Yankees call up catching prospect Gary Sanchez

They Yankees have already gotten a ton out of their minor league system in 2015 and now it looks like they could get a little bit more as we head into the last few weeks of the season. After pulling a hamstring towards the end of the Triple-A season, it didn't look like Gary Sanchez would get a chance in the majors as a September call-up, but now he's been activated and will join the team today.

After several seasons of disappointing performances–which is to say everyone was sad that he didn't utterly dominate the league at a much younger age–it seemed like his prospect status was slipping. He went from arguably the best prospect in the system to just holding on to a spot in the top 10. The 2015 season would be key for him and after hitting .262/.319/.476 in Double-A, he was promoted to Scranton much sooner than anyone expected. As promising as he is and as many gains as he made on his defense, he's still blocked by Brian McCann and John Ryan Murphy, so rushing the 22-year-old backstop to Triple-A didn't seem necessary. Nonetheless, he went on a tear and hit .295/.349/.500 at the level and finished the year with a career-high 18 home runs. It seemed like he had finally tapped into the offensive potential that everyone had been waiting for.

It's unknown what the team's plans are with him going forward, since McCann and Murphy will be here for awhile, but they clearly felt like they needed his bat with Mark Teixeira out for the year. They didn't exactly need a third catcher with Austin Romine up with the team, but it's possible he will get a few at-bats, if for no other reason than to show him off to other teams like they did with Jesus Montero in 2011. If his 2015 iteration is him going forward, Sanchez will be a major league player, but it's not certain he will be one with the Yankees. Maybe he can bring them something they need more direly in the offseason. For now, let's get excited for another prospect making his way to the majors this year and make note of how much this system has turned around over the last few years. It's been great to see.