Report: Gary Sánchez Returning to Majors With Mets
After spending the first month-and-a-half of this season in the minors, former All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez will be promoted to the major leagues by the New York Mets on Friday, according to multiple reports.
Sánchez, who inked a minor-league deal with New York on May 9th, had an opt-out in his contract that would’ve allowed him to exercise that clause if he wasn’t placed on the club’s active roster by Friday. The 30-year-old did exactly that earlier this month with the San Francisco Giants.
SNY’s Andy Martino was the first to report Sánchez’s call-up on Thursday.
The Mets are expected to officially select Sánchez’s contract ahead of Friday’s series opener versus the Cleveland Guardians. Before they do, however, they’ll need to create an open spot on the 40-man roster.
New York’s catching depth currently looks quite different than it did on Opening Day, as Omar Narváez – who signed a two-year, $15-million contract with a player option for 2024 last off-season – is on the 60-day IL with a calf injury. He is slated to begin a rehab assignment next week, though.
Tomas Nido is also on the mend due to dry eye syndrome, preventing him from playing since May 5th. But the front office believes he’ll be ready to resume baseball activities again soon, too.
Without Narváez and Nido, the Mets have relied on top catching prospect Francisco Álvarez and journeyman Michael Perez behind the plate. Unless manager Buck Showalter intends to carry three backstops, one of those two will have to go once Sánchez is recalled.
Álvarez, featuring all three minor-league options, has struggled offensively thus far, hitting .218/.274/.423 with four home runs, eight RBIs and a 93 wRC+ across 26 games. The 21-year-old, however, has provided quality defense despite his woes as a hitter.
Perez, meanwhile, has only logged seven plate appearances over two games with the Mets but is 4-for-7 with a double during his brief tenure. The 30-year-old possesses a minor-league option, though he could be designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.
Not only will this mark Sánchez’s return to the majors, but it will also see him make another visit to New York, albeit in Queens rather than the Bronx, where he spent seven seasons with the Yankees.
The right-handed slugger exploded onto the scene in 2016, blasting 20 home runs and 12 doubles across 53 contests, slashing .299/.376/.657 with a 170 wRC+. He won a Silver Slugger Award the following season after posting 33 home runs and 90 RBIs in 122 games.
Even with all that power, Sánchez was a liability regarding strikeouts (26.5 percent career rate with New York) and defense, ultimately leading to his departure via trade ahead of the 2022 season, as he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins. But things didn’t work out there, either.
Sánchez was given every opportunity to succeed, compiling 471 plate appearances in 128 contests, struggling to a .205/.282/.377 slash line and an 89 wRC+. He also faltered to a 28.9 percent strikeout rate, the second-highest of his career.
Following a quiet free-agency period, the veteran catcher temporarily caught on with San Francisco but posted a measly .164/.319/.182 slash line and 40 wRC+ in 16 games at triple-A before opting out. The righty also punched out in 19 of his 55 at-bats.
The former Yankee has enjoyed far more success with the Mets’ triple-A affiliate, though, hitting .308/.514/.500 with a 173 wRC+ across an eight-game sample size – which he’ll now look to build off in the majors.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Arturo Pardavila III. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.