New York Yankees Gary Sanchez is the best catcher in baseball

Sanchez vs. New York Yankees history

Everyone who paid attention to baseball last season remembers when Sanchez was the one carrying the Bronx Bombers offense through long stretches. There were times when he was one of only a few names in manager Aaron Boone’s lineup that were expected to be there. It’s an excellent example of why Sanchez leads the way in terms of which Major League catcher was most valuable to his team. And it’s not particularly close.

Sanchez even has already made his mark on New York Yankees team history. In 2017, Sanchez set the Bombers record for most home runs in a season by a catcher with 33. Then he broke his own record last year by putting 34 balls over the outfield wall.

For him to so easily surpass Hall of Famer Yogi Berra so quickly needs to be talked about more. There isn’t a single MLB team with franchise history anywhere close in comparison to the New York Yankees, and to break records like these multiple times is as impressive as it gets. He and Berra are the only Yankee catchers to hit for 30 homers in multiple seasons.

Among New York Yankees catchers with over 1,000 at-bats, Sanchez ranked at or near the top of most Bronx Bombers offensive categories for catchers.

• 1,393 at-bats – 13th
• .328 on-base percentage – 8th
• 105 home runs- 6th
• 262 RBI – 6th
• 226 runs – 6th
• .846 OPS – 3rd
• .518 slugging percentage – 1st

Out of the five catchers ahead of him in runs, RBI, and home runs, all had over 5,000 at-bats. Four of them are in the Hall of Fame, Berra, Bill Dickey, Elston Howard, and Thurman Munson; the other, Jorge Posada, probably should be.

For good measure, Sanchez is the fastest catcher ever to reach 100 home runs. It’s hard to see what’s not to like here. He’s secured his place in the Yankees history books.