Is Yankees Prospect Gary Sanchez Ready for Bigs?

Flash back to a year ago and Yankees catching prospect Gary Sanchez was almost an after thought.

After slashing .253/.324/.412 with a .736 OPS combined across High-A and Double-A ball in 2013 and .270/.338/.406 with .743 OPS with the Trenton Thunder in 2014, Gary Sanchez was entering the 2015 season as yet another ‘over-hyped’ Yankees prospect.

However, after a killer 2015 season in which he was named to the Double-A All-Star team by averaging .262 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI in 58 games with the Trenton Thunder and later called up to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders where he raked to a .295/.357/.635 slash line with a .982 OPS, the now 23-year old Gary Sanchez is knocking at the door of the major leagues.

"“He improved in every category,’’ GM Brian Cashman told George A. King III of the New York Post“The bat was always there, now his defense has come a long way, blocking balls, calling a game and throwing. He always had a 70 [on the 20-80 scouting scale] arm. He has grown up before our eyes.’’"

Don’t get me wrong, Sanchez isn’t quite at the level of Brian McCann on the defensive side of the diamond just yet, but he still has room for improvement. But, as a former back stop, skipper Joe Girardi demands a solid backup catcher on his roster card, so one has to wonder if Gary Sanchez is truly ready to take over as the teams No.2 catcher and be a reliable position player when Brian McCann is on rest.

In my opinion, even though the Yankees dealt former backup catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Aaron Hicks, it never really seemed like Gary Sanchez was a lock to make the 2016 opening day roster.

The fact that the Yankees were one-of-three finalists to sign free-agent catcher Tyler Flowers during the MLB Winter Meetings would back my opinion, but Yankees team history would indicate otherwise.

Though a lot of other general managers prefer the backup catcher to be a veteran with MLB experience, the Yankees have a history of going with younger catchers.

Exhibit A, a then 25-year Jorge Posada backing up Joe Girardi in 1997 and getting a bulk of the playing time over the course of the next two seasons before taking over as the every-day catcher until 2009.

Exhibit B, a then 23-year old Francisco Cervelli playing 93 games while backing up an aging Jorge Posada in 2009 followed up by Russell Martin in 2010 and 2011.

The most recent example is John Ryan Murphy, who at age 24 started a total of 65 games behind the dish in 2015, 43 of which he started.

When Tyler Flowers elected to sign with the Atlanta Braves instead of the New York Yankees, he might have further opened the door for Gary Sanchez to make the Yankees in 2016.

Currently, the only other catcher on the 40-man roster is 27-year-old Austin Romine, who has been on the decline since John Ryan Murphy beat him out in Spring Training to make the Opening Day Roster last year.

But because Sanchez only has 132 at-bats and has called just 29 games from behind the plate above Double-A there is still a chance that he will need more experience at Triple-A to satisfy the Yankees before calling him up, regardless of whether or not he beats out Austin Romine this spring when they go head-to-head to try and make the 2016 Yankees roster.

What do you think Yankee fans? Will the Yankees go with the younger Gary Sanchez to start the season or will they give the nod to Austin Romine while Sanchez continues to develop in the minor leagues?

Let us know in the comments below.

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