The Gary Sanchez Comparisons Begin With Who?

Now that we know what Gary Sanchez is capable of, it’s only natural to wonder which greats of the game he can potentially stack up to.

Another game, another home run. On Wednesday afternoon against the Seattle Mariners, Gary Sanchez got the party started early with a solo shot in the top of the 1st inning. From there on, the Yankees didn’t look back winning easily, 5-0; although Sanchez did a bit of watching, as the Mariners issued him two free passes later on in the contest.

From there on, the Yankees didn’t look back winning easily, 5-0; although Sanchez did a bit of watching, as the Mariners issued him two free passes later on in the contest.

Immediately following the game, I started to wonder if there was another catcher that I’ve seen in my lifetime that compares to the 23-year-old rookie. After all, the nine home runs hit in his first 21 games is something no catcher has ever done before.

Now please keep in mind what we’re witnessing is still a small sample size, so the names I’m about to bring up, which are, or one day will be enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame, are only truly comparable if Sanchez is to play at this level for the next seven or eight seasons.

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But as of today, Sanchez’s defensive proficiency, which includes the brilliant calling of a game, blocking balls in the dirt, and that insanely strong throwing arm, most closely resembles that of Ivan Rodriguez.

‘Pudge’ Rodriguez was one of the most feared men behind the plate when it came opposing players not wanting to steal bases against him. When his career was all said and done, after 21 glorious seasons, Pudge threw out 661 runners for a caught stealing percentage of 46, ranking him 78th all-time.

Sanchez has already thrown out five of seven would-be base stealers for well above the 40% he averaged in all levels of the Minor Leagues combined. He currently stands at 71% CS, in case you were wondering.

And in the 96 innings Sanchez has caught, he’s amassed 95 putouts, 14 assists, 0 errors, 1 double play and a fielding percentage of 1.000%.

Mark Teixeira, a man with first-hand knowledge of both the rookie and the future Baseball Hall of Famer, likens Sanchez to his one-time teammate in Texas:

"I don’t know if I’ve seen an arm on a catcher like that in a while. … Pudge Rodriguez, when I was a rookie in my first spring training, he was still in Texas, throwing BBs. That arm is right up there with Pudge’s when he was in his prime. … You’d better make sure you’re safe, because if he has any chance to get you, he’s gonna get you. … You just marvel at what he’s doing right now and enjoy it. The hope is he stays healthy and has a great career. But his first few weeks are proving to be pretty exciting."

Offensively, it’s a bit harder to pinpoint which field general Sanchez most resembles. He’s much larger at 6’2″, 220lbs than that of Pudge (5’9″, 205lbs) or Yadier Molina (5’11”, 205lbs).

He also not quite as big as say, Salvador Perez (6’3″, 240lbs) or Wilson Ramos (6’1″, 255lbs). But then it hit me! He’s a hybrid or sorts. Sanchez has a similar athletic build and smooth compact swing that results in a high batting average and low strikeout totals as that of Buster Posey (6’1″, 215 lbs).

The two men are ever-so-graceful in their approach at the plate. Both possess a keen batters eye with the ability to hit to all fields, no matter the situation.

However, Sanchez’s power numbers, most notably home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage POTENTIALLY– translate to the newly enshrined Mike Piazza.

With the flick of the wrist, Piazza could change the score of a game, simply by elongating that muscular frame, and whipping his devastating bat speed through the strike zone for a no doubt round tripper.

In my estimation, if Sanchez is able to take a chunk from Pudge’s game, a bit of Posey’s, and a slice from Piazza’s, the Yankees will have the next great duel-threat player on their hands.

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But for right now, the young man from the Dominican Republic is taking one game at a time, enjoying the praise, while letting his spectacular play speak for itself:

"It definitely feels nice to hear a statement like that from somebody like Mark (Teixeira) and a comparison with a great catcher like Ivan Rodriguez. But there are a whole lot more games to come, so we’ll see."

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