What’s the catch?
For most of 17 seasons, Jorge Posada crouched behind home plate as the Yankees starting catcher, winning five World Series titles and accumulating 275 home runs to become one of the best at the position in team history.
But Posada, who returned to Yankee Stadium to participate in his first Old-Timers’ Day on Sunday, could not praise the newest Yankees catcher enough for what he has accomplished in such a short amount of time.
“I think about how strong he is,” Posada said of Gary Sanchez, who hit a home run into Monument Park in the fifth inning in a 7-6 loss. “He’s going to be durable because his body is put together really well. I just hope he stays hungry.”
Sanchez would be smart heed Posada’s advice.
During his career, Posada was a fiery leader in the Yankees clubhouse, unafraid to motivate others with stern words while producing offensively. From 2000-07, Posada averaged 128 games a season behind the plate and finished third in the MVP voting in 2003, when he posted a .281/.405/.518 slash line with career highs in home runs (30) and RBIs (101).
But even the five-time AllStar and Silver Slugger Award winner never put up the type of numbers Sanchez has teased.
In 100 career games, including Sunday’s 1-for-4 effort, Sanchez has blasted 33 homers — tying Rudy York for the second-most home runs in history through 100 career games — and posted a slugging percentage of .610. Over his past 19 games, the Yankees catcher has hit nine homers and driven in 25 runs to go along with a career 36 percent mark throwing out runners on stolen-base attempts.
“He’s got a plus arm,” Posada said. “He’s able to hit the ball to all fields, and he has a really good idea at the plate.”
The next step in Sanchez’s development is what he does in the offseason, according to Posada. The former Yankees catcher said the current one will have to continue to im- prove in the offseason — keeping himself in shape, working on flexibility and pitch-framing.
Although Sanchez hasn’t played a full season yet, Posada doesn’t think it’s too early to put him in the conversation as one of the top catchers in the majors.
“When you are putting up the numbers like he can, [he] will be,” Posada said.