What did Yankees' Gary Sanchez explain his costly laziness in loss to Rays? Did teammates rip him?

Posted July 24, 2018 at 06:05 AM | Updated July 24, 2018 at 06:52 AM

New York Yankees v Tampa Bay Rays

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Randy Miller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees have been downplaying catcher Gary Sanchez’s laziness since he joined them for good around this time two summers ago.

We’ve all seen his lollygagging behind the plate and his lack of hustle running out groundballs for three years and it cost the Yankees big-time in Monday night’s 7-6 loss to Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

In the first inning, Rays first baseman Jake Bauers scored a two-out run from second base because Sanchez didn’t initially hustle to chase down a passed ball that bounced off his glove and rolled about 15 feet up the third-line line in foul territory.

Sanchez looked bad taking his time going for the ball until he finally sped up when noticing Bauers had rounded third and broke for the plate. To top off this ugliness, Sanchez’s weak throw home hit Bauers in the back.

Sanchez looked worse jogging all night to first base in his five of his at-bats, and his final display of dogging it prevented the Yankees from scoring the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning.

With the bases loaded and the Rays clinging to a one-run lead, Sanchez hit a hard grounder to short and was thrown out by two steps at first base after Aaron Hicks beat a throw to second because he actually was running hard.

Sanchez’s jogging was so slow on this night that it made you wonder if this was just another night of no hustle or if he had re-aggravated his right groin, which had him on the disabled list from June 25 until last Friday due to a strain.

Sanchez was the big story in the Yankees clubhouse after the game.

Here’s what Sanchez, manager Aaron Boone, left fielder Brett Gardner and pitcher Luis Severino had to say about this laziness costing the Yankees a game that left them six games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East standings:

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Is Sanchez hurt?

Sanchez hasn’t been running hard since he returned from a groin injury last Friday, the Yankees’ first game after the All-Star break, and his lack of hustle running out three groundballs, a popup and a single on Monday night was hard to miss.

Is his groin still hurting?

Boone was asked first if Sanchez is hurt.

“No,” the manager responded. “He should be able to get after it. He’s here and back and should be fine getting after things.”

Later, Sanchez was asked if his groin is still hurting or if he’s tentative about running hard out of fear of straining it again.

“I’m fine,” he said. “The injury and thinking about it definitely is behind me.”

New York Yankees v Tampa Bay Rays

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How Boone reacted

Yankees rookie manager Aaron Boone has gone out of his way all season to protect Sanchez, who was criticized by former manager Joe Girardi in a post-game news conference last season for poor defense.

Boone had a hard time defending Sanchez after Monday’s game.

After about Sanchez not running hard to first base in the ninth inning, Boone responded, "I'd have to watch (the replay), but he's got to find his gate quickly and he should be able to do that now."

On the Rays scoring a run from second base due to Sanchez not hustling to chase down his passed ball, Boone wasn’t aware of it until it came up in his post-game presser.

“It’s another thing I’ve got to look at (on replay) because when the ball skipped away, I was watching Bauers run from second knowing he might be a little aggressive coming around,” Boone said. “So I was kind of yelling for (pitcher Luis Severino) to cover home and I was watching the runner. So that’s another play I’ve got to watch back.”

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