Gary behind plate again; catches rook Garcia for first time
BUFFALO — Gary Sanchez was back in the lineup Wednesday night, catching rookie right-hander Deivi Garcia for the first time this season. With the Yankees' offense struggling and having benched Sanchez for two games, manager Aaron Boone said he felt he needed to go with the veteran catcher.
“We want Gary in there. I mean, that's the bottom line,” Boone said before Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field. “Obviously I sat him for a couple days. Didn't get results last night, but thought he had pretty good at-bats. Hopefully, if we're gonna be at our best, we need to get Gary in a place where he can get rolling offensive ly. We know he has the ability to really impact us and even carry us at times when he gets really hot.”
It didn't work out too well for Sanchezon Wednesday, but it was just fine for Garcia.
Sanchez went 0-for-3 with a walk. Garcia pitched seven brilliant innings, allowing two runs, striking out six without a walk in the 7-2 win as the Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak.
In his first two starts, Garcia worked with Erik Kratz. The journeyman 40-year old catcher had worked with the 21-year old Garcia in the minors and they have a strong bond. Garcia calls Kratz “dad,” and before Garcia's major league debut, TV cameras caught him Kratz saying he was just going out to “play catch with my son.”
Kratz has earned the praise of veteran pitchers like J.A. Happ as well.
Boone had reached the point where he could not keep sending Sanchez out there on Saturday night. The final straw seemed to be this weekend, when after hitting a home run in the first game of the series against the Orioles (the only game the Yankees won), Sanchez struck out in seven straight at-bats. It's been all too common a scene this year. Sanchez has struck out 49 times in 104 at-bats and has just 13 hits on the season, seven of which are home runs. He has driven in 15 runs and walked 11 times.
NO PROBLEM
When Deivi Garcia came out of the game after the seventh inning, TV cameras caught the team trainer looking at his right hand. The Yankees' being the team that has gone through every injury imaginable for the last two years, there was some concern that he might have a problem.
Garcia, however, said he is fine. He was putting too much pressure on his finger when throwing his fastball Wednesday night, so he had a little “seam burn.”
“But it's not a problem,” Garcia said, “not an issue at all.”
The Yankees can't afford to have Garcia get hurt. At this point, he's their stopper, delivering seven strong innings in the Yankees' first win in six games.
HOLDING OUT HOPE
James Paxton, who has been on the injured list since Aug. 24 with a left forearm flexor strain, played catch at Yankees Stadium on Wednesday. Boone said even though the lefty has yet to throw off the mound, they are still hoping he will be able to return in the final 17 games of the regular season.
“I think there's a chance he could be back in the regular season on some level,” Boone said. “That's the hope.”
Boone said there is a chance Paxton would start throwing off the mound as early as this weekend.
“He threw again today. So we'll see when I think we're kind of mapping out now like, what's the best possibility …. How many innings can we get out of him by the end of the year and hopefully on into the playoffs and things like that,” Boone said.