The Monday Takeaway
Gary Sanchez is good. Let’s start with that.
Sanchez is an incredibly talented player. He has an exceptional feel for hitting, a nearly endless reservoir of power, an arm that strikes fear into the heart of baserunners, and fine enough framing skills. The less said about his receiving the better, but on the whole, a fully functional Gary Sanchez is one of the more valuable players in baseball.
The problem is that Sanchez doesn’t seem fully functional right now.
One of the knocks on Sanchez on his way up the pipeline was that he seemed to have a lackadaisical attitude. He was benched at times for lack of hustle. That reputation has stuck with him through his time as a big leaguer. It’s led to a lot of hottakery, and not all of it has been earned.
It was earned Monday.
Sanchez has not had a great season. He’s hitting .188, likely in part due to a groin injury that landed him on the DL for a time. He is supposed to be the third all-world bat in the lineup behind Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
The trouble against the Rays began with, of course, a passed ball. Jake Bauers was on second base following a booming double.
Luis Severino claimed responsibility for the cross-up, but Sanchez should have hustled more to get to the ball. Perhaps Miguel Andujar could have done more, and Severino could have been quicker to the plate.
Sanchez would be the one at the plate at the end of the game.
How the game ended with Gary Sanchez‘s at-bat 👇 pic.twitter.com/Y1P2BXb5Qk
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 24, 2018
The lack of hustle is inexcusable. Sanchez is not a speedy man, to say the least, but it’s very hard to not say that Sanchez quit on the play. Had he beaten it out, the game would have been tied.
The Yankees are now 10-10 against the Orioles and Rays, and are six back of the Red Sox, who never seem to lose.
Quick Hits from Monday
Do you like position players pitching? Whew, well, have we got a deal for you.
The Rangers had both Carlos Tocci and Ryan Rua pitch in a blowout loss. The Cubs used Victor Caratini and Anthony Rizzo on the mound in just a six-run deficit.
That certainly feels a bit premature, given that sending in a position player is essentially running up the white flag.
***
It was a lovely story. The Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon made his big league debut just over a year after taking a line drive to the head and going through a lengthy recovery process. He threw seven no-hit innings.
St. Louis did not win.
We’re not quite sure who Bud Norris is going to yell at for this one. Maybe poor Jordan Hicks for blowing the no-hitter. He’s certainly not the one who lost the game.
***
DINGERS!
DINGERS!
DINGERS!
Defensive Play of the Day
There’s a reason Jose Iglesias is a big leaguer. We can’t really say it’s his bat.
Iglesias is really good at defense. He’s exceptional at it. He makes it fun.
That’ll do.
What to Watch on Tuesday
Early afternoon baseball! The Braves and Marlins are playing at 12:10 Eastern, which means this could actually be breakfast baseball for some of you. A good way to start your day indeed. Julio Therand and Wei-Yin Chen will take the mound.
The red-hot Pirates will face off with Cleveland at 7:10. Joe Musgrove and Shane Bieber get the starts, and if you anticipated this being one of the better possible games at this point in the year, well, good for you.
For your West Coast game, we recommend the Giants and Mariners at 10:10. Andrew Suarez and James Paxton will be pitching.
Thank you for reading
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