believes in his ability to bounce back.
“He’s a good kid,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a really good kid. He listens, he likes to be better. He wanted to be better. He wanted to come back and be the Gary Sanchez that a lot of people know, the player that he can be. But the first thing that he needs is to take that pressure part of the game away…and then let his ability take over.”
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