The Yankees will see a pair of familiar faces on Tuesday when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins, where Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela await.
The two former Bombers were traded to Minnesota over the offseason in a deal that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx, shipping out a former breakout fan favorite in Urshela and a former star turned divisive figure in Sanchez.
But as the Yanks get set to begin the three-game series, both Urshela and Sanchez have been heating up at the plate.
Sanchez’s overall numbers at the plate so far this season aren’t overwhelming, but considering the overall lack of offensive production at the catcher position across the league, his .229 average and .735 OPS isn’t terrible. But those numbers were also held down by a slow start, but as he adjusts to his new surroundings, Sanchez has turned it on a bit, posting an .869 OPS while hitting six of his seven home runs on the season over his last 22 games.
Meanwhile, Urshela got off to a slow start as well with his new team, but he appears to also be settling in nicely after a month or so of adjustments. He has a .722 OPS on the season while batting .268, but over his last 15 games, he is batting .359 with a .951 OPS, hitting four of his six doubles this season in that span.
By comparison, Donaldson is posting a .737 OPS on the season after a very slow start of his own, while Jose Trevino has been a big pickup for the Yanks at the catcher position, as the typically glove-first backstop is posting an .800 OPS to go along with his elite defense behind the plate, so he has been a clear upgrade over Sanchez to this point.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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