SANCHEZ THE REAL DEAL

Eleven home runs in 23 games have made Gary Sanchez the talk of baseball, never mind just New York. Of course, names of past Yankee flash-in-the-pans like Kevin Maas and Shane Spencer demand caution in anointing him the next Babe Ruth, yet scouts are quickly becoming convinced he’s the real thing.

One who saw him at Yankee Stadium Friday night was raving about Sanchez’s second-inning at-bat against Yovani Gallardo, in which he lined a 3-2 slider on the outside corner to right field for an RBI double.

“You can tell he has an idea up there, that’s what I like,” the scout said. “Gallardo was behind 3-1, threw him a good slider away that Sanchez swung at, probably looking fastball. So then Gallardo comes back with another slider, in just about the same spot, and the kid takes it the other way with some pop.

“He’s not up there swinging for the fences. He doesn’t need to, with his power. If he’s not here for a long time, I’ll be shocked.”