Time for Gary to catch Joe’s drift

CLEVELAND — It’s officially sink or swim time for Gary Sanchez behind the plate.

The Yankees have delivered a strong message to their tantalizing 24-year-old All-Star catcher smack dab in the middle of an AL East division title race: play better defensively or lose playing time.

So it’s up to Sanchez to respond accordingly.

After DHing on Saturday, Sanchez was out of the lineup entirely on Sunday, with Joe Girardi turning to backup Austin Romine again at catcher in the team’s 8-1 victory over the Indians at Progressive Field. Brett Gardner served as the DH.

Maybe Girardi didn’t want to call it a benching, but it certainly had the optics of one — sitting a guy who has moved into the defensive doghouse essentially one year after he hit his first MLB home run and took baseball by storm as a rookie with both his bat and his arm.

“The start is not the message,” Girardi said before the game. “The message came from us verbally that, ‘Your defense needs to improve, you need to get betand ter, you need to work at it.’ We have stressed how important it is. There are certainly situations where some people may not think that something that happens in the game affects the next game. But it could if it leads to 10 extra pitches for a reliever.”

Girardi, an excatcher himself, demands a lot from his backstops because he understands better than anyone how the position can affect the game. Later, the manager added: “His work has to translate into the games is the bottom line, and sometimes it takes longer than what you hope for.”

Sanchez leads the majors with 12 passed balls and 10 errors, and while he’s succeeding in other catching categories — like framing, game-calling and throwing with his rocket arm — he’s flopping in this one. Blocking pitches requires effort and focus — things that Sanchez had been criticized about in the minors.

Girardi said he expects Sanchez to be back in the lineup on Tuesday in Toronto. The Bombers have Monday off. On Sunday morning, Sanchez caught Sonny Gray’s bullpen session under the watchful eye of Girardi.

“Physically, he’s fine,” Girardi said of Sanchez, who he had planned to catch on Sunday before changing his mind. “We just really liked the job that Romine did last night. And Gary’s played 11 days in a row (including two DH days in the past three games he has played, along with reserve duty on July 30), so we figured we’d put Romine back there.” Asked about his work ethic and willingness to improve, Sanchez replied through a translator: “To be 100 percent correct here, I have to improve on defense. And I’m not perfect, and I understand that. The bottom line is that I need to improve on defense. That’s it.” Girardi doesn’t want Sanchez to become a full-time DH by any means, though it’s certainly plausible the manager could go more in that direction with Matt Holliday (back) on the disabled list and Romine receiving more starts at catcher. “I think if he catches to his ability — and we have him as a catcher — then we can DH other people and have his bat in the lineup, I think that’s when we’re at our best,” Girardi said. Girardi is right about that. Sanchez can be extremely impactful with his bat — as evidenced by his 20-homer, 53game surge as a rookie in 2016 — and the Yankees had scored just eight runs in their previous five games prior to Sunday’s eightrun outburst. Sanchez, who has 17 homers and an .827 OPS in 2017, was 1-for-10 with a homer and six strikeouts in the first three games of the series against the Indians. He has slashed .234/.282/.481 since the All-Star break. “Sometimes I wonder could that be a little bit of fatigue?” said Girardi, who noted that Sanchez has put on a little muscle weight. “And we’ve faced some really good pitchers. There are probably some other guys who are 1-for-10, too. I think he’s OK.”

Sanchez has dealt with his share of issues and suspensions in the minors. His behavior and work ethic have been questioned before. So it’s up to him to work harder and respond accordingly — because the second-year pro certainly has the talent to make it happen. And the Bombers are definitely better off with his bat in their lineup.