New York Yankees

Yankees won’t let Gary Sanchez’s injury slow them down

Gary Sanchez’s groin injury is bad news for the Yankees, but Aaron Boone’s team has more than enough depth to thrive without their All-Star catcher. 

When he’s at his best, Gary Sanchez is arguably the best offensive catcher in all of baseball. Unfortunately, when he’s at his worst he is a non-factor for the Yankees offense. His inconsistent play is the reason why New York will continue their hot play even while Sanchez heads to the Injured List.

The team placed Sanchez on the shelf after he injured his groin trying to beat out an infield hit in his team’s wild win over the Twins on Tuesday night. The fact that it’s another groin injury is a reason for the organization to worry. This marks the third time in the last two seasons that Sanchez has headed to the IL as a result of a groin issue.

Given Sanchez’s struggles as of late, there were already calls from fans on social media to see Austin Romine replace him in the starting lineup. Obviously, going from Sanchez to Romine on a daily basis is going to be a net negative for the Yankees. Even if Romine plays well, he simply doesn’t have the talent to equal what Sanchez can do with the bat in his hands.

That doesn’t mean the Yankees are doomed to fall into a slump. The entire identity of this year’s team has been its resiliency. Neither Luis Severino or Dellin Betances have thrown a pitch this year and yet, Aaron Boone’s pitching staff has found a way to grind out wins. The same can be said for a batting order that has functioned at a high level without Miguel Andujar for the majority of the season. The Yankees have scored runs at an impressive clip all year long despite extended absences by Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge.

The reasons for Yankees optimism goes far beyond the emotional strength of the roster. It’s also very likely the team will add a high-quality starting pitcher before the end of July. That, more than anything else, should help boost the team’s efforts down the stretch. In simplistic terms, adding a No. 2 or 3 starting pitcher to the rotation should more than overcome any performance decline going from Sanchez to Romine.

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In the end, the Yankees won’t be back to full strength until Sanchez is back in the lineup. They still have enough talent to keep the rest of the American League at bay. Don’t look for New York’s momentum to stop as a result of losing their All-Star backstop.

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