TAMPA — When the exhibition season opened last year, Gary Sanchez was considered by many to be the Yankees’ most complete hitter, even in a lineup that housed Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. He had power, but wasn’t a one-trick home-run hitter.
Then 2018 happened, and the 26-year-old Sanchez is no longer in that conversation. Putting aside his miserable year behind the plate — he led the majors with 18 passed balls and had trouble blocking balls, which led to 45 wild pitches (fifth-most in the majors) when he was the catcher — his bat was worse in a lot of ways.