The timely transformation of Gary Sánchez
By Roberto Salvador Klapisch
Home plate was still the same size, 17 inches at its widest point, and the pitcher remained 60 feet, six inches away. As far as Gary Sánchez knew, the baseball’s composition was unchanged, as well, tightly stitched 108 times, cowhide encasing the cork within.
Nothing was new about the accessories in Sánchez’s world after the All-Star break, except that he’d suddenly become the Yankees’ most dangerous offensive threat. Just like that.
“I wish I could give you an explanation, but I can’t,” is what Sánchez said during one of his pennant race hot streaks.
Everything seemed to go right for Sánchez: He was hitting both for power and average. And when Aaron Judge’s prolonged slump took him out of the third spot, it was Sánchez who eventually replaced him.
The transformation is one of the reasons the New York Yankees reached the postseason for the first time since 2015 with a chance to break hearts. This was supposed to be a summer-long audition for 2018 and beyond but, thanks in part to the Dominican-born Sánchez, the Bronx Bombers are playing the Minnesota Twins at home on Tuesday in the American League Wild Card Game.
Quietly making history
Just how profound was his surge? At age 24 and in his second full season, Sánchez made history by blasting his 31st home run on September 15, setting the new single-season record for a Yankee catcher.
Considering the legends who preceded him — Elston Howard, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson and the Puerto Rican Jorge Posada, among others — Sánchez wasn’t exaggerating when he said, “It’s an honor to be mentioned in that group. They were great Yankees and I want to keep hitting like this. I want to keep improving.”
That was an uncharacteristically bold statement from Sánchez, whose default personality in the clubhouse ranges from quiet to invisible. While he stands 6-foot-2 and weighs a well-defined 230 pounds, he is shy by nature. He does speak in English to his teammates, but insists on an interpreter when being interviewed by reporters.
Any Q&A is typically brief and nondescript, as Sánchez is uncomfortable talking about himself. Asked when he would begin doing interviews in English, he laughed and answered, “In 10 years.”
That’s kept him out of the limelight despite his impressive hitting skills.
Truth be told, Sánchez would rather defer to the other stars in the room, including Judge, who snapped out of his doldrums with an impressive September, finishing the season with 52 home runs and 114 RBI.
“I don’t care about getting noticed, all that interests me is helping the team win,” Sánchez said. “I didn’t become a baseball player to be famous, I do this because I love the game. If people don’t notice me or talk about me, that’s okay with me.”
The Kraken is back
Sánchez must know that’s just wishful thinking — it’s impossible to remain anonymous when your team is at October’s doorstep and pitchers can’t get you out. Sánchez finished strong, batting .303 in September, and that doesn’t include the 12 home runs he bashed in August.
In fact, his final regular season numbers — .278 with 33 dingers and 90 RBI — are even more impressive considering Sánchez was out from April 9 through May 4 with a torn biceps muscle and played only 122 games.
But all that changed not long after the All-Star break, or just about the time Judge stopped hitting. “The Kraken is back,” general manager Brian Cashman said — riffing on the nickname based on the many-armed sea monster from the 1981 blockbuster “Clash of the Titans” that he gave Sánchez in his breakthrough rookie year in 2016. That’s when the young catcher stunned the American League with Herculean power, hitting 20 home runs in just 201 at-bats.
Sánchez was a beast, all right. Question was: Just how high had he set the bar?
After all, it was just a few years before that Sánchez was considered a discipline problem by the Yankees despite receiving a $3-million signing bonus at age 16 in 2009. Two years later, at Single-A Charleston, he refused to warm up a reliever after being out of the starting lineup for the second straight night. The Yankees reacted swiftly and forcefully. Sánchez was suspended and sent to the organization’s spring training facility in Tampa for 10 days to reevaluate his career.
Sánchez returned to the club, although he was no less troubled, appearing to be just going through the motions. As late as 2014, the Yankees were still unsure whether Sánchez would ever grow up. He was suspended for five games at Double-A Trenton for a failure to hustle. Still only 21 at the time, Sánchez had yet to outgrow the petulant personality of the kid who grew up in the small community of La Victoria in Santo Domingo, raised along with his three brothers and sister by their mother Orquidia Herrera and their grandmother Agustina Peña.
An epiphany named Sarah
The Yankees might’ve eventually given up on Sánchez had he not quickly turned his life around. Luckily for Sánchez, the epiphany came soon after that suspension, when he and his wife Sahaira were expecting their first child. Gary said the arrival of baby Sarah “changed everything for me.”
“That’s what forced me to stop thinking about myself and realize that I was now responsible for this little girl,” he said. “My whole attitude about baseball was different. I was doing this for her.”
Members of the organization were stunned at the makeover. Sánchez finally began to align his attitude with his enormous skills. Even the way he took batting practice was encouraging. Instead of showing off to teammates how many meaningless home runs he could launch, Sánchez used the time to actually work on his swing.
The re-ordering of his priorities, Cashman said, “brought out the side of Gary we were hoping to see all along. Now I think he has a chance to have a long and successful career.”
The climb hasn’t been entirely problem-free, however. Just this year, Sánchez was suspended for three games for his role in the Aug. 24 bench-clearing brawl with the Tigers and Miguel Cabrera — an incident which Sánchez says, “I regret very much. It was a heat of the moment thing and I made a bad decision.”
Nor has Sánchez entirely put to rest a nagging fear that he’s simply too large and muscular to last behind the plate. Runners respect his powerful arm, but not always his accuracy or glove work. Sánchez and Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal led the majors with 16 passed balls each, and Sánchez and the Cubs’ Willson Contreras led the position with 13 errors each. Sánchez had to be publicly reprimanded by Joe Girardi on more than one occasion for his lethargy.
Sánchez said, “It’s something I’m working on, although (passed balls) are part of the game. I’m trying.”
The Yankees seemed willing to accept that answer, or last least as long as Sánchez keeps hitting. Yet, as much as they’ve benefitted from the explosion of power, the Yankees themselves are mystified why and how Sánchez reignited his game.
“I wish we had the answer,” Girardi said. “But obviously we’re very happy with the result.”
Sarah’s dad is happy, too. He’ll have a chance to continue hitting in October.
Featured Image: Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport