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Yankees: Gary Sanchez to undergo left shoulder surgery

By Mac Josephson

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 20: Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees connects on a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on June 20, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 20: Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees connects on a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on June 20, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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According to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, catcher Gary Sanchez will undergo left shoulder surgery this week. The recovery time for Sanchez will be about three months, but he should be ready for Opening Day.

Less than a month after the Yankees and Cashman announced that Didi Gregorius would need Tommy John surgery they dropped another injury shocker Tuesday night. Fortunately, Sanchez won’t miss the majority of the 2019 season as Didi will, but this certainly isn’t the kind of offseason news Yankee fans were hoping to hear.

Speaking to reporters at the GM Meetings in California, Cashman talked about how Sanchez has been dealing with left shoulder issues dating back to the 2017 season. Sanchez had been able to play through the pain thanks to some cortisone shots but on Tuesday he was working out in Tampa and re-aggravated the injury. A decision to have the surgery shortly followed.

The debridement surgery Sanchez will have is different from the left shoulder surgery Aaron Judge underwent around this time last offseason, but it seems Sanchez should be ready to go for the regular season just like Judge was. For any right-handed power hitter a healthy front left shoulder is extremely important so let’s hope Sanchez can also make a full recovery and return to All-Star form.

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Now that we know Sanchez’s shoulder had been bothering him for the past two seasons you can’t help but think this contributed to what was a nightmare season for him in 2018. Especially because during his first season and a half in the big leagues, Sanchez was without question the best offensive catcher in baseball.

A season after hitting .278 with 33 HR and 90 RBI, Sanchez hit .186 in 2018 with 18 HR and 53 RBI in just 89 games. A pair of DL stints due caused by a persisting groin issue was also a big reason for the overall decrease in production, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the shoulder is what caused his batting average to take such a massive dip.

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We all know that Gary Sanchez is not a .186 hitter and hopefully after he comes back fully healthy he can prove to everyone that 2018 was nothing more than a big fluke.

Well wishes for a speedy recovery to EL Gary.

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