With Gary Sanchez a must-start, Aaron Boone ruling out personal catchers

 

Aaron Boone isn’t on board with implementing personal catchers.

The first-year manager told the New York Post on Thursday that All-Star Gary Sanchez will be behind the plate for each pitcher in the starting rotation this season, explaining how he wants the 25-year-old to continue building a strong rapport with each member of the staff. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Sanchez will start 162 games. It does mean, however, that backup catcher Austin Romine will no longer serve as the go-to backstop for left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery. The battery appeared in 20 games last season, and Montgomery posted a 3.68 ERA. 

Romine and Montgomery were also paired in the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, but under Boone’s watch, the personal catcher philosophy won’t make it to Opening Day. Sanchez is a must-start bat, and he’ll play as much as possible, according to Boone.

“I think you pigeonhole a guy and I would like to stay away from that. I want to feel good about our catcher-pitcher relationship no matter if we have Ro back there or Gary back there. I am confident we will have that with all our starters and our catchers.’’

Boone also said that he will try to pick days when Sanchez receives a full day off or serves as the designated hitter, regardless of who is on the mound. 

Drury leaves game with elbow injury

Infielder Brandon Drury, who, in all likelihood, will be penciled in as the starting third baseman on Opening Day, was drilled in the left elbow by a fastball from Red Sox starter Brian Johnson during the fifth inning on Friday afternoon. Although he initially appeared to be fine and took his base, he was eventually pulled from the game when trainers noticed swelling. 

Fortunately for Drury and the team, x-rays on the elbow were negative, according to several reports. The Yankees expect Drury’s recovery to be on a day-to-day basis, but if the issue lingers, utility infielders Ronald Torreyes or Tyler Wade could potentially see starts in Toronto next weekend. And don’t rule out the possibility of highly-touted rookie Miguel Andujar, who was recently assigned to the Triple-A roster. 

“We’d have to see the significance of it to start considering something [putting Andujar back on the roster],” Boone told NJ.com. “On a short-term basis, I don’t think we would do anything. Wade and Torreyes could cover us … We could move guys around.

“We’ll kind of evaluate where we are each day and see if this is a one-day thing or a couple day thing or with it being a contusion, that kind of thing, it can stiffen up on you and kind of affect you for a few days. We’ll just have to see how it is each day and make decisions accordingly.”

CESSA OPTIONED, LEBLANCE RELEASED

According to the Yankees’ PR Department, right-hander Luis Cessa was optioned to Triple-A on Friday morning, while veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc was released in the afternoon. With these two cuts, two other right-handers — Jonathan Holder and Domingo German — are believed to be candidates for one spot on the Big League roster. If so, the Yankees would have 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster. Currently, the roster has 37 players.