Yankees Call Up Powerful Catcher Gary Sanchez

The Yankees have called up 23-year-old Dominican-born catching prospect Gary Sanchez from the minor leagues. Sanchez was off to an excellent start in Triple-A this year, slashing .288/.336/.541 in 27 games. Heading into the year, he ranked 21st on KATOH’s top 100 list, second to only Chance Sisco among catchers. Sanchez’s 2016-to-date performance has only served to improve his prospect stock. He figures to serve as New York’s designated hitter for the time being with Alex Rodriguez on the shelf.

Sanchez’s bat has always been well-regarded by scouts. He boasts 70 raw power, which has helped him to be an above-average hitter at every minor league stop. However, while Sanchez’s offensive numbers have been consistently solid, his strikeout rates were a tad high in the past. Not high enough to be overly concerned — especially coming from a catcher with power — but high enough to make him less than a slam dunk to hit in the majors.

His strikeout have come way down, however, as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. His strikeout rate has dipped from over 27% in his first taste of full-season ball to under 16% in Triple-A this year. As the competition’s gotten tougher, his strikeout rate has gotten lower. Impressively, this has also corresponded with an increase in power. After posting ISOs in mid-.100 for two-plus years, he’s ISO’d well above .200 since the start of 2015. It seems his increased contact has helped him get more of his power into games.

To put some faces to Sanchez’s statistical profile, let’s go ahead and generate some statistical comps for the powerful catcher. I calculated the Mahalanobis Distance between Sanchez’s numbers since the start of 2015 and every Double-A and Triple-A season from a catcher since 1990 in which a hitter recorded at least 400 plate appearances. In the table below, you’ll find the 10 most similar seasons, ranked from most to least similar.

Sanchez’s defense lags behind his offense, which makes the Victor Martinez and Josh Phelps comps seem somewhat apt. For years, scouts have criticized Sanchez’s work ethic behind the plate and questioned whether he would be able to stick at catcher. His 70-grade arm has always been outweighed by his iffy receiving and blocking skills. However, as erstwhile lead prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel relayed to me at the end of last season, Sanchez’s attitude, defense and consistency improved noticeably in 2015. Some scouts still worry about his track record of inconsistency, but most think he’ll at least be able to stick at catcher.

The data back up these observations. Pitch framing is all the rage these days, and has emerged as perhaps the single most important defensive skill for catchers. According to Baseball Prospectus‘ minor league framing numbers, Sanchez’s framing numbers have improved markedly the last couple of years, and have been consistently above-average since 2014. He’ll likely never be a Molina behind the plate, but the data suggest he at least has the framing part down.

Sanchez’s long-term role with the Yankees isn’t clear. With Brian McCann under contract for two more seasons after this one, there doesn’t appear to be much of a window to break in a catching prospect. He feels like too good of a prospect to plug in as the backup catcher, since he wouldn’t receive regular playing time. In the very short-term, however, there’s a place for Sanchez in the Bronx. The Yankees are set to face Chris Sale and Jose Quintana this weekend, and with A-Rod out of commission, they could really use another right-handed bat in their lineup. Everything about Sanchez’s minor league performance suggests he’s more than ready to fill that hole. He’s still something of a question mark behind the plate, but is a giant exclamation point next to it. With this promotion, he’s one step closer to establishing himself in the big leagues. And even if he isn’t up for good, he might provide a glimpse of the the upside his minor league numbers foretell.