The Yankees will select a catcher Ali Sánchez on the MLB roster, reports Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. New York has not confirmed the move but announced this evening that it is the backup holder JC Escarra optioned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. New York has had a spot on the 40-man roster since the start of the offseason for DFAs Cade Winquest again Randal Grichukso no further movement is required.
Sánchez will take the position of holding back in the back Austin Wellsgiving them the bat in his right hand. The Yankees used the left-handed hitting duo of Wells and Escarra all season. Neither player has done anything offensively, with the latter hitting .177 without a home run in 22 games. Wells has a rotten .166/.278/.255 slash line spanning 169 plate appearances. He has just five hits in 50 at-bats against lefty pitching.
Sánchez, 29, who signed a minor league contract, won’t provide much momentum. He hit .183 in 50 big league games. This year’s line of .227/.327/.375 over 40 Triple-A contests is below average and has come with a lopsided division. The Yankees figure to look for clear improvements behind the plate before the trade deadline. They will hope that Sánchez can provide a little spark, or at least better balance, for now.
Sánchez has a strong defensive reputation. He showed great quality in hitting among the top 20 catchers in pop time last year in very short stints with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Sánchez has thrown nearly a quarter of his attempted steals at the MLB level and is 12-43 (28%) with Scranton this season. Statcast also ranked him well for his blocking ability during his extended MLB debut, 31 games with the Marlins over the past two seasons.
