HEAD & SHOULDER
Sanchez on 2019 rebound: 'Health is No. 1 thing'
TAMPA — Like just about everyone else attached to the Yankees, Gary Sanchez would like to imagine his 2018 season never happened.
After a stunning debut in 2016 following his August call-up, Sanchez became an All-Star the next season.
But last year was mostly a disaster. Sanchez had issues at the plate and behind it, as well as with just being able to stay on the field.
He’s hoping that is behind him as spring training begins.
“I’m just focusing on the positive things and the future,’’ Sanchez said through an interpreter Thursday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “There’s no reason to keep dwelling on the past and a bad year. To be honest with you, I’ve forgotten about last year already.’’
That seems hard to believe, considering what Sanchez went through. No one allowed more passed balls than Sanchez, and the one thing he seemingly could always rely on — his bat — also failed him.
Just 22 players who finished with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title had a worse OPS than Sanchez’s .697.
Perhaps some of his woes could be blamed on his left shoulder, which he had surgically repaired in the offseason and general manager Brian Cashman has said bothered him at various times each of the previous two seasons.
“Health is the No. 1 thing,’’ Sanchez said. “I know if I am healthy, I’ll have an opportunity to play every day and help contribute the way I know how. To me, that’s the No. 1 thing: stay healthy.’’
But Sanchez, 26, also insisted his shoulder wasn’t the only reason his performance plummeted last year.
“I can’t use that as an excuse,’’ Sanchez said. “Injuries are part of the game. It was definitely a tough season, full of adversity, for sure. But I have to put it behind me.’’
Manager Aaron Boone added that despite being slowed by rehab from his shoulder surgery, Sanchez is as good physically as he’s been “in a couple of years” and has fared well in the testing he’s undergone, such as his vertical leap.
Boone and Sanchez acknowledged he likely won’t play in any games for the first week of the Grapefruit League schedule, so Sanchez probably will be back around March 3, giving him more than three weeks to get ready for Opening Day.
And Boone insisted even though Sanchez won’t be in the lineup initially, he isn’t being held back from doing anything and is “full steam ahead.”
Boone has preached pa- tience with Sanchez, whom he visited in the Dominican Republic during the offseason. And he did so again Thursday.
“Being young [and] catcher is a challenging position, especially when you consider he’s a guy that is truly a two-way player and carries as much of a load as he does offensively,” Boone said.
The growing pains are to be expected, according to the manager.
“Because of the demands that come with being behind the plate, that doesn’t always happen [quickly] for a catcher at a young age,’’ Boone said.
For Sanchez, it’s taken longer than many expected, thanks in part to the incredible start to his career.
Despite what Sanchez has gone through the past two years, Cashman and Boone have consistently stood by him and that stance doesn’t appear to have changed.
“It’s important for us to continue to work alongside him,” Boone said, “Because he’s such an important player for us.”