Rays Pitcher Blake Snell Defends Gary Sanchez From Fan Criticism While Streaming on Twitch
By Adam Weinrib
New York Yankees All-Star catcher Gary Sanchez is one of the most polarizing players in the game of baseball. Otherworldly power, but susceptible to the slightest slider. Ridiculous arm, but dead to rights as soon as the ball bounces. Truly, you never know what you're going to get, but you DEFINITELY know you're not getting through a full game without something frustrating happening. Turns out, Sanchez's AL East peers see the positives in his game more than Yankee fans do.
Rays hurler Blake Snell opened up about Sanchez in his latest candid MLB The Show streaming moment on Sunday, and he kind of nailed it.
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— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 13, 2020
[FWIW, Snell meant it as a compliment. Gary was Snell's catcher & was reading a comment on Gary not being able to block a beach ball.]
No, he didn't call Sanchez a "slapdick prospect," -- a fan in the comment section claimed Sanchez "couldn't block a beach ball," and Snell, who was using El Gary as his catcher in the game, responded, "He's got a cannon, thoooooo."
You definitely take the good with the bad here, but Sanchez can't ignore the critique outright. Yes, he does have a cannon! And yes, he can't really block anything smaller than a beach ball -- 2019 was his best-ever passed ball season, since he only registered seven, following brutal years of 18 and 16.
... That was Gary Sanchez's MLB-leading 14th passed ball.
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) September 18, 2018
This is only his 67th game of the season.
If Sanchez can stay healthy and locked in, he's an elite receiver (at the dish, and behind the plate). Snell knows that. But we do need to see another full season of consistency before the trolls will be quiet, too.