Gary Sanchez takes a knee, and Yankees hope it will help
TAMPA, Fla. — What Tanner Swanson accomplished with the Twins’ Mitch Garver, the Yankees hope he can duplicate with Gary Sanchez.
Garver, using a one-knee stance taught by Swanson, made huge strides behind the plate last season, transforming himself from a defensively deficient catcher to a more than adequate one, and at times even a good one.
That, among other things, led to the Yankees' decision to hire Swanson, formerly the Twins' catching coordinator, for the same role.
Sanchez, and the other catchers in camp, are adapting to a one-knee stance in which the right knee is placed on the ground.
“It slowly has evolved over time, and then we saw it with Mitch Garver last year, and I think that kind of opened up a lot of people's eyes that, 'Hey, this can work at the major-league level as well,' ” Swanson said. “I think you're seeing a lot of players throughout this league kind of transition or trend in this direction.”
One theory about the stance is that it could compromise a catcher’s ability to block pitches in the dirt, a particular issue for Sanchez over the years. Sanchez led the majors in passed balls in 2017 with 16 and again in 2018 (with 18), though he cut that number to seven last season.
However, while there was improvement in that category, it might have come at the expense of pitch-framing, something Yankees pitchers have always said is one of Sanchez's strengths.
“I would say the opposite,” Swanson said. “And I think Mitch Garver is a case study of that last year, and his blocking actually improved. But to be honest with you, when I first started down this path, that was my thought, like, ‘Hey, our blocking may regress, our throwing may regress slightly, but if we're capturing more strikes, that could be a net win.’ I think we can actually improve in all three categories. It's not just to try to make Gary a better pitch-framer at the expense of everything else. We actually believe that he's going to see gains in in all of his defensive game.”
The hope, too, is that the stance helps keep Sanchez healthy. He has had his share of lower-body injuries in recent years, including calf and groin injuries that caused stints on the injured list last season.
“Hopefully the positions we’re getting our guys in, getting Gary in, will be less stressful on the legs and knees and groin and hips and everything,” Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully getting into an extremely athletic and comfortable position lessens the load a little bit and the toll that catching every day can take.”
Higgy on solid ground
The Yankees have catchers Josh Thole, Erik Kratz and Chris Iannetta in camp, all of whom have extensive big-league experience. But Boone indicated that the backup catching job is Kyle Higashioka’s to lose.
“We feel like he’s been ready for this opportunity now for a while,” Boone said of Higashioka, 29, a seventh-round pick of the Yankees in the 2008 draft who for years has been a favorite of the club’s analytics department.
Higashioka is out of minor-league options, which is somewhat of a factor but not close to the overriding one.
“Elite receiver,” Boone said. “He’s special from a hands-behind-the-plate [perspective] and how he catches the ball as far as getting strikes. What I’ve liked is I’ve seen him grow in his [clubhouse] presence year by year since I’ve been here. He understands, I think, that this is his time.”
Another arm
The Yankees added righthander Chad Bettis as a non-roster invitee, giving them 31 pitchers in camp. Bettis, 30, spent the first seven years of his big-league career with the Rockies, going 31-31 with a 5.12 ERA in 164 games (92 starts), including 1-6 with a 6.08 ERA in 39 games (three starts) last season.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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