Why has Yankees’ Gary Sanchez had a terrible year? Austin Romine, Aaron Boone come to catcher’s defense

Yankees manager Aaron Boone and backup catcher Austin Romine detail possible reasons that starting catcher Gary Sanchez has struggled so badly this season on both sides of the plate.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A rare good game from Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez was followed by another bad one.

As much as Sanchez’s three-run homer and RBI single in four at-bats on Tuesday night restored hope that his terrible season would lead to a hot streak just as playoff baseball rolls around, his 0-for-3 with a strikeout and yet another passed ball in Wednesday night’s loss was another reminder that he’s not close to the player who was a 2016 rookie star and 2017 All-Star.

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His average is down to 182 and his major league-high passed ball total up to 18, which would be hard to fathom due to his two months on the disabled list unless you’ve watched him a lot.

Missing catchable pitches seems to have become his thing.

How did Sanchez go from being one of the top young stars in the game to having a season in which he’s often been terrible at the plate and behind it?

We asked Yankees manager Aaron Boone that question this week, and he offered an explanation for Sanchez’ massive offensive struggles.

And when Boone continued his insistence that Sanchez has done a lot of good things behind the plate that are being overshadowed by passed balls and blocking issues, we went to backup catcher Austin Romine for his take.

As expected, both were very supportive of Sanchez, who was rested for the Yankees’ 12-1 win over the Rays on Thursday because it was a day game after a night game.

Romine’s defense for Sanchez’s receiving issues was building a case on how difficult it is to be a catcher for many of the Yankees pitchers.

“This staff is very hard to catch,” he said. “It’s one of the hardest staffs I’ve ever had to catch.”

How so?

“Multiple guys are here because they have the best stuff in the game,” Romine went on. “We have four closers. It’s not the easiest thing to go out there and catch these guys. They have a lot of movement. We have one lefty that throws a pitch that no one throws in the game, we have another lefty that throws 100-something and it cuts and sinks, and only sometimes you know which way it’s going to go. We’ve got a righty that throws 100 with one of the best sliders in the game that can move different ways.

“We have a lot of pitchers that are here because they have high-octane stuff and a lot of movement on their pitches that are hard to hit. So in turn, if they’re hard to hit, they’re probably going to be hard to catch. So it’s difficult catching these guys every day … and working starters … and hitting.”

Romine has had fewer defensive issues than Sanchez, but that’s always been the No. 1 strength to his game.

“Yeah, but catching these guys would be a challenge for anybody,” he said. “This has been the biggest challenge I’ve had catching. This is the hardest staff I’ve ever had to catch.”

OK, but some of the pitches that Sanchez miss are strikes, pitches that look easy to catch.

What about those?

“There are cross-ups,” Romine said. “If you take all the cross-ups out that are passed balls … It’s almost impossible to catch a heater that’s coming in at 100 when you think it’s going to be a slider. You can take those out. You can take out passed balls where the catcher is on one side of the plate and something is cutting away on the other side of the plate. You can take out a lot of stuff.

“But the kid’s trying. It’s not easy. And he’s known for his bat. He’s always been known for that and he’s continuing to grow catching.”

The struggles at the plate are baffling because Sanchez hit everywhere he’s been in the minors, then he did a lot of raking in his first two big-league seasons. He hit .299 with 20 homers, 42 RBI and a 1.032 OPS in 53 games in 2016, then batted .278 with 33 homers, 90 RBI and an .876 OPS in 122 games last year.

This year, Sanchez got off to a terrible start with two hits in 36 at-bats over his first nine games and his season never really took off. He was batting just .190 when he went on the DL the first time with a right groin strain on June 24. After returning on July 20, he was 2-for-14 in three games, then back on the DL with the same groin issue from July 24 to Sept. 1.

The Yankees hoped Sanchez’s long layoff would clear his head and lead to a strong finish. It hasn’t happened, as he’s batting just .164 with three homers, 10 RBI and a .602 OPS in 21 September games.

How could Sanchez sink so low that he’s hitting well under .200?

“I think he’s pressed,” Boone said. “That’s a big reason why. I think early on he hit into a lot of tough luck. If you look at the balls he’s hit to the fence or the line drives he’s hit for outs, when you don’t get results, I feel like he has gone up there and chased results a little bit. ‘I’m going to go get a hit. I’m going to make it happen instead of letting the game come to you.’

“Hitting, even if you’re great, can be a little fickle. It’s very much a mental game at times. I think he’s gotten caught in chasing that result, and all of a sudden you look up and you’re not having the season you’re expected to.

“I like the work that he’s putting in behind the scenes. I think everything is in place for him to take off. He’s just got to get some results and then let it go a little bit and go play. I’m still confident he can do that at a high level for us this season.”

Sanchez is running out of time. The Yankees have just three regular-season games to go this weekend in Boston, then they’ll play the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game.

Boone stated this week that Sanchez will start next Wednesday’s Wild Card Game, which is no surprise even though there has to be a quiet fear that another passed ball could lead to a run that ends the Yankees’ season.

“It’s an important game for us, so I’ll try to focus as much as I can to help the starting pitcher,” Sanchez said. “And if we need relievers, I’ll try to help them and guide them through that game.”

Boone’s public stance on this issue has been consistent. He’s in Sanchez’ corner all the way, and while acknowledging the struggles, he thinks they’ve masked some impressive play behind the plate.

“I do get back a little bit to I think he’s doing a lot more good things behind the plate than certainly he gets credit for,” Boone said.

Maybe, maybe not. There’s no denying Sanchez has had defensive issues have been ongoing for two seasons. His 16 passed balls and 13 errors last season led the AL. Pitchers also threw 53 wild pitches throwing to Sanchez, and this stat also led the league for catchers.

This year, his errors are down to six, his catcher wild pitches have slightly dropped to 44 and he’s had two more passed balls.

When you factor in his innings caught, 639 in 2018 compared to 881 in 2017, Sanchez seemingly has become worse. He’s being charged with a passed ball once every 35 2/3 innings this year compared to one in 55 last year. His catcher wild pitches are one per 14 2/3 innings this year, a drop from one per 16 2/3 innings in 2017.

Despite this data, Romine says he’s seeing Sanchez getting better behind the plate.

“I have,” he said.

Where?

“Every area … catching, receiving, blocking, framing,” Romine said. “He doesn’t need any improving throwing. He’s one of the best throwers in the game. But I’ve seen him continue to get better, and as a baseball player, that’s all you’re trying to do.

“All I can say is I see the guy work and try to get better. I respect him and I respect how he goes about his work.”

Boone is seeing the same thing on both sides of the plate from Sanchez.

“I think he understands how important it is behind the plate to be invested and he also understands when he’s going well how important his bat is to our lineup, and I don’t think that’s wavered,” Boone said.

With the playoffs right around the corner, it’s time for this hard work to lead to better results.

That’s the plan.

“This definitely won’t be a season that’s going to be one of my favorites for sure,” Sanchez said. “But the good thing is we still have a couple games coming up and the focus is to concentrate on the next game and concentrate on performing and helping the team.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.