Gary Sanchez has been one of the most divisive players among the Yankees fanbase, with a large group ready to move on from the former All-Star, while others want to see the 28-year-old given another chance to try and recapture his early 2019 ways.
Count former Yankee manager Buck Showalter in the latter group.
Showalter joined Moose & Maggie on Friday afternoon to talk about Sanchez, who is coming off a shortened season where he posted a career-low .618 OPS while striking out 64 times in 156 at-bats, and expressed his belief in the Yankee catcher’s ability to bounce back in 2021 and get back to what made him an MVP candidate through the first half of the 2019 season.
“I think he’s got too much ability,” Showalter said. “There’s nobody that has more pure arm strength than him, or creates more uneasiness in the other dugout, who is always a swing away.”
Sanchez’s bat was a major concern in 2020, as well as 2018 when he labored through injuries and another prolonged slump, but his defense has consistently been at the forefront of concern in Yankees Universe. Passed balls have long been a problem with Sanchez’s defense, and as he made adjustments to improve upon that in 2020, his once encouraging framing numbers suffered as a result.
As 2020 wore on, Sanchez gave way to Kyle Higashioka as ace Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, but Aaron Boone said when spring training opened that the goal is to give Sanchez the chance to claim the everyday role, which Showalter would like to see.
“Sometimes you can over-coach a guy like him and put too much on his plate,” Showalter said. “I tell people all the time, if you don’t like the pitches someone is calling, why don’t you call the pitches? I tell pitchers all the time, your head works both ways. You can say yes or no. Catchers are giving suggestions when they put down fingers, and we’re all so quick to blame someone for a pitch. Sometimes it’s the right call and a bad pitch.”
Sanchez has constantly been under the microscope since his defensive concerns arose in 2017, even when he was in the midst of an MVP-type season at the plate after his historic rookie campaign in 2016. With all of the eyes that have been on Sanchez since his unforgettable arrival, Showalter would like to see some of the burden taken off Sanchez in 2021.
“I think sometimes you just back off and let them go and realize there’s no perfect player,” Showalter said. “I think the biggest thing is mentally, just clearing his head and realizing it’s a fresh start and a fresh 162-game season. Look at the pressure that was on him knowing there was a finite number of games, and every game was like the World Series for him.”
Sanchez comes with concerns given his performance at the plate and behind it in recent years, but Showalter isn’t ready to give up on a player that has shown an ability to be one of the best at his position, and hopes to see Sanchez back to his All-Star ways this year.
“You always try to make people play off a premium position,” Showalter said. “Then you have an offensive performer at the catcher position, you are remarkably better than the other teams because they are few and far between. So I want to see him play his way off that position.”
Listen to Showalter’s full interview with Moose & Maggie below!
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