MLB postseason: Pivotal players for each contending team
By Bill Felber
New York Yankees
75-46, +3 in AL wild card
Gary Sanchez, catcher
With a .620 winning percentage, it may be difficult to imagine the Yankees not reaching MLB postseason play. In fact, New York has stumbled through August, going 7-9 and seeing a seven game lead in the wild card more than halved. With Oakland and Seattle both coming on strong, Yankee fans can no longer look on October baseball as guaranteed.
Injuries to key figures such as Aaron Judge, who remains out indefinitely, have hurt an offense that has also been slowed by rookie phenom Gleybar Torres’ reversion to a norm. Torres was batting .300 in mid-June, but he is hitting just .210 since then.
The Yanks need a quick offensive transfusion, and the most likely place to get it may be Sanchez. Although out since mid-July with a groin injury and ineffective prior to that – witness his .188 batting average — Sanchez remains a legitimate offensive threat and he is expected back soon.
With a resume that includes 20 home runs in the final two months of 2016 and 33 more last year, he can provide power at a position that has generated little of that coveted commodity. That’s especially important for New York given the uncertain timing of Judge’s return.