SU commented about Gary Sanchez yesterday and clearly this must have had some impact on him in last night’s game. In the first inning, he doesn’t hustle after a passed ball which was really a mix-up in signs with Severino. Literally does a slow jog after the ball and the runner scores from 2nd base.
Then in the 9th inning, he doesn’t run hard to 1st base with the bases loaded and 2 outs and cost the team another run that would have tied the game. SU says good to see that he learned from the incident in the 1st inning. If you saw his post-game comments, he felt badly and said he would learn from this. Aaron Boone said he hadn’t looked at the video of either play as of yet. Hmmm.
Here is what you need to know:
- Joe Girardi got fired, in part, for not being able to get through to Sanchez. Lacked the communication and motivation skills to take him to the next level (or block balls behind the plate).
- Sanchez has a history of not hustling and bad behavior going back to his minor league days with the Yankees. He was suspended for some games and talked to on several occasions during his minor league career.
- He is hitting .187 this year and is clearly frustrated at the plate. He leads the major with 10 passed balls
- When you say, “I will learn from this” SU says that is what you say in 3rd grade when you didn’t hustle down to 1st base. Sanchez is a major leaguer who clearly knows better. But no doubt he is a graduate of the Robinson Cano school that teaches players that it’s really too much effort to run hard to 1st base 4 times a game.
He needs to watch tape of Derek Jeter running hard to 1st base for 20 years. So, what’s going to happen now? Boone is supposed to be the great communicator and with a record that has been stellar for much of the season, not much to communicate about except “keep it up!” He did try his hand at actually game managing last night and had Didi bunt in the 9th with runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out. Bad move as you knew the Rays would walk Stanton, the Yankees’ hottest hitter right now (gulp, ok, I said it). Hicks, who is from the Brett Gardner school of being red hot or ice cold, is in the cold phase and he grounded out which left it up to Sanchez. It was just a bad managerial decision.
Last year, Sanchez would hit to right field with power. He is strictly a pull hitter right now. Teams over-shift and thus his average is .187.
Who will talk to Sanchez? CC could but pitchers tend not to be the ones who play that role. SU says A-Rod needs to get on a plane and have lunch with him today. Bring J-Lo too. They seem to have a relationship. Boone should sit him tonight; no catching and no DH. SU says he won’t do it though which is a mistake.
All of a sudden, the Yankees’ wild card lead is 7 games. Severino has had a few bad starts in a row and as SU said recently, they need to watch his innings and give him longer periods between starts. It’s no time to panic but there is no way you win the division if you can’t win in Tampa. Time for Aaron Boone to earn his keep. Let’s see how he does.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
After the game discussions with Severino and Sanchez seemed to indicate that Sanchez didn’t see the ball that allowed the runner to score from second. I don’t know if this was a problem seeing the ball when it was pitched or after it got away from him but SU diagnosed Sanchez with a vision problem earlier in the season. It’s time to get those eyes checked.
Cano had a hustle problem which drove me crazy but he played every day and made all the plays defensively. He also produced offensively on a consistent basis. Sanchez has had injury problems, is hitting poorly (aside from a few big homeruns) and really doesn’t look right in the field. This did not start this season and it’s not just about athleticism and weight and quickness. He is a catcher who cannot catch the ball. Never mind the balls that get away, normal pitches regularly bounce out of his glove. You won’t see in in the box score but watching a game, you see the ball hitting the ground all the time. He also struggles with popups and catching throws on plays at home.
I don’t know if yesterday warrants benching but Boone’s effectiveness is on the line. If Boone doesn’t sit Sanchez he becomes Ben McAdoo. Actually, it’s unlikely that this will be Boone’s decision to make. He will have to discuss it with Cashman who will have the interns run the numbers of how catchers perform in Tampa after two embarrassing plays. The numbers will tell all.
Even though Sanchez should have hustled after the past ball I would have liked the third baseman to possibly go after the past ball too as it was rolling toward him, he has no gear on, and the runner was getting third no matter what. As for not running out the grounder, I cannot think of any excuse that would make it ok not to hustle – and to not hustle with two outs in the ninth inning.
No time to panic? We are 13-13 over the past 26 games. Our only consistent pitcher might be burning out. CC was grateful for a few extra days to chill. Yes, we all want another solid pitcher. However if that doesn’t happen I’ll take a #2 and a #3 pitcher in order to give CC, Severino, Tanaka and Grey an extra day to regroup.
Sanchez to be traded? Give the Met’s Sanchez and Frazier for DeGrom and I’m all in. So Romine begins the weak link offensively for us. I’ll take that all day long.
Of course we have time to right the ship. We were the Wild card team last year and look how close we got. Get another solid pitcher and let’s make the playoffs and see what happens from there.
Not really sure there is anyone that can talk to Sanchez so maybe it needs to be Brian Mitchell – the AAA manager. Suspending him in the minors seemed to work (temporarily, at least). No one will miss him and his .187 average with Romine behind the plate. Sanchez is losing games for the Yanks.
It’s one thing if his bat wasn’t coming through – as you no doubt know, they can’t all be generational – but his game sucks all around and his mentality needs to be checked. Send him down (for significant time) to send him a message.
Not a lot of love for Gary Sanchez today from the SU faithful. I think a demotion to the minors would be too harsh. I do think he would benefit from having his eyes checked and if they found something, that would be huge. The problem for the Yankees is that they don’t have a catcher in the minors with major league potential so they are basically stuck with Sanchez. Perhaps the Yankees truly generational player, Stanton, can have a big brother conversation with him? This all feels like a key part of the season now for the team.
In terms of leadership, it seems that Didi is pretty well liked. I like him too but he’s a little goofy. I feel like Judge should be the guy because he does everything right but he’s probably too quiet. I’m actually not sure it matters. In the history of baseball, did any player ever learn to hustle in his 20s? You either have it or you don’t.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem that the Yankees don’t have a catching prospect (although fans of our first rounder this year would disagree). The bigger problem would be if they didn’t have a competent replacement – which is not the case. I’d also add SF makes for a natural trade partner for the Yanks right now so perhaps they should check in on Posey. Regardless, Romine is a substantial upgrade over Sanchez in all respects and unlike Sanchez he has the ability to call a game where Sonny Gray doesn’t get blown up. Sending Sanchez down is more than a message move, it’s a baseball move as well.
Agree that they should consider demoting Sanchez to the minors because, as SU has pointed out, he has had these issues for years. I think the problem is that they can’t recall Higashioka for 10 days so they would have to reach pretty deep into the system and affect the 40-man roster for a backup catcher. Not only is it terrible that after his lethargic effort in the 1st inning (and sorry, after some initial confusion he clearly saw where the ball was as he loafed after it) he ended up costing them the game by a similar move in the 9th, but contrast that with the other hustle efforts by his teammates in that inning- Gardner legging out the infield hit and Hicks beating the play at second- optics couldn’t have been worse.
Got to love all of the “spare parts to the Mets for DeGrom” talk. Why don’t you offer to throw in Carmelo too while you are at it 😉
DeGrom is looking like Tom Seaver part 2 these days. Great pitcher with a mediocre record due to miniscule run support. Come to think of it, the Mets did trade Seaver for spare parts.
Hot off the presses- Sanchez has reaggravated his groin and goes back on the DL- Yankees wimp out on the disciplinary question.