Gary Sanchez Needs to be an All-Star
- Lou Orlando
- Jun 17, 2021
- 3 min read
You read that right. He's putting up All-Star numbers (kinda). Let's talk about it.
With exactly 1 week left to go in phase 1 of All-Star voting, Gary Sanchez is making a late push to get sent to Denver.
Gary Sanchez has been the most polarizing Yankee since 2017. There are other contenders of course. Giancarlo Stanton is a major target of Yankee fans' ire while Clint Frazier has his share of haters as well. However, no one has quite divided the fan base more than Gary Sanchez. His meteoric rise in the second half of 2016 quickly made him a fan favorite, blasting 20 home runs in just 2 months and breaking a series of records in the process. He followed that up with an excellent 2017 but gripes about Sanchez's hustle and defense and a particularly horrific 2020 have taken some of the luster away. It's been an up and down ride with him these past few seasons but Gary has been on a tear of late. In Gary's last 16 games, he's hitting .346 with 5 HRs and a 1.115 OPS (via Talkin' Yanks). This recent stretch has significantly raised his numbers to the point where he should legitimately be in All-Star conversations. So let's dive into why he should be going to Denver this year.
I want to preface this by saying the catcher position as a whole has not been good this year. If Gary played any other position, he more than likely would not be in many All-Star voting discussions. But the reality is he plays catcher, a position that has been lacking offensively for most of MLB history. Catcher OPS currently sits at .678, the lowest of any offensive position. As of today, Gary is hitting .228 with a .332 OBP, a .788 OPS, and 10 HRs. Not exceptional numbers by any stretch but compared to his contemporaries, he's well above average. We'll only compare him to American League catchers since that's who he's competing against. Amongst AL catchers with at least 150 plate appearances, Gary ranks 2nd in OBP, 3rd in OPS and Slugging, 4th in wRC+*, and 5th in Batting Average. All of his power metrics rank Top 3 among AL Catchers and considering that 3 catchers make the All-Star team for each league, Gary should be a prime candidate. Right now, Gary sits outside the Top 3. He has virtually no chance of overtaking Salvador Perez, currently first in votes, nor should he. Salvy leads catchers in essentially every offensive stat, hitting .287 with 45 RBIs, 17 HRs, and a .853 OPS. Gary could easily overtake the players in 2nd and 3rd place, however. Chicago's Yasmani Grandal sits at second while Houston's Martin Maldonado currently holds third. For all the batting average fans out there that claim Gary's BA is too low, Grandal is hitting .152 and Maldonado is hitting .178. Gary is almost 30 points over the Mendoza line. Grandal could very easily stay in the running as his .771 OPS and 24 RBIs are solid offensive numbers for AL catchers. I don't see Maldonado sticking around at all with his .560 OPS and 5 HRs. Gary's major competition for the 2 and 3 spots should be Grandal and Tampa Bay's Mike Zunino. Zunino is another catcher hitting below .200 but his .795 OPS and 13 HRs will draw some votes. Mitch Garver is currently on the 10 Day IL but unknowing fans might see his .833 OPS and send some votes his way. Whether Gary makes the All-Star game or not, his recent resurgence has been a bright spot for Yankee fans. It would be the cherry on top to get Gary sent to his 3rd All-Star game. Phase 1 of All-Star voting ends June 24th so get your votes in and make sure to vote for El Kraken!
Disclaimer: All stats were calculated at 1:00 PM on June 17. As is the nature of stats, they will change. All stats were acquired from FanGraphs.com and BaseballReference.com.
*see link below for a definition of wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus)
Lou Orlando, host of the Sports Knight Podcast.
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