Seems there’s nothing stud Sanchize can’t do

SEATTLE – What else can we say about Gary Sanchez? The numbers the rookie has posted through the first three weeks of his career have been cartoonish. The Yankees’ media notes have all types of gaudy comparisons for his first 19 games, matching him up with names such as Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, Thurman Munson and Hideki Matsui. No pressure, kid. But the most interesting take I’ve heard came from Mark Teixeira following Monday night’s game against the Mariners. For all the talk about Sanchez’s gaudy offensive numbers, it’s his work behind the plate that has stood out to Teixeira, who made a comparison that might be even more outlandish than calling Sanchez the next Mantle.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen an arm on a catcher like that in a while,” Teixeira said. “Pudge Rodriguez, I was a rookie and my first spring training, he was still in Texas throwing BBs. He’s one of the best catchers to ever play the game. That arm is right up there with Pudge’s when he was in his prime. That’s something to say.”

“This kid can really throw,” Joe Girardi said. “He blocks, and defensively he’s been just as good as offensively. That’s a pretty strong comparison.”

Rodriguez has a very good shot at being inducted into the Hall of Fame this winter, assuming voters overlook any suspicion of performance-enhancing drug use, even though there’s never been any direct link between Rodriguez and steroids outside of Jose Canseco’s book. That’s all for another day, however. This is about Sanchez.

For anyone to compare a 23-year-old kid with less than 20 career games to one of the greatest catchers of all-time is quite a reach. Perhaps Sanchez puts together a career worthy of Cooperstown someday, but for now, he’s still a kid looking to establish himself as a big-leaguer.

“It definitely feels nice to hear a statement like that from somebody like Mark and a comparison with a great catcher like Ivan Rodriguez,” Sanchez said through a translator. “But there are a whole lot more