MINNEAPOLIS — The Gary Sanchez who plagued American League pitching for much of 2016-19 is probably gone forever, but the catcher Yankees fans loved to hate has shown flashes of his old self in his last month in Minnesota.
Sánchez was behind the plate for the Twins in his first game against his former team Tuesday night at Target Field amid a hot streak.
In his previous 22 games, Sánchez was 21-for-80 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 RBIs and six walks, along with 24 strikeouts, for an .869 OPS.
Asked if the change of scenery might have been a good thing after years of being criticized in the Bronx, Sanchez said through an interpreter: “Maybe.”
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” Sanchez said. “They changed me. So I took this opportunity to do the best I could.”
The trade that sent him out of the Bronx also brought Gio Urshela to Minnesota in March.
Urshela said she believed the move could have been a positive for Sánchez.
“I think it was a good change for him,” Urshela said. “Gary is a good player. He is proving that he can be a good player on any team”.
Aaron Boone had the same response as Sanchez, saying “maybe” a change of scenery would be best for Sanchez.
“He’s a really talented guy,” Boone said. “Maybe a change of scenery will help a bit, but that doesn’t mean staying here [with the Yankees]I wouldn’t have had a great year either.”
His overall stats aren’t much better than they were a year ago with the Yankees, but his defensive metrics have improved, and the Twins, who finished last in the AL Central in 2021, rank first. this season.
Sanchez has played a role in that, and he certainly hasn’t been in the spotlight like he was when he was a Yankee.
He called the criticism he received with the Yankees “part of the game.”
“It happens to all the players,” Sanchez said. “Pitchers make adjustments and hitters make their own adjustments. I had a couple of bad years and that’s it. They changed me and now I am improving.”
The Yankees have also played better than they did a year ago.
In exchange for Sánchez and Urshela, the Yankees received Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt.
Donaldson has been solid at the plate and at third base, but dealt with a shoulder injury as well as his controversial “Jackie” interaction with the White Sox’s Tim Anderson that led to a suspension Donaldson is appealing.
Kiner-Falefa has been as advertised, and Rortvedt is recovering from knee surgery after sitting out the spring with an oblique injury.
Boone, a longtime supporter of Sanchez, was back in that role Tuesday.
“I sat here a lot, sometimes defending the quality of the person, which was always evident to me,” Boone said. “No matter what he was going through, he was always a great teammate. He really cared. The job. I felt that he was not always understood or appreciated. I just want to see him well.”
Reference-nypost.com