Gary can’t stop passed balls
For the third straight game Friday night in a loss to the Blue Jays, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez allowed a passed ball. This time, there were Toronto runners on first and second with the game tied at 5 in the fifth inning. With the count 2-2 to the right-handed Aledmys Diaz, Yankees reliever Domingo German yanked a fastball down and away. Sanchez was set up inside to Diaz, but instead of dropping to his knees and blocking the low pitch, he tried to backhand it.
The ball scooted under his glove and between his legs before trickling to the backstop. The runners advanced to second and third, and German wound up walking Diaz on the next pitch.
That is now four passed balls for Sanchez in the past three games. He was tied for the major-league lead in 2017 with 16 passed balls, and those defensive struggles have continued into this year.
Manager Aaron Boone called Friday night’s passed ball a “fringy play” because German missed his target by such a wide margin.
CC Sabathia took the blame for one of Sanchez’s two passed balls on Thursday night. The lefthander said he and Sanchez had a miscommunication; Sanchez was expecting a slider and Sabathia threw a cutter.
“We’ve got to continue to work at it, and he is,” Boone said of Sanchez. “It’s always a concern when we evaluate what we’re doing, how we’re doing. I’ve seen enough positives, especially with blocking and the way he is in his work. So we all need to continue to get better, but I do view it as a bump in the road.”
BOONE TALKS SAWX
Yes, it’s still April. And yes, analyzing the standings this early in the season is typically a useless endeavor.
But it is nonetheless hard to ignore what the Red Sox have done to open this 2018 campaign and the sizable lead they’ve built over the divisionrival Yankees — the preseason odds-on favorites to win the A.L East — less than 20 games into the year. Just ask Boone. “I know they win every day. By a lot.” the Yankees manager said Friday before his team lost to the Blue Jays at the Stadium. “They’re playing great. But yeah, we’re trying to get our own house in order and right and trying to get guys healthy on the mend and just trying to get traction and us playing well. That’s really all you concern yourself with, especially at this point in the season. But it’s hard not to notice that they’re running through the league pretty well right now.”
WADING IN
Tyler Wade has been one of the worst hitters in the majors this season. Among players with at least 30 plate appearances in 2018, Wade’s .086 average ranks fifth-worst in MLB.
Boone said the coaching staff has discussed sending Wade back to the minors to allow him to develop more at the plate. The 23-year-old infielder is a career .129 hitter in 43 major-league games. He didn’t play Friday night.
“Look, we always have conversations about what’s best for particular players,” Boone said. “Some of Tyler not playing has been we saw a string a lefties in there, so we’re trying to match it up as best we can on a given day.
“Plus he had the sickness where he was down for like a day and a half where he wasn’t really available to us. And then you have a couple rainouts, so I think the circumstances have dictated him being out of there a little more. And then other guys (are) producing, and that’s part of it too. But we always have those kinds of conversations.”
GLEYBER BACK
Torres was pulled from a Triple-A contest on Monday because of mid-back tightness. But he returned to the lineup Wednesday, going 1-for-2 with two walks, a double and an RBI.
And on Friday, he reported feeling “100 percent,” according to the Times Leader. Torres made his second start of the season at second base on Friday after playing eight straight games at third.