When baseball returns in 2020, it will be the year of Gary Sanchez.
2018 was not Gary’s best year, and his statistics showed it. In 89 games in 2018, Gary posted a batting average of .186, an on-base percentage of .291, a slugging percentage of .406, 18 home runs, 53 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 89. His offensive stats were underwhelming, but his defense was not at its best either. Sanchez had 45 wild pitches go past him, and an MLB leading 18 passed balls.
2019 was a bounce-back year for The Kraken. In 106 games, his offense was much better, putting up stats of a batting average of .232, a .316 on-base percentage, a .525 slugging percentage, hit 34 home runs, drove in 77 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 119.
One year ago today (April 27th), Gary Sanchez showed off his power, crushing his first career grand slam.
one year ago today, Gary Sánchez mashed his first-career grand slam pic.twitter.com/jxT7qgbpp8
— max (@MaxWildstein) April 27, 2020
This kind of offense is what the Yankees need out of their all-star catcher.
His defense was also much better than it was in 2018, dropping his passed balls by 11 to make it only 7 passed balls, and 30 wild pitches go past him, which was 15 less than his 2018 total.
Gary can be an elite defender and has been working hard to do so. We have seen flashes of it, especially when it comes to throwing out baserunners.
I miss the duo of Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres pic.twitter.com/vELFas9eMd
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken) April 19, 2020
Gary has an elite arm, and with the way his defense has improved in 2019, he can very well become one of the best defensive catchers in the majors.
Gary Sanchez has a simple message: "I will be ready." ?
(via IG/elgarysanchez) pic.twitter.com/c7PLdGM3Gb
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 23, 2020
If there is baseball played in 2020, The Kraken will be ready for it, and he will hopefully have an even better season than he did in 2019.
Featured Image: John Munson/NJ Advance Media
