As is tradition for former New York Yankees players, they have a career resurgence with their new team. The newest ex-Yankee to do so is Gary Sanchez.
For any team, it seems that their former players who didn't exactly perform up to expectations, succeed elsewhere. New York Yankees fans have seen this happen quite a bit, so it should come as no surprise that yet another former player is succeeding.
On Wednesday, former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez crushed a three-run homer for the San Diego Padres, giving them a 3-1 lead over the Seattle Mariners in the bottom of the third inning.
This is now Sanchez's fourth home run in nine games for the Padres. This comes days after he played three games with the New York Mets before getting designated for assignment.
Gary Sanchez thriving in San Diego, much to the chagrin of the Yankees, Mets fans
Sanchez was one of the Yankees' top prospects who was supposed to be a pivotal part of their core for the foreseeable future. While it started with much promise in 2016 and 2017, the strikeouts started to pile up, making him a home run-or-bust player. that, and his defense behind the plate wasn't great. His run with the Yankees would end after the 2021 season.
In his seven years with the Yankees, Sanchez slashed .230/.318/.487 while recording 138 home runs, 299 runs scored, 340 RBI, 444 hits, 582 strikeouts, and 220 walks.
Ahead of the 2022 season, Sanchez was traded to the Minnesota Twins, alongside infielder Gio Urshela, with the Yankees getting utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa and third baseman Josh Donaldson. Sanchez played 128 games for the Twins, recording a .205 batting average, a .282 on-base percentage, a .377 slugging percentage, 16 home runs, 42 runs scored, 61 RBI, 86 hits, and 136 strikeouts.
Sanchez wasn't retained by the Twins after the season ended. He joined the San Francisco Giants on a minor league deal but opted out after he wasn't called up to the majors by the deadline. Sanchez was brought in by the Mets, as he reunited with general manager Billy Eppler, who was formerly with the Yankees. After three games in the majors, he was DFA'd.
Through nine games with the Padres, Sanchez is slashing .286/.333/.686 while recording seven runs, 10 RBI, and 10 hits.
Sanchez is thriving early on in his Padres tenure. But, let's see if he can keep it up once the season progresses.