Yankees: Gerrit Cole’s bromance with Gary Sanchez is amazing

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has a fan in Gerrit Cole.

What Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez needs right now, while noodling over his revamped catching stance, is the faith of each man who comes to mound.

It definitely helps when potentially your biggest fan is the team’s most important hurler.

Gerrit Cole has provided plenty of effusive praise for Sanchez over the course of his first few months as a Yankee, and the quotes that flowed from his press conference on Wednesday are probably his most impactful words yet.

In case it wasn’t already clear, if you have a problem with Sanchez’s blocking, you’d better seek out the Yankees’ ace first. He’ll talk your ear off about the Sanchize’s value.

Famously, the Yankees made several free agent additions on the coaching staff this offseason to supplement Cole’s arrival, most importantly new analytics-focused pitching coach Matt Blake, and catching guru Tanner Swanson, formerly of the Minnesota Twins organization.

Swanson’s stated goal has been to improve all elements of Sanchez’s defense, working on his blocking bugaboo while also revamping his stance and framing abilities.

Though the new Sanchez stance may lead to occasional discomfort or an unsightly inning with Zack Britton, Cole has been very impressed with his dedication. Thus far in the young season, he only ranks 46th on the leaguewide framing leaderboard, per Baseball Savant, but that doesn’t mean the project isn’t working.

Cole seems built for this city, even early on. And one thing that comes with the responsibility of being New York’s ace is lifting up the teammates that New York maybe … doesn’t care for right now.

Sanchez has been persona non grata, in many ways, since he flirted with the Mendoza line in 2018, failing to live up to his excellent 2017 season. Though he posted an All-Star campaign in ’19, he still regressed as injuries mounted, and the defensive questions still lingered.

For now, though, he’s got his pitcher’s backing. And not just any pitcher. We’ll give it time, too.

By the fourth inning Wednesday, Cole already had a huge inning-ending strikeout on his ledger he wouldn’t have registered if not for Sanchez’s efforts.

Not half bad.

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