How Sánchez fits as Padres take flier on veteran catcher

The Padres needed catching help. Gary Sánchez needed a home.

This match felt like an obvious one from the moment Sánchez was designated for assignment by the Mets last week, and it came to fruition on Monday.

The Padres claimed Sánchez off waivers from New York in an attempt to bolster their underperforming catching situation. For Sánchez, it marks his third organization of the season. He began the year with the Giants, though he never played a game for them, before joining the Mets, for whom he had one hit in six at-bats.

“I’m excited to be able to join a clubhouse that has so many superstars, a lot of talent on this team,” Sánchez said through Spanish interpreter Danny Sanchez. “Really -- a tremendous team, so I’m just excited to help."

A nine-year veteran and a two-time All-Star with the Yankees, the 30-year-old Sánchez has mostly struggled over the past four seasons. But he was a worthwhile pickup for a team that has gotten the sport's worst production from its backstops this season, according to fWAR.

"At the catching spot, we're looking for some more productivity," said Padres general manager A.J. Preller. "Gary's a two-time All-Star, played on a good team in New York. He’s got some physical ability. I think it's an opportunity, and a low-cost acquisition, to see if we can upgrade the catching spot and just change our mix for a little bit."

How does Sánchez fit?
Sánchez reported to the Major League club on Tuesday, when the team opened a three-game series in Miami. Brett Sullivan was optioned to Triple-A El Paso as a corresponding move, leaving Sánchez and Austin Nola as catchers on the roster.

For now, it’s unclear how the two right-handed-hitting backstops will share playing time. But given Nola’s struggles -- he’s hitting just .131 with a .434 OPS -- Sánchez will at least get the opportunity to earn a prominent role.

"We're not going into this with anybody playing 'X' number of days or anybody as the backup," Preller said. "The game and the players will dictate that, and we'll let [Padres manager Bob Melvin] have the ability to make some of those decisions with our catching."

Put simply: If Sánchez performs, there’s room for him to carve a significant role for himself in San Diego.

“Whatever the team needs from me, that’s what I’m here to do,” Sánchez said.

What to expect?
At his peak, Sánchez was one of the sport's premier hitting catchers, having notched an .876 OPS in 2017 and an .841 mark in '19, as the Yankees made a pair of trips to the ALCS. Those offensive numbers masked some defensive shortcomings. But Sánchez still boasts a big arm behind the plate, and his framing numbers were serviceable enough.

But over the past four seasons, Sánchez has not been the same player offensively. He's hit just .195 with a .679 OPS since the start of the 2020 season.

Then again, the Padres aren't necessarily asking for Sánchez to be the 2019 version of himself. If they can get something splitting the difference between the All-Star-caliber Sánchez and the version from the past four seasons, well, that’d be an upgrade.

"We're still seeing raw arm strength," Preller said. "From a framing standpoint, he's made some real strides over the last three or four years. The ability to be a threat at the plate, I think all those things are there.

"From our standpoint, it's about giving him some opportunity and seeing where that goes."

How will he acclimate?
That's the tricky part. Sánchez isn't merely slotting into a lineup and being asked to hit. He's a catcher. He's going to have to learn an entire pitching staff on the fly, midseason.

“It can be a little challenging, but at the same time, it can also be easy, especially with some of the pitchers that we have here,” Sánchez said. “We have a lot of talent here. So really, just getting to know them and putting my work in.”

Sánchez’s transition won’t be made in one day, and hisrecent track record urges tempered expectations. But the Padres needed to find production at catcher somewhere -- especially with 24-year-old backstop Luis Campusano likely out through the All-Star break following thumb surgery.

As such, Sánchez was precisely the type of player worth taking a flier on.