Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino informed members of the media today that catcher Gary Sánchez is likely to miss eight to ten weeks due to his right knee sprain. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the timeline and the specific diagnosis, which is a sprain of the catcher’s right posterior cruciate ligament.
It’s yet another unwelcome development in a season that’s been full of them for the Orioles. Sánchez’s .231/.297/.418 batting line (101 wRC+) is “only” a touch better than league average, but he’d been riding a blazing .295/.348/.574 hot streak with five homers over his past 66 plate appearances. That torrid stretch dovetailed with IL placements for Adley Rutschman, Maverick Handley and Chadwick Tromp. Sánchez now becomes the Orioles’ fourth catcher on the injured list.
It’s brutal timing for both the Orioles and Sánchez. With so many other catching injuries on the roster, he’d been thrust into the starting role and was making the most of it — all with free agency just a few months away on the horizon. Sánchez might’ve positioned himself as a trade candidate for the O’s if they end up going the seller’s route, and if not, he was shaping up to be a key piece of their turnaround.
With Sánchez shelved for the foreseeable future, the O’s will turn to a pair of recent acquisitions, Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson, to handle catching duties. Stallings signed a minor league deal a couple weeks back after being released by the Rockies. Jackson was just acquired from the Yankees in exchange for international bonus pool space. Both catchers will be tasked with not only trying to get going at the plate after some substantial struggles in the majors but learning a new pitching staff and building rapport on the fly.
The 35-year-old Stallings hit just .151/.225/.194 in 103 plate appearances before the Rockies released him, though he did turn in a strong .263/.357/.453 line as recently as last season in Colorado. Jackson, a former No. 6 overall draft pick and top prospect, was sitting on league-average numbers in Triple-A with the Yankees but has been unable to produce in myriad big league auditions over the years. The 29-year-old has tallied 340 MLB plate appearances but managed only a .131/.224/.232 batting line with an eye-popping 41.8% strikeout rate in that time.
