Yankees Gary Sanchez won’t fly under the radar anymore

Sports Illustrated recently released it’s Top 100 Players of 2018, including three Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton (No. 13), Aaron Judge (No. 14) and Gary Sanchez (No. 48) — so much for Sanchez flying under the radar while the high-flyers garner all the attention in 2018.

Sports Illustrated’s top 100 list is for impact players, those players whose past performance likely indicates that they will have an impact on the season ahead. Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is fast becoming recognized as an elite player in the league.

Sanchez, took a lot of unwarranted slack for his defense last season, particularly for the league-leading number of passed balls he allowed and the number of wild pitches that occurred.

However, as Sports Illustrated points out:

"Sanchez also threw out 38% of would-be-base thieves in a league where 27% was average, and was 3.5 games above average according to Baseball Prospectus’ pitch-framing metrics (and 2 runs above average overall, including throwing and blocking)."

Bleacher Report ranked Sanchez as the No. 2 catcher in MLB in 2017 behind only Buster Posey.  Yankees’ fans have little to worry about with this young catcher behind the plate.

Sanchez has already reported to Spring Training slimmer and has reportedly said that he worked on defense during the offseason to eliminate “all the little issues” he had in ’17.

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On offense — Sanchez, Stanton and Aaron Judge give the Yankees three of the most feared right-handed hitters in the game.

In 2016, Sanchez had a spectacular rookie campaign with a .299/.376/.657 slash line, with 20 home runs, showing the promise he would fulfill in 2017.

Despite missing the first month of the season due to injury, Sanchez hit .278/.345/.531 with 33 home runs in ’17. Along the way, he was an All-Star and picked up a Silver Slugger Award.

Let’s not forget, Sanchez participated in the 2017 MLB Home Run Derby, upsetting then-Miami Marlins’ outfielder Stanton, 17–16 in the first round before losing to Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó 11–10 in the second round.

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On a team where expectations for Judge and Stanton are sky-high, expectations for Sanchez are just as high, as his prowess behind the plate and his power bat will be counted on to make a significant impact this season.