BOSTON — The Yankees find themselves in the playoffs in spite of Gary Sanchez — not because of him.
Despite the catcher’s season-long issues offensively and behind the plate, general manager Brian Cashman said again on Friday he believes Sanchez is the catcher of the present and the future.
And the GM was optimistic the turnaround could start in the ALDS.
“Hopefully he’ll do what Gary Sanchez is capable of doing on both sides of the ball in this series, too,’’ the GM said before the Yankees lost, 5-4, to the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS on Friday at Fenway Park. “October’s the second season. I hope we’ll see what we’re used to seeing from Gary, which is a great player.”
He didn’t off to a good start, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
For much of the season, Sanchez did not come close to living up to that term. He had a MLB-worst 18 passed balls, an awful .697 OPS and two lengthy stints on the disabled list with a strained groin.
Cashman, though, is willing to wipe the slate clean as the Yankees entered the heart of the playoffs.
“I believe in the player, clearly,’’ Cashman said. “Next season is now.”
During last year’s playoffs, Sanchez was streaky.
He had five extra-base hits and eight RBIs on the Yankees’ run to Game 7 of the ALCS, but he also went through a four-game stretch during which he went 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
No matter what happens this October, though, Cashman remains a backer of Sanchez, and the GM reiterated his confidence that the 25-year-old remains the team’s top defensive backstop.
“I think he’s our best game-caller, he shuts down the opposing team’s running game and obviously he’s a threat at the plate on every pitch,’’ Cashman said. “He’s by far our best option behind the plate for us.”
Because the Yankees added two pitchers and deleted a pair of position players after beating the A’s in the wild-card game a shorter bench might keep manager Aaron Boone from making defensive replacement moves as early as he did against the A’s.
Leading, 2-0, in the sixth inning of the wild-card game, Boone inserted Adeiny Hechavarria for error-prone third baseman Miguel Andujar. In the eighth inning, Boone replaced left fielder Andrew McCutchen with Brett Gardner and in the final frame Neil Walker went to first for Luke Voit.
“That’s something that is game to game, fluid I would call it. The wild-card game is a little bit different in that I think we had 10 pitchers and a deep bench,’’ said Boone, who deleted utilityman Tyler Wade and catcher Kyle Higashioka and added CC Sabathia and lefty reliever Stephen Tarpley. “So you had a little more flexibility to make some moves earlier in the game.’’
That doesn’t mean Boone will stay with Andujar and Voit late in the game.
“I envision us using our roster, but it will be kind of game by game, inning by inning kind of strategy or how we’ll deploy our guys but it’s a little different now that we are in a series and with the way our roster is constructed,’’ Boone said.
Because the Yankees never led in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Red Sox on Thursday, Boone didn’t have a chance to mull defensive replacements.
Tarpley wasn’t on the AL wild-card roster but was added to the ALDS squad for his ability to get left-handed hitters out.
“He was putting up real big numbers. He’s always been on our radar because we had to pick from four players in that [Ivan] Nova deal [to Pittsburgh], so he was one of the two,’’ Cashman said. “He didn’t make it as a starter, but when he went to the pen, he really took off. He’s a strike-thrower. Late July we felt he was a guy who could come up here at some point if necessary and maybe play a role.’’
Tarpley went 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA in 19 games for Double-A Trenton and 2-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In 10 appearances for the Yankees he worked nine innings, struck out 13 and walked six.
According to Boone, Wade, Higashioka and Luis Cessa are working out in Tampa and Sonny Gray is on a throwing program in case they are needed if the Yankees advance or have to replace an injured player.
Boone said Luis Severino will start Game 3 Monday night at Yankee Stadium and, if Game 4 is necessary, Sabathia will start.
Severino worked four-plus innings in the wild-card game when he didn’t allow a run, gave up two hits, walked four and struck out seven. The two runners he left for Dellin Betances with no outs didn’t score, which made Severino’s line look better.
Sabathia last pitched on Sept. 27, against the Rays in St. Petersburg, and was the winner in a 12-1 victory. He threw five shutout innings and gave up one hit.
