Yankees: Brian Cashman comments on the struggling Gary Sanchez

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez hasn’t been nearly as productive as he was just one season ago. Despite Sanchez struggling on both sides of the ball, general manager Brian Cashman still believes in him.

The Yankees called up Gary Sanchez to the major leagues on May 13, 2016. He went hitless, going 0-4 against White Sox and staff ace (at the time) Chris Sale. The Yanks ended up losing that game, 7-3.

Sanchez was sent back down to Triple-A after that first contest. El Gary was called back up to the major leagues — and this time for good on August 23, 2016. He soon took the majors by storm, hitting .278 with 33 home runs, and 90 RBIs — slashing .345/.531/.876.

El Gary a force to be reckoned with especially with those trying to swipe bags on him. Opponents tried to steal .89 of bases per game, but The Kraken threw rockets — so that number dropped down to .56. The lesson was soon learned: Don’t run on Gary.

Sanchez was great in the second half of 2016, along with a fantastic full season under his belt in 2017. Sanchez had a .299 batting average in 2016, hitting 20 home runs and 42 RBIs — slashing .376/.657/1.033. In 2017, he had a .278 batting average hitting 33 home runs and 90 RBIs — slashing .345/.531/.376.

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This year’s been a completely different story, as he’s struggled at the plate with a .184 batting average, hitting 16 home runs and 47 RBIs — slashing .287/.398/.685. He was once publicly criticized by then-manager Joe Girardi for not blocking passed balls. Essentially, Girardi said Sanchez’s defense was poor, and he needed to improve for the benefit of the club as well as himself.

Unfortunately, Sanchez is still not able to wrangle passed balls. He led the majors with 16 passed balls in 2017, and he’s first again this season with 14. There is a chance that may go up as there’s still eight games remaining.

Criticized at times for not hustling, the desire for Sanchez is that he changes his work ethic, although it seems twice injuring his groin may have played a role in this season’s downfall. It’s debatable.

Before Thursday night’s game where Yankees defeated the Orioles 3-2, Brian Cashman told the NY Post he still believes in Sanchez:

"“We’re doubling down and tripling down on Gary Sanchez because we know the ceiling that is there and the capabilities this player has on both sides of the ball,”. We have a short time frame to get a number of players finding their groove. He’s one of them.”"

Cashman also told reporters that Sanchez came in off-day on Monday for extra work.

"“You don’t see that very often, but that shows again his interest level and commitment to try to unlock what he typically does best, which is hit the ball hard,” Cashman said. “Gary has had a rough stretch. We do believe that maybe the best is yet to come.”"

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Going into Sunday’s series finale with the O’s, the Yanks are 96-59 and fighting to secure home-field advantage. Now that the playoff ticket has officially been punched, it’s time to focus up and prepare for, what we all hope, will be a long, successful Postseason run.