Name Gary Sanchez | ||
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Role Production company · garysanchezprods.com | ||
Founders Adam McKay, Will Ferrell | ||
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Gary Sánchez (born December 2, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball catcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2015.
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Early life and family
Sánchez grew up in La Victoria, Dominican Republic. His parents separated when he was young and he, his three brothers, and one sister were raised by their mother, Orquidia Herrera, and her mother, Agustina Pena, although they saw their father frequently. One of his brothers, Miguel Sánchez, played in the Seattle Mariners organization.
He and his wife, Sahaira, have one daughter. Sánchez credits his daughter's birth for his transformation from a player "going through the motions" early in his professional career, to a player lauded for his work ethic.
Minor Leagues
Sánchez signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in July 2009, receiving a $3 million signing bonus. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America ranked him as the Yankees' seventh-best prospect. He began his professional career playing for the Gulf Coast Yankees. On August 18, 2010, he was promoted to the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League. He finished the season hitting .329/.393/.543 with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in in 47 games.
Before the 2011 season, Sánchez was ranked among the top prospects in baseball. He was rated as the second best prospect in the Yankees organization and 30th best prospect overall by Baseball America. He spent the season playing for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League. He played in 82 games before suffering a season ending finger injury. He finished the season hitting .256/.335/.485 with 17 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
Before the 2012 season, Sánchez was ranked as the Yankees fourth best prospect by Baseball America. He began the 2012 season with Charleston and received a midseason promotion to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League.
Sánchez began the 2013 season with Tampa. After batting .254 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs, the Yankees promoted him to the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League on August 3. He was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster after the 2013 season. Sánchez began the 2015 season with Trenton and was chosen to represent the Yankees at the 2015 All-Star Futures Game. After the Futures Game, the Yankees promoted Sánchez to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League, where he hit a home run in his first at-bat.
2015
After the conclusion of the RailRiders' 2015 season, the Yankees promoted Sánchez to the major leagues. He made his major league debut as a pinch hitter on October 3. He went hitless in two at bats during the regular season. The Yankees included him on their 25-man roster for the 2015 American League (AL) Wild Card Game. The Yankees then assigned Sanchez to the Arizona Fall League (AFL) after the season. He led the AFL in home runs, and was named the Fall Stars Game Most Valuable Player, and the second-best prospect in the AFL by Baseball America. As a result of his strong season, the Yankees felt comfortable trading fellow catcher John Ryan Murphy during the offseason.
2016
Sánchez competed with Austin Romine to serve as the backup catcher to Brian McCann on the Yankees' Opening Day roster in 2016, but he began the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was called up to the majors for one game in May, where he went 0-for-4. The Yankees again promoted Sánchez to the major leagues on August 3, and he recorded his first major league hit, a single off Hansel Robles, that same day. On August 10, Sánchez went 4-for-5, with his first major league home run and 3 singles. On August 16, Sanchez had his first two home run game against the Toronto Blue Jays. On August 22, Sánchez was named AL Player of the Week, after hitting four home runs with a .523 average. Sanchez became the first player in MLB history with at least 11 home runs and 31 hits in his first 23 career games. On August 29, Sánchez was named AL Player of the Week for the second straight week, and on September 3 MLB named him AL Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month. On September 21, 2016, Sánchez hit his 18th and 19th home runs in his 45th game, making him the fastest player to reach that mark in the modern era. Overall in the 2016 season, in 53 games with the Yankees, Sanchez finished with a .299 batting average, 20 home runs, and 42 RBI. He finished second in the voting for Rookie of the Year, behind Michael Fulmer.