Yankees Gary Sanchez Making History with Incredible Start to Career

New York Yankees rookie catcher Gary Sanchez seems to be making history with every swing since his promotion on August 3rd.

The games where Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez doesn’t homer are starting to become more notable than when he does. Coming into Sunday he has nine home runs in his last ten games. Just let that sink in.

It’s crazy to consider that after just 23 game played, Sanchez has already been the Yankees second most valuable position player with 2.1 wins above replacement, just behind shortstop Didi Gregorius who has accumulated 2.3 WAR in 122 games.

With his two-run blast in the fifth inning of Friday’s 14-4 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles, Sanchez became only the third player in MLB history to homer 10 times in his first 22 games, joining Red Sox first baseman George Scott and Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who actually accomplished the feat earlier this season. 

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But Sanchez wasn’t done. He added a solo shot off of Dylan Bundy in the fifth inning Saturday afternoon to become the fastest player in major league history to reach 11 home runs.

In addition, Friday’s long-ball gave him the record for most home runs in a calendar month by any Yankees rookie in history. Even more amazing, he set the record after playing just 19 games in August.

Katie Sharp of River Avenue Blues points out that Sanchez is also the first player in MLB history to reach at least 10 home runs and 30 hits through his first 22 career games.

Since his August call up, he’s put up an astounding .425/.481/.932 (272 wRC+) slash line in his first 81 plate appearances. The home runs are flashy, but make no mistake that Sanchez has been excellent all around. The Yankees have seen a number of flash-in-the-pan rookies flame out over the years, but Sanchez is no one-dimensional Shane Spencer or Kevin Maas type. 

There’s certainly some luck at play here. Sanchez is not going to be Barry Bonds forever. However, is it unreasonable to forecast him to hit .270/.350/.500 with 30 homers over a full season out of the cleanup spot next year? I don’t think so.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi has used every superlative imaginable to describe his young catcher over the last week, telling Ryan Hatch of NJ Advance Media,”It’s as good as I’ve seen to start a career.”

If dominant Tigers starting pitcher Michael Fulmer was removed from the field, Sanchez might also be a legitimate threat to take home American League Rookie of the Year honors, despite only playing in a third of the season (at most).

Next: Starter Chad Green is Key to Postseason Push

For the first time since

, the New York Yankees have a legitimate homegrown superstar hitting in the middle of their lineup, and man does he make them a lot more fun to watch.