Sanchez a smash in Scranton
GARY Sanchez’s minor-league rehab start could not have gone better. The Yankees catcher went 2-for-4 with a home run in his first at-bat and an RBI double while catching seven innings for Triple-A Scranton on Tuesday. Sanchez is expected to catch again today, then DH for the RailRiders on Thursday morning before the Yankees determine whether he will go to Wrigley Field for the team’s weekend series against the Cubs, as expected.
Sanchez could play for the Yankees on Friday afternoon. The 24-year-old catcher has been out since he hit a foul ball and suffered a Grade 1 strain of his right brachialis muscle on April 8 in Baltimore.
Sanchez was hitting second in the lineup at the time of the injury, and Joe Girardi believes it will probably stay that way.
“I have started to think about it. I’ll probably talk to my coaches a little bit more. I want to see how he feels. My inkling is maybe put him back in the No. 2 hole,” Girardi said.
Last season, Sanchez belted 20 homers in just 53 games as a rookie. He has one homer in 20 at-bats in 2017. But Austin Romine has performed well behind the dish in Sanchez’s absence, ranking in the top-10 in baseball in catcher’s ERA.
CRAMPED UP
Romine exited Tuesday night’s game at the start of the seventh inning after cramping in his right groin while running to third base on Chase Headley’s RBI single in the sixth.
Romine stayed at third after he was looked at by the training staff, but was replaced by Kyle Higashioka after the inning.
“We think Romine was more dehydrated than anything,” Girardi said. “The strength was there, he could stretch fine, it was more cramping than anything. We’ll know a lot more tomorrow, but I don’t think it changes anything.”
Jacoby Ellsbury has a bruised nerve in his left elbow, according to an MRI taken Tuesday. The Yankees will wait a few days before they make a decision on whether the 33-year-old center fielder will require a stint on the disabled list.
Ellsbury suffered the injury making a leaping catch and crashing into the wall in the sixth inning of Monday night’s loss to the Blue Jays.
“I think you have to see how available he is as a player going into a National League city,” Joe Girardi said, referring to the team’s upcoming interleague series over the weekend against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. “It’s different if you’re in an American League city. He’s stiff today. So if he hasn’t made some improvement and we feel like he’s a complete player, then we’ve probably got to make a move.” — with John Healy