Gary Sanchez Finally Shored Up His Defense. Then His Bat Disappeared.

Nevertheless, the Yankees were 20-16 entering Friday, in position to reach the playoffs only because it was expanded to 16 teams this season. But in a season truncated from six months to two because of the pandemic — making every game count nearly three times as much as usual — every loss and 0-for-4 performance feels that much worse.

“I can’t say, ‘Oh, I’ll get it next month,’ because the season is short,” Sanchez said. “I haven’t been able to make my adjustments like I wanted. I’m just going to try, in this new month, to make it a good month, make the adjustments and hope it goes well.”

The biggest change he said he needs to make at the plate: “Hit the ball and put the ball in play.” Despite a couple recent bright spots — a grand slam on Sunday against the Mets and a solo homer against the Orioles on Friday — Sanchez’s strikeout rate was at a career-high 39 percent entering the weekend. When he has made contact, Sanchez, listed at 6-feet-2-inches and 230 pounds, has been hitting the ball as hard as before but netting more popups or flyouts.

To correct that, Sanchez has been taking extra swings against a high-velocity pitching machine and working to hit the ball more on the barrel, the sweet spot of the bat. It is still a work in progress.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/sports/baseball/gary-sanchez-yankees.html