Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar were both transcendent rookies for the Yankees in their debut seasons, but entering the 2021 campaign, both find themselves under a much different outlook.
Sanchez avoided arbitration this winter by agreeing to a one-year, $6.35 million deal following a brutal 2020 season, and enters camp as the team’s starting catcher, but the two-time All-Star will have to get back to his 2019 ways if he wants to remain atop the depth chart. The 28-year-old finished 2020 with an OPS of .618, by far the worst mark of his career, and saw his playing time diminish in the playoffs. But despite his latest prolonged slump, Aaron Boone and the Yankees are going into the season with high hopes for Sanchez.
“I saw Gary this morning,” Aaron Boone said in his first media session of the 2021 season on Wednesday. “He looks good. I’m excited about where he’s at. Coming off a tough season and a lot of the storylines around Gary understandably this winter, we feel like we’ve had some really good conversations, put some really good things in place that hopefully will allow him to continue to grow and really thrive. I think as we’ve demonstrated with our actions, we believe in him. We feel like he can be a game-changer type player when he’s right, and we’re going to continue to support him and help him be the best version of himself that he can be. “
Sanchez has certainly shown the ability to be a game-changer in years past, beginning his career with a historic home-run tear in 2016 that translated to a 33-homer year in 2017. But his production took a nosedive in 2018 as he battled injury, and after bursting out to an MVP-caliber start in 2019, once again fell into an offensive swoon down the stretch, and it continued through last season. But with the offensive potential to be among the best hitting catchers in the league, Boone isn’t ready to write off Sanchez just yet.
“Hopefully this is the year when he can put it all together,” Boone said. “We certainly have a lot of confidence in that, but we have to get it out of him too. We have to help him do that.”
Andujar wasn’t able to hold onto a starting role like Sanchez, and has been trying to battle his way back into playing time since injuring his shoulder at the start of the 2019 season. Andujar was a doubles machine as a rookie in 2018 and hit 27 home runs, but has struggled to rediscover his power stroke since undergoing shoulder surgery. Andujar slugged just .355 in 21 games last season to go along with his prolonged defensive concerns at the hot corner, and for now, his role with the Yanks is to be determined, especially with Andujar’s decline coinciding with the dramatic ascension of Gio Urshela.
“We’ll see,” Boone said of Andujar’s potential role with the team. “The thing about Miggy is that nothing has changed as far as the talent. He’s certainly at an age where he technically should be entering the prime of his career, and obviously the last two seasons for him with the injury and with last year not getting a lot of regular at-bats was a challenge.”
Andujar will be tried at multiple positions this spring, but barring injuries at other positions or a sudden return to 2018 form, it will be hard for the 25-year-old to find regular playing time in 2021.
“We love the person and the makeup, and we just have to see how things unfold,” Boone said. “He’ll get looks at third, in the outfield and at first base, and when those opportunities arise, which inevitably they usually do, you have to take advantage of them, and he certainly has the talent to do that.”
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