Yankees to place Gary Sanchez on disabled list

Gary Sanchez has dominated New York sports talk today, and that probably won’t change anytime soon. According to multiple sources, the Yankees will place their catcher back on the disabled list.

Earlier today, reports surfaced indicating that Sanchez re-aggravated the groin injury that kept him on the shelf for nearly a month. The Yankees catcher came under fire for his perceived lack of hustle during yesterday’s series opener against the Rays. It turns out that he was actually fighting through pain.

Now, let me be clear, there is no conspiracy behind this. Sanchez is actually injured. No cabal of Yankees public relations professionals generated this story to buy themselves a break. Sanchez didn’t properly heal from the first time he injured his groin, and he tweaked it playing last night. That’s all there is it too. Any other theories or Zapruder film analysis lends itself to complete irrationality.

Sanchez, 25, is in the midst of an utterly disappointing 2018. He’s hit .188/.283/.416 with 14 home runs over 66 games. He struggled before landing on the disabled list, and somehow looked worse coming off it. The Yankees desperately need him to heal up and hit closer to his career norms.

While the team has yet to announce a corresponding move, it stands to reason that Kyle Higashioka will get the call. The 28-year-old backstop had a modicum of success at the big league level this season, slashing .167/.242/.500. The batting average doesn’t look good, but he managed three home runs as his first big league hits. It’s hard to have high standards for a third catcher.

We’ll have more on this as it develops, but for now, the injury is for real. And it bites. The Yankees really need a healthy Sanchez.