Twins giving Gary Sanchez chance for fresh start and hope he'll catch on well

FORT MYERS, FLA. – If "The Mystery of Gary Sanchez" was a detective novel, it's not hard to imagine some of the chapter titles.

The Curse of Potential. The No-Hustle Hustle. If I Can Make It There. Blast Balls, Passed Balls. Twin Engines.

Trouble is, it's a lot harder to imagine how those chapters end, what the solution is. Because while the Twins certainly have no regrets about the March 13 trade that brought the 29-year-old Sanchez to Minnesota — it also freed up payroll space to acquire Carlos Correa, after all — it's fair to say they aren't sure yet just what they acquired.

"We triangulated as much information as we could around makeup and background [and found] this kid wants to be good," said Derek Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations. "And maybe [he needs] just a reset. Take a deep breath, go somewhere else and continue to go down that path. We'll give him that opportunity. The talent is there, and now we just want to help him unlock it."

The Yankees searched for the key for six years, after being smitten by a rookie season — well, a rookie two months — that evoked comparisons to Thurman Munson and Jorge Posada. Sanchez clubbed 20 home runs after being called up in August 2016, and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting despite playing only 53 games.

Then he won the Silver Slugger Award the next season, made the All-Star team, and cracked 33 homers to break the Yankees record by a catcher. Suddenly the comparisons were to Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey.

Of course, that's not always a good thing in New York, during a Yankees championship drought of 12 years and counting, amid the social-media age.

"You set standards at an early age, and you naturally expect you'll live up to them for a long time," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who burst into the major leagues in a similarly stellar manner a decade and a half earlier. "But this is baseball. There are no guarantees."

Sanchez knows that as well as anyone. Though he kept hitting home runs relatively frequently, and blasting Twins pitching relatively constantly (he has victimized his new team with a .991 OPS over the years), he has never equaled the promise of those first two seasons. In fact, of the 191 major league hitters who have collected 1,200 plate appearances over the past four seasons, Sanchez's .201 batting average ranks dead last. His .299 on-base percentage ranks 181st.

Defensively, Sanchez fought a reputation for being a poor pitch-blocker, leading the majors in passed balls twice. Pitch-framing metrics rank him below average as well, and his Howitzer arm, which caught 41% of base-stealers his first season and 38% the second, has declined every year but one since then, falling to 17% last year.

Making matters worse were various brush-fire controversies that can be common in New York, headlines about not hustling down the line, punching Miguel Cabrera during a brawl and being benched amid slumps. One columnist went so far as to criticize the native of the Dominican Republic for using an interpreter during interviews.

"That chapter is done. [New York] is in the past," Sanchez said diplomatically. "I'm part of the Twins now."

No wonder every player asked for their impression of their new teammate last week noted how happy and pleasant Sanchez has been in camp.

"He seems confident, he seems upbeat. You see him smiling a lot, which is awesome," said Sonny Gray, Sanchez's teammate in New York in 2017-18. "Gary's a great guy. He's always been very steady."

And the Twins believe he has often been misjudged, or at least judged too harshly.

"I don't think anyone is immune to the challenges of playing in bigger markets," Baldelli said. "It's very different experience on a day-to-day basis as a ballplayer."

Falvey agreed, saying: "He's had a lot of pressure, being Gary Sanchez the New York Yankees catcher, and he struggled at different times. But I fundamentally believe in the talent."

Falvey is not the only one. Tyler Duffey has thrown to Sanchez twice in the past week, and "I loved it. He gives a good target." Duffey said he has heard the criticism of his new catcher, but has a theory about it.

"He's worked with a great pitching staff in New York, and handling some of the guys he handled, probably got a worse rep than he deserved. A lot of guys throwing 100, maybe not the best control, it's hard to catch," Duffey said. "It's a little different when you've been in New York your whole career, and here it feels like everything moves a little slower. He'll have a chance to settle in, enjoy himself, win some ballgames. He's going to have a big year, I think."

Sanchez is putting in the work, anyway. He's spent hours in the bullpen with new catching coach Hank Conger, drilling himself on pitch-framing technique, better catching stances and knocking down everything in the dirt.

"We're not trying to completely revamp anything. My philosophy is, let's find the position where you're most comfortable receiving it. But at the same time, you've also got to be aware of being able to block a pitch, set yourself up to be able to react quickly as well," Conger said. "So let's just find the position you feel most comfortable receiving it, where you minimize the movement of your glove, where you make the pitcher comfortable."

That last part is the best, Conger said.

"One of the surprising things when he came in was, he was really eager to get to know all the pitchers, and I was pumped about that. To me, that was really encouraging," he said. "It's tough for a guy to come in and just all of a sudden learn about 15 or 20 new guys in a spring training, especially a short one, after spending his entire career in another organization. I thought that would be the toughest part, but it's also one of the most important, but he's catching extra bullpens, talking to pitchers on the bench, making sure he's on the same page with them."

Baldelli said he is not certain yet how he will split playing time between Sanchez and second-year catcher Ryan Jeffers, and how often he will get Sanchez's bat into the lineup as a designated hitter. But after two weeks around the veteran, Baldelli is excited about the season he might have.

"He's a peach. He's a pleasure to be around every day. He's fun, he's getting to know the guys, he's loosening up really well," the manager said. "I think he's going to enjoy playing here."