The reason he is still hitting on the interstate is because he is flummoxed by his defense, or lack thereof.
He labored all year to improve his defense, and to block pitches in the dirt.
He has made progress blocking balls in the dirt.
But what has suffered, is his ability to catch the balls that don't bounce.
Gary has been a great clutch hitter but we want more.
We want 40 homeruns, 110 RBI's and a .290 average. He is on pace of the first two in the list, but ishitting .196.
Great defense makes great offense. If he is not happy with his defense, he loses interest in his offense.
So Gary will, today, use the glove designed to catch Phil Neikro's knuckle wonder ball. It is coming on an Amazon plane from Arizona.
It is 3 feet in diameter, and weighs 9 pounds.
Luckily, Gary is strong.
And with the new glasses.....
How generous! However, Gary won't be able to throw out runners. He'll waste too much time groping for the ball, lost somewhere in that cavernous glove.
ReplyDeleteGary needs to keep his focus. This is a mental thing. Isn't there a pharmaceutical for that?
Gary needs cannabis..it's the miracle drug heard it improves focus, inner drive, your ability to catch, hit...
ReplyDelete-BFG
Sorry--but this is just perpetuating lowest-common-denominator groupthink. Sanchez has some solid defensive skills--pitch framing, pitch calling, and arm strength are all on the plus side--arm strength is really excellent. His overall dWAR (defensive WAR) is about the same as Romine's. Duque loves to skewer the groupthink of the "Gammonites" but goes easy on the same virus when it infects this blog.
ReplyDeleteFrom MLB.com:
ReplyDeleteWhich MLB catcher has the strongest arm?
The hardest throw from behind the plate that resulted in a caught stealing came from Yankees backstop Gary Sanchez, who threw out Kansas City's Jorge Bonifacio at second on Sept. 25 with an 88.6 mph throw. Sanchez showed off his arm on the play, hesitating at first and then double-clutching, but still getting enough on the throw to record the out.
In 2017, Sanchez threw out 38 percent of baserunners. Romine threw out 10 percent.
ReplyDeleteSome things to consider.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the pitchers actually hit his glove? I don't mean on the balls in the dirt. A lot of times that's by design. I mean on those balls that go flying by high and away?
A batter has only a split second to decide to swing on a 97 MPH fastball and Sanchez, who thinks the ball is supposed to be somewhere else, has to
a) recognize that it's not
b) get his glove where it's going,
and C) do it really really, really quickly.
I understand that's his job but some of these pitches that he "let go by" are so far from the target it's not funny. They are not "wild pitches" per se but if you think low and in and it ends up high and away... I don't see how you catch it even though it could even be a strike.
So is it communication?
Or natural wildness and he's slow to recognize it?
Or, does the uptick in the avg pitcher's velocity (lot's of guys at 95+ with the control issues that go with it.) factor in as being faster than a person can react? And El Chapo clocks at 100+ all the time. Sevi avg 97. Green. These guys throw HARD.
So in my mind it's a combo of all of the above. He only misses a couple a game out of what 150-175 pitches?
Thoughts?
Doug K.
That's what I was wondering about. It seems like the signs get crossed up a lot. A job for Ma Boone?
ReplyDeleteBut, yes: lay off Sanchez's fielding already!
StatBaby is always recognizable by his bile and lack of a sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing funny about falsely maligning the playing skills of one of your best players . . . asshole. And EVERYONE out here uses "stats"--it's just that some morons like you rely on the stats inherited from a hundred years ago that don't really measure anything significant--unlike the 450 you got on your math and verbal SAT.
ReplyDelete
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