EASY DOES IT
Sanchez to take it easy for a few days with ailing back
TAMPA — While the Yankees said they weren’t too concerned with the issue, Gary Sanchez will likely be out a few days with a sore back. The Yankees catcher said Sunday morning he was unlikely to take batting practice on Sunday and he was not on the travel roster for Monday’s trip to Clearwater.
“It’s been a little tight, a little uncomfortable. We’re treating it,” Sanchez said through Yankees interpreter Marlon Abreu. “After catching those two games back to back, I just thought it was better for me to take care of it now. This is the right time to take care of everything. You don’t want to rush anything, especially spring training. You have time. So I talked to the trainers and the idea is to take a couple of days and see how it goes.
“Hopefully
[I will keep] progressing.”
Aaron Boone adjusted his schedule Sunday and thinks that Sanchez will play Tuesday in Tampa against the Blue Jays.
After that the Yankees are on a long overnight trip to the east coast, so Friday would be the next chance to get Sanchez in the lineup.
“My original schedule had him off, and then playing there… Wanting to kind of give him an extra day, kind of kept it that way so my hope is, he’ll be able to play against the Blue Jays,” Boone said. “That’s how I had it penciled in but we’ll just kind of see he how he responds. I know he is better today. I know he’s in there doing even some catching drills a little while ago. So, hoping he should be good to go Tuesday.”
Sanchez said it was in his “lower and a little bit of the middle” of his back. He said his back had been bothering him off and on this spring. While he did work with the trainers, Sanchez has not had an MRI on his back.
“I’ve been to the training room and they’ve checked,” Sanchez said. “They’ve done different tests. They’ve all seen me and they’ve told me how to go about it.”
The Yankees handling of injuries is under scrutiny this spring and not just because of last year’s record number of players who went on the injured list. Three players have been diagnosed and lost time this spring because of injuries suffered at the end of last season; Luis Severino had an undiagnosed, partially torn UCL, Aaron Judge had an undiagnosed stress fracture in his rib and James Paxton had an undiagnosed cyst on his spine.
Boone said Saturday
Sanchez probably dealt with back soreness at some point last season too, but the catcher has never been on the IL with a back issue. The Yankees catchers have been adapting to a new stance behind the plate this spring, implemented by catching coach Tanner Swanson, who was brought in this winter to improve the 27-year old’s defense. Sanchez could not say if that contributed to the back issue.
“I feel good receiving. I definitely feel good,” Sanchez said. “At the same time, I don’t know if (the back tightness) is a result of that. I just don’t know.”
Boone pushed back against that idea when given the chance.
“I mean that’s that’s probably an easy thing to run to but I’m not so sure. You know, part of the stance, I think, is to alleviate some of the wear and tear too and my hope is that over the long haul that it will be something that’s a little less demanding physically,” Boone said. “You know when I watch with my eyes, that’s what I’m seeing, I’m seeing him in a more comfortable, less demanding position but that said it’s different. So I guess there’s certainly a possibility that could be a contributor.”
Sanchez has had a history of injuries over his five years in the big leagues, but not including his back. 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.
“As a baseball player, you never want to be hurt. You never want to have any kind of injury that holds you back,” Sanchez said. “I just want to be healthy and try to do what I need to do to get back.”