In a wide-ranging 40-minute interview, Hal Steinbrenner said he expects Gary Sanchez to rebound from his poor 2018 and that 100 regular-season wins were more reflective of Aaron Boone’s rookie season as manager than a Division Series loss:
— On Sanchez: “Gary was injured one-third of the season. I asked our analytics guys, and the numbers from Hit F/x and things like that, the batting average was worse than how he really performed. He is going to be fine. When he is right, he is one of our best hitters, maybe our best hitter.
— On Greg Bird’s down year: “Greg just needs to find his stride.