Gary Sanchez has been appalling at the plate for the New York Yankees this season, and manager Aaron Boone has chosen to seat the battling catcher with an end goal to assist him with recovering his stroke.
Sanchez, 27, struck out four times in the Yankees’ 6-1 misfortune to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night and is presently in a 5-for-40 slide, hitting .130 with just 21 games left in the regular season. Erik Kratz was in the lineup Sunday and went 0-4 while batting eighth and catching Masahiro Tanaka, who assumed the misfortune in Sunday’s 5-1 defeat to the Orioles.
“Deliberated on it a lot last night. I just feel like this is the way I need to go right now with and hopefully a day off or two, or however I decide to do it here, can help get him going,” Boone said in a video conference Sunday afternoon. “It’s on all of us to get around him and try and help him get to what we know he can be.”
Boone said the move was not a prosecution on the catcher’s hard working attitude.
“Gary wants to play, and to his credit, behind the scenes he’s working his tail off and wants to be in there,” Boone said. “But in the end, I think this is the best thing right now.”
Sanchez, who has 48 strikeouts more than 32 games this season, was once among the most perilous hitters in the game however is slicing .130/.237/.350 with one double, seven home runs and 15 RBIs this season. A year ago, Sanchez hit 34 homers and 77 RBIs in 106 games.
His 48 strikeouts are the third-most through a player’s first 32 games of a season in Yankees history, behind just Tyler Austin (52 out of 2018) and Giancarlo Stanton (51 of every 2018), as indicated by ESPN Stats and Information.
“When you’ve had the kind of success that Gary’s had at the big league level, you want to just find that good feeling of ‘OK, I know when I’m right, I’m a beast. I’m a problem for teams,'” Boone said. “There are some subtle adjustments that can be made that hopefully can unlock him, and he’s got to find that inside.”
The Yankees’ offensive misfortunes are not restricted to Sanchez. The team is hitting .238, rearward in the American League East, behind the Orioles (.262), Red Sox (.260), Blue Jays (.252) and Rays (.243).
Outfielder Aaron Hicks, who is hitting .185 in his previous 10 games, was likewise out of the lineup with an end goal to offer him a psychological reprieve. Rookie Estevan Florial was called up after pitcher Miguel Yajure was come back to the club’s other training site.
“I hope our clubhouse always understands that ultimately the team and our success as a team comes first,” Boone said. “We care about who they are and their careers. You’re constantly trying to strike that balance. Along the way comes difficult decisions, decisions that players are certainly going to disagree with, and that’s OK.”
