FanSided

Yankees: 3 players that cannot be relied upon in 2021

By Thomas Carannante |
DETROIT, MI - JUNE 4: Catcher Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees visits pitcher Domingo German #65 of the New York Yankees during game two of a doubleheader at Comerica Park on June 4, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Players on both teams are wearing the number 42 to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, as it is the makeup of the game rained out on April 15. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JUNE 4: Catcher Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees visits pitcher Domingo German #65 of the New York Yankees during game two of a doubleheader at Comerica Park on June 4, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Players on both teams are wearing the number 42 to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, as it is the makeup of the game rained out on April 15. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
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The 2021 season will be a telling one for the New York Yankees. The time is now with this roster due to the number of issues they’re bound to run into next offseason and the one after.

On paper, this is the best team in the American League, largely due to attrition around them. Re-signing DJ LeMahieu didn’t make this team any better, getting rid of Adam Ottavino didn’t exactly fortify the bullpen, and swapping out Masahiro Tanaka for Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon, though promising, is best described as a risk since those two have barely pitched in the last two seasons.

Additionally, the Yankees have a number of returning players that, at the moment, we feel they’re going to rely somewhat heavily upon for production. But these aren’t the guys you’d be thrilled about being thrust into crucial roles or remaining a key piece to make the entire machine operate. They’re either hit-or-miss, unproven, or declining altogether.

Who are they? We take our best stab at it. Quick disclaimer, however. This isn’t to say these players won’t perform — the Yankees just shouldn’t be banking on them to return to their former selves or fill a larger role when they’ve yet to prove capable of doing so. Let’s hope they exceed expectations! It’s what we want, after all.

Jonathan Loaisiga #43 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Jonathan Loaisiga #43 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

3. Jonathan Loaisiga

Yankees fans are still waiting for Jonathan Loaisiga to be something.

Jonathan Loaisiga has appeared in 36 games since debuting in 2018. Eleven of those have been starts. He’s finished seven games. Alright, what’s the deal?

First, it seemed like Johnny Lasagna was going to transition from spot starter to full-time starter. But he never really took off. Though he’s gradually improved each year and seemingly possesses the “stuff” to make it in the bullpen, he’s constantly failed (for the most part) in big spots. The AL Wild Card series against the Cleveland Indians is perhaps the most glaring evidence.

What else? The most innings he’s thrown in a single season in his career is. 31.2. With the Yankees losing two bullpen pieces in Ottavino and Jonathan Holder, who are they going to call upon to eat up more innings in middle relief? Darren O’Day is one, but who else? Holder was the Yankees best reliever for a solid portion of 2020. Loaisiga isn’t close to that level, at least not that we’ve seen.

In a year in which most pitchers, especially inexperienced ones, are going to be “off” due to the shortened 2020 campaign, relying on Loaisiga to fill a larger bullpen role seems irresponsible. That’s gotta be the plan for him, right? Because there’s no way he’ll be starting games with the amount of arms the Yankees added to the rotation.

Domingo German #55 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Domingo German #55 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

2. Domingo German

Unlike the Loaisiga situation, we KNOW the Yankees will be expecting more from Domingo German.

The Yankees’ biggest problem the last four years has been the starting rotation. Outside of Gerrit Cole, they’ve largely failed to address the unit that always seems to be withering, whether it be thanks to injuries or declining play.

Or domestic abuse scandals.

Yup, that was the case with Domingo German, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. of 2019 thanks to a worrisome off-the-field situation that landed him in hot water with MLB. On top of that, we had a fake retirement and a bizarre picture posted to Instagram that we thought was him, but was actually his brother. And for some reason there’s belief this guy is going to fortify the middle/back end of the rotation.

The Yankees seem very high on German’s breakout 2019 campaign, which featured 27 games (24 starts) with a 4.03 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 153 strikeouts across 143 innings. His 18-4 record was also promising, and that winning percentage led the AL. But, like we said, 19 months without pitching in a big league game is problematic … regardless if he got reps in the Dominican Winter League this offseason.

German, not only troubling from a character standpoint, but also unproven from a performance one, simply shouldn’t be held in high regard until we’re shown otherwise. Some would argue he shouldn’t even be on the roster. To think you’re going to attempt to strengthen your biggest weakness with such a wild card feels like oversight at its finest, but in Brian Cashman we trust, and we just have to go with it.

That doesn’t mean we have to feel good about it. At the very least, German better have a fairly short leash.

Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

1. Gary Sanchez

There’s no reason to believe Gary Sanchez will return to form. Though we can hope.

There are three types of Gary Sanchez fans: the ones that love him and will blindly (and ferociously) defend him whether the criticism is warranted or not; the ones who have no patience with him and want the Yankees to end the experiment; and the ones who really want him to succeed and know what he’s capable of, but simply don’t trust him based on what’s transpired since 2018.

Most people should fall in that third category, but this is sports fandom we’re talking about. The spectrum of rationality isn’t very wide.

Anyway, while we would LOVE Sanchez to do what he did in the first half of 2019 and somewhat maintain that production without falling off a cliff and exploding, it’s just hard to picture that happening with how much he’s fallen out of favor.

His 2020 was so bad on both sides of the ball that he ended up being benched in favor of Kyle Higashioka when the playoffs rolled around. It slowly began as Higashioka becoming Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, and next thing you know he’s starting all five ALDS games and Sanchez has no clue what’s going on.

The best-case scenario is that Sanchez uses this as fuel and forces manager Aaron Boone’s hand with some tightened defense and an offensive renaissance. Every Yankees fan would be elated if that happened.

But what evidence is there to suggest there’s any indication of that happening? He’s batting .200 flat since 2018, his strikeout issue isn’t going away, has never played in more than 122 games in a single season, and his defense is either getting worse or simply not improving (as proven by his DRS from 2017-2020).

The eternal hope is that Gary Sanchez resurfaces and stakes his claim as the best hitting catcher in baseball. But to project that as a likely possibility feels terribly delusional.

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