Getty Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees, who makes his Spring Training Debut tonight against the Baltimore Orioles, doubles in the ALDS.
After bursting onto the scene in 2016 with one of the strongest two-month stretches of baseball in recent memory, Gary Sanchez continued his hot play throughout the 2017 season and cemented himself as a crucial component of the vaunted Yankee lineup. Unfortunately, Sanchez fell back to earth during his 2018 campaign. Hampered by injuries throughout the entire season, Sanchez saw his numbers plummet to career lows in nearly every major statistical category.
However, Sanchez underwent shoulder surgery to repair his non-throwing shoulder in November and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN, “Physically, he comes in here in a better place than he’s come in a couple of years,”.
Slated to hit 4th in his return to the Pinstripes, Sanchez gets a gift in facing lefty John Means. While his average dips slightly against left-handed pitching, Sanchez posts a higher OBP, Slugging, and OPS when facing southpaws. Means is a five-year minor league veteran with one major league appearance to his name (3.1 IP, 5 ER). Especially considering it is early in the spring, expect Sanchez to get an opportunity to see a lot of fastballs in his limited plate appearances tonight.
Yankees Lineup vs Orioles
1. Aaron Hicks, CF
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
4. Gary Sanchez, C
5. Luke Voit, 1B
6. Gleyber Torres, SS
7. DJ LeMahieu, 3B
8. Brett Gardner, LF
9. Kyle Holder, 2B
James Paxton, SP
Impact of Gary Sanchez Returning to the Middle of the Yankee Lineup
A no-doubter from Gary Sanchez 😳
With Sanchez back hitting cleanup for the Yankees, assuming he returns to his pre-2018 form, the Yankees offer one of the deadliest lineups from top to bottom. With Luke Voit seemingly filling the Yankee lineup’s biggest hole at first base, there isn’t an easy out when the team is fully healthy. More importantly, Sanchez’s presence offers incredibly important protection to the duo of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton, in particular, had a tough year without a consistent big bat in the lineup behind him as pitchers were mostly comfortable nibbling off the plate and baiting him into swinging at unhittable pitches.
Stanton still posted a fairly strong statistical season despite his struggles. But with the looming threat of Gary Sanchez in the wings behind the slugger, pitchers will be much more inclined to attack Stanton and avoid putting runners on base for the Kraken.
The Yankee lineup still has an obvious hole to fill with shortstop Didi Gregorius on the shelf for a few more months, but Troy Tulowitzki has given the Yankees hope that he can offer a reliable stopgap on the back of his two early spring training home runs.
Yankees News: The Battle for First Base Heats Up
Luke Voit of the New York Yankees rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in a spring training matchup.
Although Voit is the incumbent first baseman, manager Aaron Boone has made it widely known that the job is an open competition between him and Greg Bird. Bird has long been a favorite prospect of Yankee fans before struggling mightily in his big league opportunities. Voit, on the other hand, was a relative unknown acquired at the trade deadline who turned into one of the Yankees’ biggest bats down the stretch in 2019.
Bird has reportedly added on nearly 20 pounds of muscle and comes into camp injury-free, two words Bird has not heard in years. Bird has shown promise in spring training before, most notably in 2017 when Bird lit the world on fire in the month of March before stumbling out of the gate and later succumbing to injuries on the year. To his credit, Bird would return for the playoff push and hit a massive home run off Andrew Miller in the ALDS to spark the Yankees’ comeback.
Despite being a shot in the arm for the offense, the biggest knock on Voit was his sub-par defensive skills at first base. Voit has shown a dramatically increased awareness at first so far and will look to prove to the Yankees that he can contribute both in the lineup and on the field. Should Voit continue to play improved defense and rake the ball at his current clip, Bird will have a massive mountain to climb in order to take back his job.
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