Yankees' Gary Sanchez gets the nod from Aaron Boone to catch Gerrit Cole on Opening Day

TAMPA, Fla. — Whether he meant to or not, Aaron Boone dropped some pretty big news on a sleepy Sunday morning Zoom call:

The manager expects to have Gary Sanchez catch Gerrit Cole on Opening Day.

Boone’s unusually direct reveal about Sanchez came during an answer to a question about the return of backup catcher Kyle Higashioka from a side injury.

Higashioka, who was paired with Cole in the second half of last season and replaced Sanchez as the No. 1 catcher during the postseason, caught a very effective Cole (five innings, one run, eight strikeouts) in Sunday’s 8-3 victory over the Blue Jays in Dunedin.

Before the game, Boone was asked if this was a "preview" of the battery he is going to employ on April 1 against Toronto at Yankee Stadium.

"No," he said before explaining some of his thoughts behind starting Higashioka on Sunday (he wanted to play Sanchez back-to-back on Friday and Saturday).

Then came the bombshell.

"I would expect Gary to be behind there on Opening Day," Boone said.

Cole and Higashoka were on the same page on Sunday. Cole gave up four hits, including Marcus Semien’s fifth-inning home run, and walked one. He threw 78 pitches on a mound that was muddy in the first inning because of pregame rain and then was smoothed out by the grounds crew.

"Hit the pitch count," Cole said. "Hit the innings. It’s nice."

Speaking of nice, Cole was given two chances to say something nice about Sanchez. This is what he said instead:

Take one — "I think all our catchers have come in super-prepared. Working hard. Everybody’s been healthy for the most part. It’s good to see Kyle out there today, feeling good. So I’ve gotten to work with everybody. We’re really laying a good foundation as a group to get after the season this year. A lot of positive signs."

Take two — "I think he’s getting really good reviews. I pitched to him quite a bit earlier in the camp. We haven’t lined up lately, but I’m not evaluating the players. But certainly I’m not hearing anything negative."

Sanchez was expected to follow Boone as one of the Yankees on Sunday’s pregame Zoom interviews. The team scratched him from that duty and the catcher will address the media on Monday.

Boone usually is reluctant to give direct answers about his plans for the season. For example, he declined on Saturday to reveal his rotation for the opening week after Cole. Back-of-the-roster and end-of-the-bullpen questions get a shrug and some version of "there’s a long way to go before April 1."

The restoration of Sanchez to the No. 1 catcher’s job has been expected ever since he opened spring training by knocking the cover off the ball. Even though Boone benched Sanchez in the playoffs because of his season-long struggles and the Yankees had the option of non-tendering him during the offseason, there was never any competition with Higashioka for the top spot once spring training began. It was Sanchez’s job to lose, and he didn’t lose it.

But it is a surprise that Boone has decided not to pair Cole with Higashioka, at least for the opener. Those two meshed well in 2020, with Cole throwing to a 1.00 ERA in four regular-season starts and a 2.95 ERA in three postseason outings with Higashioka behind the plate. In eight games with Sanchez catching, Cole’s ERA was 3.91.

In Cole’s four spring training outings, he has pitched to Higashioka twice, Sanchez once and non-roster catcher Rob Brantly once. Brantly was called into service for Cole’s previous outing after Higashioka strained his side on March 14. Higashioka said he felt fine after returning on Sunday.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.