AND NOW IT’S GARY’S TURN
Sanchez dealing with sore back, but Yanks call it normal spring wear & tear
BRADENTON, Fla. — Gary Sanchez is “down” with a sore back. The Yankees catcher felt the soreness after catching in back-toback games for the first time this spring, manager Aaron
Boone said. He could be shut down until Monday’s game in Clearwater.
“His back was a little sore this morning, so we’ll just back off of him today,” Boone said.
“I would say there’s a chance that he’ll be down tomorrow, but I would probably expect him back when we go to Clearwater.”
Sanchez, who is trying a new crouch this spring, struggled behind the plate in Friday night’s loss to the Orioles. He had a passed ball that scored a run and his pitcher was charged with a wild pitch that also allowed another run to cross the plate.
Sanchez left after the fourth inning, but Boone said that was not because of his back.
“I was going short with him because of the back-to-backs and kind of a long day over in Lakeland the day before where we were on defense a lot (in a 15-11 loss to the Ti
gers),” Boone said. “I was keeping his back-to-backs short.”
Before Saturday’s game against the Pirates, Boone said that he was not concerned about Sanchez’s back.
“I think it’s kind of normal wear and tear, first back-tobacks kind of thing,” Boone said. “I don’t think it’ll be much of an issue.”
After a 2019 season in which the Yankees had a record number (30) of players go on the injured list and an offseason to making changes to their strength, training, conditioning and medical staff, however, there is a spotlight on the health of players and how the Yankees handle it.
The night before, slugger Aaron Judge admitted that the shoulder/chest pain which had kept him off the field this spring dated back to a Sept. 18 diving catch. The outfielder has a stress fracture in his right first rib. He took shots to get through the postseason and tried to power through the offseason, saying he was motivated by falling short of the World Series again.
But that is likely to cost the Yankees games when the season starts and he is not ready. Boone said he can’t blame Judge for not shutting it down this winter.
“Sure. You always want guys to really communicate exactly what they’re thinking. But you also understand that as an athlete you kind of work through things and sometimes you don’t think something is that big a deal,” Boone said. “You’re not going to run in at every opportunity, especially when you’re away from the club.
“We try to create that environment where hopefully our guys are almost in a way over communicating with us as far as what’s going on so we can ultimately better serve them.”
Judge went through about a dozen tests, MRIs, CT scans and X-Rays over a span of about a month to finally find the diagnosis on Friday.
Sanchez’s back is something that Boone said is not that uncommon among catchers and he has dealt with similar issues in the past.
“Everyone, I think, walks in at some point sore or a little out of whack,” Boone said. “And I’m sure Gary has at some point. I don’t see this as much of an issue.”
But keeping Sanchez on the field is an issue. He missed 38 games last season with injuries and the year before he was plagued with a groin injury that kept him out 57 games.
The Yankees let veteran backup catcher Austine Romine leave as a free agent this winter and are relying on 29-year-old Kyle Higashioka, who is valued by the analytics department for his pitch framing. Higashioka is a career .164/.212./.336 hitter.
Sanchez is valued for his bat and with Judge and Giancarlo Stanton expected to start the season on the IL the Yankees need him in their lineup healthy.
Boone said he doesn’t think the back has contributed to the fact that Sanchez has been miserable at the plate this spring as well. He has one hit in 11 at-bats and four strikeouts.
“Timing hasn’t been real good. It’s kind of the old inbetween of catching up timing wise on the fastball and he’s out in front of some secondary pitches,” Boone said. “We feel like obviously with him it’s something that will come over time. He’s just got to keep working through it and get the reps, and he’ll get there.”