Has Gary Sanchez Already Won Yankees Starting Catcher Job?

Yankees top prospect Gary Sanchez has gotten the majority of time behind the plate since his call up. Has he supplanted Brian McCann as starting catcher?

Since his promotion on August 3rd, Gary Sanchez has been in Yankees manager Joe Girardi‘s starting lineup 11 times over a 13 game span. Surprisingly, seven of those starts have come behind the plate.

During the same time frame, incumbent starting catcher Brian McCann has gotten just two games in the field, with most of his playing time coming at designated hitter.

Further complicating the issue is the presence of a third catcher on the Yankees roster, Austin Romine. The 27-year-old has emerged as a decent reserve option this year and has actually seen more time behind the plate than McCann (four starts vs. two) since Sanchez’s promotion. 

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When he was first called up, many assumed that Sanchez would primarily fill Alex Rodriguez‘s vacated DH role, and only see sporadic time at catcher. Instead, he may have already sewn up the starting catcher job for 2017 with his strong performance.

Sanchez has done an excellent job shutting down the running game with his cannon arm, and former Yankees pitcher David Cone of the YES Network broadcast team consistently praises his work calling games, especially his aggressiveness about throwing inside to hitters.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Sanchez has hit four homers in his last six games and is 15-for-41 with nine runs scored and 10 RBI since his promotion. The 23-year-old has had a huge impact on both sides of the ball and is forcing Girardi’s hand in a sense.

Sanchez’s success may encourage the Yankees to continue to shop McCann this month and into the offseason. The veteran catcher has cleared trade waivers, and last we heard the Atlanta Braves remained interested in reacquiring him.

Also helping Sanchez’s case is the fact that McCann has been in a terrible slump of late, dropping his overall line on the season to .232/.334/.406 (100 wRC+). That’s not bad for a catcher of course, but may be well short of what Sanchez could provide the team from the looks of it.

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The Yankees front office and coaching staff should really be praised for giving all these young players regular playing time. It would be very easy to have Sanchez be a typical backup catcher who plays once or twice a week. Instead, the team has taken a risk by playing him everyday, and it is paying off in a huge way.