The Yankees’ new catching philosophy

After five years, the Yankees parted ways with Gary Sánchez a month ago. Depending on the type of Yankee fan you are, you either loved that the Yankees finally moved on from Sánchez, or you felt the Yankees gave up on the Sánchez’s potential too soon. At the same time, some of you may feel a bit of both, like me. Regardless of how we thought about Sánchez or the decision to move on, his departure and replacements warrant a look at the shift in catching ideology for the Yankees this season.

Sánchez burst upon the scene in 2016, where he played 53 games, slashed .299/.376/.657, and hit 20 home runs. In the following five years, Sánchez had two seasons above league average by OPS+ (2017 and…