SHUFFLED OFF IN BUFFALO!
Can’t blame Sanchez for fiasco vs. Jays
BUFFALO — Gary Sanchez was out of the lineup for the second straight game Monday, as the Yankees began a crucial series at the Blue Jays’ temporary home at Sahlen Field. Before the first game of this important series, Aaron Boone said he was not sure when the struggling catcher would get back in there.
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “I mean, it could be tomorrow or the next day. We’ll kind of get through today and talk through with the coaches and see how we want to move forward.”
The final straw seemed to come this weekend. Sanchez homered in the first game against the Orioles — the Yankees’ only win in the series — and then struck out in seven straight at-bats. It’s been all too common of a scene this year. Sanchez has struck out 48 times in 100 at-bats. He has 13 hits on the season, seven of which are home runs. He has driven in 15 runs and walked 11 times.
Boone benched Sanchez for Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles, saying he wanted Sanchez to work on his swing with hitting coach Marcus Thames, but has been vague about what specifically he sees with him at the plate.
Scouts who have watched Sanchez this season said he is getting beat on fastballs high and inside. They also said his pitch recognition is off right now. Boone talked about the trouble recognizing pitches two weeks ago and Monday he touched on the issues with fastballs when asked about how he will know Sanchez is ready to come back.
“So, I’ll sit down with Marcus again tonight and see how the work went today… I think it’s just more about making that little fine-tune adjustment to where you are getting back to really dominating the fastball,” Boone said. “As a hitter, I think that’s where it all begins. You want to be able to handle the fastball and when you’re on time and in a good position to really hit the fastball well, that’s usually when you recognize and are able to lay off off-speed pitches out of the zone or or when a mistake off-speed shows up, it kind of of can hit itself sometimes.
“Again, you want to do so well, I know Gary wants to do so well, he worked so hard at it hitting behind the scenes that I just want him to go up there and dominate the heater,” Boone said. “If he can get back to doing that, we know he can go on a special run for us.”
The Yankees need any kind of positive run.
They came in here in third place in the American League East for the first time since April of last year. While the Rays are running away with the division — and the top seed that will go with it — the Bombers are now fighting with the Blue Jays for that second guaranteed playoff spot out of the division and trying to avoid the two wild-card spots.
The focus is on Sanchez right now, because the Yankees’ offense has been abysmal.
When starting the season 16-6, the Yankees were hitting .263, slugging .487 and averaging nearly six runs a game. In the last 18 games before Monday night, as they went 5-13, the Yankees were hitting .203 with 18 home runs and averaging under four runs a game.
They are without sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who are on the injured list. They lost Gio Urshela on Friday night. While Boone said he is confident they will all get back before the end of the season, the Yankees need a reset right now.