Yankees eke out a win, but team needs a thunderbolt to strike

Guilty As Charged

Sanchez, however, is another matter. His situation is more of a disciplinary move and a legitimate wake-up call for his defensive lapses and his seeming inability to be “in the game,” especially when it comes to handling his pitchers and calling a game.

The numbers support the claim as well. Sanchez has the most passed balls of any catcher with fourteen and the most errors with ten. As a catcher, it might sound mundane, but first and foremost, you have to catch the ball.

Noticeably, Sanchez was the DH again last night as Girardi chose Austin Romine to catch Jordan Montgomery, who pitched lights out with a curve ball Romine kept calling for over and over again.

As noted yesterday in my column, Girardi has all but run out of patience with Sanchez and his post-game press conference Friday night pulled no punches about his catcher’s defensive play, stopping just short of calling Sanchez out for not hustling.

Girardi insists that Sanchez has received and continues to receive excellent instruction. But for whatever reason, he is not carrying it into game situations.

Add to that, Sanchez’s 31 extra base hits and .265 batting average is nothing to write home about, especially when compared to a player like Didi Gregorius, who has contributed 36 extra base hits and is batting .304.

Sanchez is a good player, but at this point, his career is bound to take a right-hand turn to first base if he can’t (or won’t!) straighten out his defensive woes.

Like Judge, Sanchez was rushed into the limelight by the Yankees and the media, declared at one point to be the team’s next Captain and the Face Of The Team.

Expectations remain high, and that’s just something Sanchez is going to have to mature into. A wake-up call while staying in a Hartford motel might be just what the doctor ordered.