The New York Yankees have reportedly called up their top catching prospect, Gary Sanchez, from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
By Christian Kouroupakis
Another shot for Gary Sanchez to prove himself to the New York Yankees‘ organization has now been granted, according to Shane Hennigan, a beat writer for the Railriders.
The club has not confirmed that Sanchez was indeed called up to the Major Leagues.
Sanchez, the number two catching prospect in all of major league baseball will be asked to put his hot bat to use against the Chicago White Sox, who plan to unleash two lefties on the Yankees this weekend.
In 26 games in Triple-A, the 23-year old owns a .280 batting average (30-for-107) with five homers, 30 RBI and an OPS of .872.
The Bombers called up lefty Tyler Olson on Thursday, optioning outfielder Ben Gamel to Scranton and it is certainly a plausible situation if Olsen gets sent down to formulate an opportunity for Sanchez.
With the Yankees expected to face Chris Sale, a promotion to someone who can hit lefties while bringing fans the youthful spark they’ve been thirsty for, Sanchez is a formidable option.
Personally speaking, Rob Refsnyder would have made a better option if offense was the focal point here. Heading into Thursday, the utility man owned a .425 batting average in the previous 10 games. Overall, he’s slashing .288/.366/.347 with five doubles and a triple in 30 games.
It’s not like Sanchez wasn’t on fire, though.
In 14 Spring Training games when he was considered the favorite to win the backup catcher’s tole, he slashed 0.91/.259/.136 with a mere OPS of .396 while in Tampa.
Austin Romine won the job instead but after struggling in the opening month of the regular season with a .225 batting average and only two home runs in AAA, Sanchez has been scorching here in the month of May. In seven games (32 at-bats) the catcher has slashed .406/.424/.781 with three home runs, nine RBI and an OPS of 1.205.
In two major league at-bats a year ago, Sanchez went hitless so a call-up confirmation would continue the pursue for his first major league hit.
Again, none of the information has been confirmed by the club but we could very well be looking at a stint in the majors by one of baseball’s most promising prospects.
Gary Sanchez has been promoted to the New York.
— Shane Hennigan (@RailRidersTT) May 13, 2016
