TAMPA — With one swing, Gary Sanchez showed why the Yankees didn’t want to get rid of the catcher who’s coming off a season that general manager Brian Cashman called “horrible.”
Sanchez, in his second at-bat of his second game of the spring, hit a mammoth home run that cleared the 40-foot high batter’s eye in dead-center field at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
It’s an area few can recall someone hitting a ball at GMS, but Sanchez seemed nonplussed by the blast, which came in a 5-4, seven-inning Grapefruit League win over the Tigers.
“I was just looking for a pitch to hit there,’’ Sanchez said through an interpreter of the at-bat against Detroit left-hander Gregory Soto. “I put a good swing on it. … It felt good to connect and run around the bases.’’
No doubt, though, Sanchez understood the importance not just of his home run, but also his solid showing behind the plate, during which he blocked a couple of Gerrit Cole pitches in the dirt and drew praise for his defense from both Cole and Jameson Taillon.
All of it comes after an ugly 2020 season that ended with him being benched in the playoffs, followed by an offseason that saw his future with the Yankees put in doubt.
Aaron Boone emphasized he’s not particularly interested in the outcome of at-bats this early in spring, but admitted there might be more importance when it comes to Sanchez right now.
“Certainly, you’d rather have results when you’re a storyline and much-talked about in the offseason,’’ Boone said.
And Sanchez certainly was that, from his disappearance offensively last year, to not catching Cole in the latter part of the season and then complaining in an interview with ESPN about not being told why he wasn’t playing in the postseason.
Gary Sanchez hits a home run on Monday. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostCole and Sanchez have worked together throughout the early part of camp, but there last game action came Aug. 31, when Cole allowed five runs in four innings and his ERA jumped to a season-worst 3.91.
He liked what he saw Monday.
“I thought we worked well,” Cole said. “I was confident throwing anything we needed to. … I just think we had a good time out there. We kept the ball in front of us. He liked how some pitches were breaking and gave me good feedback.”
Sanchez also caught Taillon’s brief outing, as Taillon mowed down the Tigers with just seven pitches in the second.
Already, Sanchez has a fan in the new Yankee right-hander.
“He made a really good impression,” Taillon said. “My first few bullpens, he wasn’t scheduled to catch me, but he was sitting right behind the catcher, locked in, and made some comments.”
And Sanchez’s home run reminded Taillon of a previous encounter the two had in the minors.
It was in Low-A, when Taillon pitched for West Virginia and Sanchez was with Charleston in the South Atlantic League.
Taillon said while he doesn’t typically recall homers hit off him, he hasn’t forgotten one of Sanchez’s from that 2011 matchup.
“I ducked because I thought it was going to hit my head and it hit the center-field batter’s eye,’’ Taillon said. “He’s got crazy power. I knew Gary was going to be something special back then, that’s for sure.”
Sanchez will continue to work on the adjustments at the plate — keeping his weight back on his right leg — and defensively, where he says he’s more comfortable keeping one knee down, which the Yankees hope aids his ability to receive and block balls.
Boone said “even though last year was a struggle and I’m sure took a toll on him, I think he knows how good a hitter he is and can be.”
The Yankees got another look at that Monday.
