{"id":196550,"date":"2021-03-08T03:23:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/yankees-gary-sanchez-can-win-al-mvp-aaron-judge\/"},"modified":"2021-03-08T03:23:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:23:04","slug":"yankees-gary-sanchez-can-win-al-mvp-aaron-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/yankees-gary-sanchez-can-win-al-mvp-aaron-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"#Yankees’ Gary Sanchez can win AL MVP: Aaron Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Yankees’ Gary Sanchez can win AL MVP: Aaron Judge<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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TAMPA \u2014 Gary Sanchez had a 2020 to forget.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t make his teammates and coaches forget about what the Yankees catcher is still capable of, especially after an offseason in which Sanchez planted the seeds for a potential bounce back in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cGary\u2019s a guy that can go out there and win AL MVP,\u201d Aaron Judge said Sunday from George M. Steinbrenner Field after the Yankees beat the Phillies 4-0. \u201cHe\u2019s that dynamic and that important of a player to this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does seem very focused in his early work,\u201d DJ LeMahieu added. \u201cOut to prove that he\u2019s Gary Sanchez and he\u2019s one of the best catchers in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get back to that player \u2014 the one who was an All-Star in 2017 and 2019, looking like a key piece of the Yankees\u2019 core \u2014 Sanchez got to work early this offseason. After playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, he arrived in Tampa in January to continue refining his shortened swing and working with catching instructor Tanner Swanson to build on the changes they made to his catching stance last spring.<\/p>\n

\"Yankees
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez during spring training.<\/figcaption>
Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s still too early in camp to tell whether Sanchez\u2019s offseason work will make all the difference this season, but the first returns are promising. He went 1-for-2 with a walk Sunday in his fifth game<\/a> of a spring training in which he has cracked a pair of home runs, thrown out a pair of runners and drawn praise from his pitchers for his defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really accountable for his performance in 2020 and hasn\u2019t run from that and has faced some of those challenges head on,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cPersonally, our dynamic has really improved as well. I think that\u2019s been a positive thing as we continue to find areas where we can strengthen his game. It\u2019s really evolved from a coach-to-player directive \u2014 a place where, in the past, especially early on, it was, \u2018I\u2019ll do whatever you tell me\u2019 \u2014 to now it\u2019s really developed into a partnership, which is much more effective in terms of the long-term sustainability of what we\u2019re trying to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swanson joined the Yankees ahead of the 2020 season and had Sanchez adjust his catching stance to have one knee down, aimed at improving his pitch framing. Sanchez\u2019s framing metrics may have improved \u2014 from -6.8 to -0.8 framing runs, per FanGraphs \u2014 but his overall defense took a hit, dropping from -2 defensive runs saved in 2019 to -4 in 2020.<\/p>\n

Now, with more time working on the stance and Sanchez voicing his feedback in that process, Swanson believes the results will show this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis voice has increased in terms of what he likes, what he dislikes, what he\u2019s feeling, how we continue to make adaptations to refine what he\u2019s doing and how he\u2019s doing it,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cI never questioned his belief or his buy-in [last year]. I just don\u2019t think he ever got fully comfortable to the point where we could expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanchez never seemed to get comfortable at the plate, either, as he lost his starting job to Kyle Higashioka by the end of the playoffs and entered the offseason with an uncertain future.<\/p>\n