Fresh off Monday’s off-day, the Yankees pounded the Tigers in their series opener last night, and that’s exactly what I’m sure we were all hoping they’d do. The Tigers are not good, not by any stretch, and Matt Boyd has had a rough year. After getting shut down by a few too many crummy pitchers in recent weeks, the Yankees hung seven runs on Boyd in three innings and cruised to a 13-4 win. Perfect.
Leading the way offensively was catcher Gary Sanchez, who has been leading the way offensively for a few weeks now. He bookended last night’s attack with two two-run home runs. One pulled to left field in the first inning and the other driven the other way to right field in the ninth inning. The first home run traveled 493 feet. Second longest home run in baseball this season. Only Aaron Judge has hit a ball farther. He had that 495-footer against the Orioles.
Since arriving in the big leagues for good a little more than one year ago, Sanchez has slugged 45 home runs in 143 games, which is far and away the most by a catcher. Salvador Perez and Willson Contreras are tied for distant second with 27 home runs each. Here’s where Sanchez ranks among the 21 catchers with at least 300 plate appearances this season:
- AVG: .274 (7th)
- OBP: .348 (5th)
- SLG: .536 (1st)
- wRC+: 131 (3rd)
- HR: 25 (1st)
There’s a very good chance Sanchez will hit 30 home runs this season — again, he missed almost all of April with that biceps injury — and if he does, he’ll be the sixth catcher in history to swat 30+ homers in a season at age 24 or younger. Johnny Bench did it twice. Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Rudy York, and Matt Nokes did it as well. Sanchez is poised to join that group. Heck, he has a chance to join Bench and Piazza as the only catchers to hit 35+ homers in a season before their 25th birthday.
The knock against Sanchez has never been his bat, of course. He’s always been rough around the edges defensively, and while he has improved quite a bit over the years, he’s not going to get confused for Yadier Molina anytime soon. Sanchez currently leads baseball with 12 passed balls despite missing a month, and that’s a problem. It is. That’s 12 free bases (more, really, if two runners were on base) and some of those led directly to runs.
Blocking balls in the dirt is an ongoing problem and the Yankees continue to work with Sanchez to help him improve. They’re not giving him a first base mitt anytime soon. They’re sticking with him as a catcher because that’s where he’s most valuable to the team. Blocking balls has been a issue. Throwing has never been.
The only glaring deficiency in Sanchez’s game is his blocking. That’s it. He hits, he throws, and he frames. I guess he’s not much of a runner, but running isn’t all that important when you’re hitting so many glorious dingers. The point is this: Sanchez is a star. Not “he’ll be a star one day” or “he could be a star with some fine tuning” or anything like that. He is a star. Right now. Today. Barely more than one full year in his MLB career.
Is that hyperbole? Premature, maybe? No. It’s not. Sanchez, even with the passed ball issues, is an impact player on both sides of the ball. He’s the best power hitting catcher in baseball and one of the best throwers and pitch-framers. Gary’s blocking is an obvious deficiency he needs to work to improve, and he will. And you know what? Even if he never improves, he still does enough to help the Yankees win. More than enough.
The Yankees are in the middle of this youth movement right now and Sanchez, as the field general behind the plate and the thumper in the middle of the lineup, is the center piece. You build championship teams up the middle, and the Yankees have a bonafide franchise catcher behind the plate in Sanchez. He’s not going to be star one day. He is a star right now. Everything he’s done in the 143 games since being called up last year makes it crystal clear.