TAMPA – Kyle Higashioka didn’t have the spring he wanted, but there is at least one aspect of the beginning that he liked: Gary Sanchez’s game.
“I think he has been unbelievable,” Higashioka said on Saturday of his fellow catcher.
Higashioka last year was Sanchez’s reserve for Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher for the Yankees’ catcher in the postseason in the last month of the regular season and in the playoffs.
But the Yankees are a better team when Sanchez plays the way he is able to play and Higashioka fills in – and Higashioka clearly understands that.
Sanchez started behind the plate again in Saturday’s 7-5 victory over Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.
Coming out of his well-narrated horror show of a 2020 season, Sanchez calmed some of the Yankees’ fears by starting excellent spring training. He went without hitting Friday against Tigers in Lakeland, Florida, and then without hitting a pair of hitting on Saturday, but he still managed to impress new teammate Darren O’Day, who shot the top of the seventh.
“Gary is a professional and wants to be the best he can be,” said the archer. “Gary is working. (…) He asked to meet me today, which I appreciated. I wanted to play for him again. “
The pair paid off, with O’Day aiming for a hit in which he and Sanchez made an adjustment in a specific field.
“We saw a hitter take his feet off the board to try to reach the fast ball and Gary made the right call and launched another slider, ” O’Day said. “The more we work together, the more we’re kind of dancing together.”
Sanchez told O’Day that he never took a side arm, which seemed logical to the 38-year-old reliever.
“It makes sense because the Yankees don’t recruit and develop armed guys,” said O’Day. “They recruit guys who play 100 [mph]. “
With Sanchez behind the plate, O’Day allowed Bryan Reynolds a starting homer, but hit the next three hitters – including Tony Wolters with a shot that ended up hitting Wolters in the thigh.
There is also the other side of Sanchez’s game. He had three strokes this spring and seems to be better at handling fast balls than he was a year ago.
Even in his first plate appearance on Saturday, which came at the bottom of the second and resulted in a routine grounder for shorts, Sanchez worked on a nine-shot rebound against Pittsburgh’s right-handed JT Brubaker.
Brett Gardner followed up with an internal single and DJ LeMahieu then hit an opposite field homer from three races.
Higashioka is rooting for Sanchez, who reached seventh place on Saturday, to regain the shape he had at the beginning of his career.
“It’s great to see him swing the bat well again,” said Higashioka. “Last year was definitely difficult for him – and for everyone – because we all want him to get along.”
A productive Sanchez would drastically change the formation of the Yankees.
“You never like to see someone struggling with the ability to be a great impact player like him,” said Higashioka. “I hope he stays that way throughout the season.”
For Higashioka, at least part of it comes down to Sanchez’s return to the mindset he had in 2018 and 2019. He said he saw more of that from Sanchez so far this spring.
Asked if Sanchez seems more relaxed, Higashioka said yes.
“Especially when you are playing well, you can rest easy,” said Higashioka. “You know you have the confidence to act when you go there. It seems to me that he is in a better place. “