THERE’S A CATCH
Gary should be behind dish daily — if his ‘D’ holds up
FORT MYERS — Aaron Boone’s philosophy of not having personal catchers for any of his starting pitchers seems like a good idea in theory — a way of showing confidence in Gary Sanchez as Boone heads into his first season as manager of the Yankees.
Sanchez had his share of defensive struggles last season — leading to a benching in Cleveland — but seemingly possesses the ability to improve in areas like blocking and receiving throws to the plate. And the Bombers, as Boone said, clearly want him to catch the bulk of the games — even with the presence of solid backup Austin Romine.
Regardless, the catchers’ ERA splits by starter from the 2017 regular season suggest that Boone’s philosophy may not work out as hoped. Here’s the breakdown:
Jordan Montgomery With Romine (20 starts) .................. 3.68 With Sanchez (6 starts) .................... 4.50
Masahiro Tanaka With Romine (10 starts) .................... 3.15 With Sanchez (21 starts) ................. 5.34
Sonny Gray With Romine (3 starts) ...................... 1.45 With Sanchez (8 starts) .................... 4.63
CC Sabathia With Romine (5 starts) ...................... 5.79 With Sanchez (20 starts) ................. 2.96
Luis Severino With Romine (9 starts) ..................... 3.29 With Sanchez (22 starts) ................. 2.86 But here was Boone when asked about those stats: “I don’t see it being an issue, hopefully,” he said. “We’ll always evaluate, but the bottom line is we’ve got an elite-level catcher that we’re not going to sit down and get into that personal stuff too much. I think Gary’s in a really good place with all the guys you mentioned (Montgomery, Tanaka and Gray), so it’s not even on my board right now.” Montgomery threw six innings of one-run ball on Thursday, pitching aggressively with Romine behind the plate. “This was the first time I’ve thrown to Romine this year, so that’s not going to be an issue,” Montgomery said after his final spring tuneup. “Me and Gary have been doing pretty good, so we’re going to keep being on the same page and he can keep hitting homers for me.”
That is what separates Sanchez from other catchers — his incredible offensive ability — which makes keeping him behind the plate for now and several years to come extremely enticing. And with Giancarlo Stanton serving as the regular DH, Sanchez is going to need to deliver behind the dish.
“His focus always worries me,” a scout said recently of Sanchez. “He’s a helluva player, don’t get me wrong, but for me he’s got a ways to go. Last year, he got down late when blocking the ball. He doesn’t have slow feet, so he’s quick enough to do a better job than he does. He won’t be able to DH as much with all the other guys they have there, and I worry about him wearing down.”
Boone explained before Thursday’s game that he doesn’t want to pigeonhole guys — ending up in a situation where the Yankees have to change things up when they are catching Sanchez every day in the playoffs. A fair point, sure. ut I do wonder if a particular starter struggles with Sanchez over a growing sample size whether the analytically-savvy Bombers decide to go with Romine on a regular basis instead — especially when every game is important to the championship goals this franchise has.
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