Yankees: CC Sabathia fights random fan in IG comments to defend Gary Sanchez

The New York Yankees have no idea what to do right now, as a team that many thought could win a championship is struggling to stay above the .500 mark.

While he hasn’t played like Johnny Bench, polarizing catcher Gary Sanchez is far from the biggest issue on this team, as he has found the bleachers a handful of times.

Sanchez has clubbed eight home runs this season, giving him a 111 OPS+ that stands as his second-highest tally since 2017.

Though Yankees fans like to point to his defense being awful, he has a completely neutral 0.0 dWAR this season.

Despite that, Sanchez remains the brunt of criticism online, as his all-or-nothing approach at the plate isn’t going to please all the baseball traditionalists. Luckily, Gary has the benefit of a parade of former teammates ready to back him up, including a very ticked-off CC Sabathia. 

After a fan went on Sanchez’s Instagram page to call him a “bust” that stinks at hitting, Sabathia went ballistic, claiming that his comments are completely out of line because of the fact that he doesn’t know the hard work and dedication Sanchez puts into his craft on a daily basis.

Sabathia has no time for such baseless points.

Gary Sanchez is far from the biggest problem with the Yankees.

Sanchez might not be setting the world on fire, but the Yankees have problems that are much bigger than just Sanchez. No one in this lineup outside of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton for three-game spurts is hitting well, and even their once-impenetrable bullpen has started to really fall off of a cliff.

If anything, catching should be looked at as one of the big positives from this season. Not only are Sanchez and Kyle Higaskioka getting it done at the dish for the most part, but they’ve helped tale a pitching staff that came into the season with a ton of question marks and mold them into one of the finer units in the league.

According to some more volatile Yankees fans on social media, unless Sanchez hits two home runs and throws out a runner in every game, he’s a bum. He’s not dominating, but let’s get our priorities right here!

Their series against the Philadelphia Phillies has done little to give Yankees fans confidence in this team. However, in addition to the fact that pinning all of the blame of this mess on Sanchez is an egregious misrepresentation of the facts, Yankees must be warned that Sabathia will leap to the defense of any unfairly criticized player.

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