Will Gary Sánchez Be the Yankees' Starting Catcher Next Season?

As Gio Urshela lined out to Tampa Bay Rays' third baseman Joey Wendle for the final out of Game 5 of the American League Division Series last week, ending the Yankees' season, Gary Sánchez stood helplessly in the dugout.

Had Urshela's line drive snuck past Wendle's outstretched glove into the left-field corner, followed by two more Bombers reaching with two men out, Sánchez would've had a chance with the bases loaded to flip the script and send his club to the next round.

Instead, the backstop and his teammates quietly packed up their gear, retreating to the visitor's clubhouse at Petco Park as the winter had officially begun.

That fateful Friday evening in San Diego wasn't the first time Sánchez looked on from the bench in a crucial situation this year. 

Kyle Higashioka may have started this summer's truncated campaign as New York's backup catcher, but as time passed and the games began to matter more, he began to be penciled into the starting lineup more often than his fellow backstop.

Over the Yankees' seven playoff games—from a pair of victories against Cleveland in the AL Wild Card Series to a five-game battle with the Rays—Higashioka started all but two contests.

"The loss of playing time [for Sánchez] to a large degree there at the end was more a result of what Higgy was doing," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday. "Higgy kept earning more and more opportunities with the way he was swinging the bat and obviously what he brings behind the plate."

Higashioka, 30, finished the season hitting .250 (12-for-48) with four home runs and 10 RBI over 16 games. Known as an elite receiver, the veteran and product of New York's farm system was praised all season long for his work behind the dish, picking up pitchers with clutch blocks and reliable framing. 

Factor in Higashioka's well-documented bond with ace Gerrit Cole—who took the ball in three of New York's seven postseason games—and his surge in opportunity was enough to overtake Sánchez down the stretch. That in mind, the ever-present discourse regarding Sánchez's playing time—and his struggles to produce between the lines this year—has shown no sign of going away entering the offseason.

In fact, when Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Wednesday that asking whether or not New York will have a competition between the club's pair of primary catchers heading into Spring Training was "a fair question."

"Obviously the way Gary Sanchez's season transpired and then the way it ended with Higashioka actually starting in the postseason as many games as he did, I think it's one of the discussion points we're going to have to focus on [this offseason]," Cashman said on Wednesday.

Just how disappointing was Sánchez's production this year? In 49 games, the 27-year-old hit .147 (23-for-156) with 64 strikeouts. He nearly went the entire season without a multi-hit game and while he did clobber 10 home runs, he had two-or-more strikeouts in nearly half of his games played (18 out of 49).

Those numbers are certainly an eye sore, but Cashman reiterated on Wednesday that Sánchez performed better than the numbers dictate. He even defended the backstop—as he's done before this summer—accrediting some of his struggles at the plate to the uniqueness of the 2020 regular season.

"Obviously this COVID season was unique. You saw a lot of unexpected performances throughout both leagues from players that obviously are capable of more," Cashman said. "I know Gary Sanchez is an extremely talented player and I know on the offensive side, I think he swung the bat better than those numbers look."

Sánchez ranked in the top three percent in Major League Baseball with a 17.4 percent barrel rate this season per Statcast. He finished the year with a 91.6 average exit velocity (his highest since 2016) and in the top nine percent in hard hit percentage (49.5).

In other words, he hit the ball hard throughout the season, up there with some of the best in the game. More often than not, however, those line drives and fly balls found leather rather than grass or the bleachers.

Focusing on the positives, as he did all season long, Boone singled out the improvements that Sánchez made during the final month of the regular season.

"I still have a ton of confidence in Gary Sanchez," Boone said. "I know it was a tough year for him. But I'll go back to, as I've said a lot of times over the last few weeks, I do feel like he was a different guy over the last month of the season. And it didn't necessarily show up in the numbers results wise offensively, but I think if you follow us, and you watched his at-bats, he was a different guy over the last month."

Cashman agreed, emphasizing Sánchez's effort to improve on the defensive end as well.

"On the defensive side, I know he was fully committed to [Yankees' catching director] Tanner Swanson and adjusting to Tanner Swanson's mechanical adjustments that would improve his receiving skills which I think did happen," Cashman explained.

Even with those positives in mind, Boone and Cashman didn't directly state that Sánchez would be the Yankees' starting catcher in 2021. The GM alluded to a myriad of conversations and evaluations that are set to transpire in the offseason, those that haven't occurred just yet. 

"We have to determine whether [Sánchez's struggles were] a byproduct of unique circumstances or more a reflection of what is to be expected as we move forward so we have to have those legitimate discussions that haven't happened yet," Cashman said. "It could very well be a change, it could very well be a competition, could very well be [something else] I don't know because we haven't had those conversations, but I know Gary's capable of a lot."

"I do still feel like in Gary's case, I do feel like his ceiling is really really special," Boone added. "It is incumbent on all of us to continue to work alongside him and try and help him realize that great potential that I feel like he still has."

Whether Sánchez is the top catcher on the Yankees' depth chart when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, or in the starting lineup on Opening Day, Cashman believes "better days" are ahead for this beleaguered star. 

"I know Gary's capable of a lot. There's no question in my mind about that," he said. "I'm sure he's as disappointed in this season as anybody, but I know he cares and he's committed and his career will continue no question about it and better days would be ahead for him. I truly believe that."

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