Padres catcher Gary Sánchez broke his right wrist during this afternoon’s loss to the Phillies, manager Bob Melvin tells reporters (including Annie Heilbrunn and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune). In other unfortunate news, first baseman Ji Man Choi suffered a Lisfranc fracture when he fouled a ball off his right foot during a rehab game with Triple-A El Paso last night.
Sánchez was hit by a 98 MPH fastball from Philadelphia reliever Jeff Hoffman. The pitch ran inside and caught Sánchez’s back wrist when he checked his swing. He was replaced by Luis Campusano.
It’ll bring an unfortunate end to what had been a solid rebound season. The veteran backstop didn’t find a big league opportunity until mid-May. He’d bounced from the Giants to the Mets on minor league deals and earned a very brief look in Queens. The Mets waived Sánchez after three games, with San Diego claiming him to hopefully solidify their catching situation.
The 30-year-old has performed better than the Friars had likely anticipated. Sánchez slugged 19 home runs in only 267 plate appearances. Even with a meager .288 on-base percentage, the power production made him an above-average hitter. That’s particularly true in comparison to the glove-first position. Catchers entered play Wednesday with a .237/.304/.395 slash.
While Sánchez has been maligned for his glove throughout his career, public metrics rated him as a solid defender this season. He received slightly better than average grades from Statcast for his blocking and pitch framing. His 21.2% caught stealing rate is a little north of this year’s 20% league average.
That all positioned Sánchez nicely in a weak upcoming free agent class. He’s headed back to the open market in a couple months, arguably headlining a group that also includes Mitch Garver, Víctor Caratini and Tom Murphy. That could still be the case, but he’ll now unfortunately go into the winter with some injury uncertainty.
The Friars will turn to Campusano and Brett Sullivan as the catching tandem down the stretch. With that duo already on the MLB roster, they don’t need to call on another catcher as the corresponding move once Sánchez inevitably lands on the injured list. Campusano is hitting .309/.347/.491 in 35 games this season. The 24-year-old will look to stake a claim to the #1 job headed into 2024.
Like Sánchez, Choi will also go into free agency after a major injury. The left-handed hitting first baseman has had an injury-wrecked ’23 campaign. Choi lost most of the season’s first half with a strain in his left Achilles tendon. He returned to the Pirates in the middle of July, in time for Pittsburgh to send him to San Diego alongside Rich Hill in a deadline deal.
Choi only got into seven games for the Friars. He suffered a rib strain a month ago. The foot injury suffered on his rehab stint will end his season and, quite likely, his San Diego tenure. He’ll hit free agency for the first time coming off an almost entirely lost year, in which he hit .179/.239/.440 in 92 big league plate appearances.
This news “shatters” the slim playoff chances the Padres had. I feel completely “broken”…
What the heck was Choi doing that led him to break his tiny little ankle? Sliding into 2b? Tripping while climbing out of the dugout? Stepping on a bat while crossing home plate? Inquisitive minds want to know.
He fouled a ball off his lead instep.
Eating a burger
114 mph ball fouled off his bat hit him on the foot.
Perhaps supporting a 300+ pound body had something to do with it?
Not nearly as much as a ball traveling at that speed impacting his instep.
Sanchez has zero baseball IQ. He’s also batting .218 I see which is not uncharacteristic for him. Was him being on the IL supposed to be bad news?
Well he has 19 HRs for one…
Sanchez had a good OBS for the Padres, didn’t he? Not bounce back for a guy that looked like he was finished a few months ago.
19 homeruns is trivial when Sanchez can’t steal bases, or bunt, or hit for contact, or play his position at C defensively enough to be worth a roster spot
You are thinking of the pre-Padre Sanchez – again, look at real stats instead of what you want it to be.
He is top 7 in framing, has thrown out runners at an above league average rate, and has an 8 DRS which is far above average on defense.
Since when are catchers supposed to hit for contact, steal bases, or f’ing bunt?
Like I said before, it’s not Sanchez that has a zero baseball IQ.
lol the pettiness is palpable
Why does he need to steal bases when he can just hit dingers?
Framing is a myth. Its an umpire stat, not a catching stat. Yes, since C aren’t known for their hitting ability, the history of C bunting is rock solid. Gary had 240 ABs, in which 221 weren’t HRs. Maybe, just maybe, being able to move the runners along would be beneficial to his career Mendoza line hitting ability.
Where are you getting that he’s 7th? Baseball Savant has him tied between 20-25 in framing runs
He’s a lazy catcher. You won’t see that in the stats.
Your brain is apparently a myth. There is a reason teams have catchers on the roster that hit below the Mendoza line and ain’t because of their good looks. Its because they get more strikes called than those incredibly accurate Hawkeye cameras say they should.
Maybe, just maybe, each of his HR moved baserunners over to the most important place.
Catchers had the fewest sacrifice bunts this season, the last 3 seasons, and since the turn of the century. They are the lesser lowest of any position.
That is for the season. Not with the Padres. Go to Baseball Prospectus.
He is hitting .220 as a Padre. Don’t short change him.
2.5 WAR so he’s doing something right.
And that started 5/31. He has been Snell’s catcher during his streak of ridiculous starts going back to late May as well. Snell routinely give Sanchez the credit. He had a history of not being a good blocker but if you know Snell, he throws 3-4 60 foot pitches a game and Sanchez has been a blocking machine.
You might want to look at his Padres stats since signing on 5/31.
“Supposed to be bad news”…Apparently you don’t watch many Padres games and you obviously missed seeing the feeble hitting catchers(A.Nola et al)spot before Sanchez & Capusano arrived on the scene.
Anyone batting .218 belongs in Triple A. Oh wait, the WAR commenters are always right. WAR is the all inclusive Stat. Gee, you’re right, Sanchez is an all star! How could I have ever not seen his WAR stat!
Okay, so you hate WAR. How about a fairly old-timey stat for you then?
OPS .796 with the Padres.
Playing a bunch of time in Petco, that equates to an OPS+ 117. Meaning 17% better than the average hitter in MLB. While also playing above average defense at the most demanding position in baseball.
Sanchez is no MLB Hall of Famer, but he’s played well for the Padres.
Kyle Schwarber says “really dude”? Check my HR (41), RBI (89) my OBP (.343) and it just keeps on going.
.189 avg doesn’t cut it for you?
Wake up, it’s 2023
I don’t understand how there are still people like this in 2023. They have no basis of defense for their thinking so have to project hyperbole onto the other side of the argument as their only response. You can like Batting Average all you want, it does tell you something about a player. But to just base your thoughts of a player solely on batting average is quite obviously a foolish thing to do today.
It’s been a nice turnaround for Sanchez but does 5 months make you a new guy? I’d be very cautious handing out anything more than a 1 year deal.
He’s still not good at blocking balls. That’s a very important trait for me behind the plate. If l pitchers don’t feel comfortable—that’s a huge issue.
Brian – somewhere I shared this but Blake Snell (who he has been exclusive for since early June) has regularly praised him for blocking balls. I’ve listened to him multiple time laugh out loud about suggests that Gary has a label as a bad blocker. BoMel the same. Blake throws 3-4 60’ pitches a game and relies on the back foot slider that has to be blocked a dozen times a game. Just look at the results.
He carried a label to the Padres but to say he “still can’t” isn’t accurate because he has all season.
I’ve watched a very high percentage of his innings this year and can say he can block balls – not sure why he couldn’t before and I acknowledge that was a label.
Gotcha. D metrics don’t love his blocking but he grades well pretty much every where else. I haven’t seen enough Padres baseball to formulate an opinion.
Would still proceed with caution after a 6 month turnaround. I’d think he’ll need to show it for another year for a solid multi-year pact.
@Longtimecoming and BrianStrowmang – Sanchez was solid defensively for the Twins last year as well. The Twins had Sanchez change his stance and gave him coaching in order to be a better framer. Sanchez has been decent blocking pitches since he left NY as well.
Especially, for a catcher – going all the way back to 1800s, teams HAPPY to trot out a regular catcher hitting .220, if he does the rest of the stuff well
Brian – I’m always for caution. Like when I see what the experts are predicting will he Bellinger next contract! The guys handing out the contracts don’t act like they care about their money nearly as much as I care about mine.
Belli, like Sanchez will get multi years for sure. Belli more due to being younger.
Uh, re-read the story. His defensive metrics have gotten better over the years, this year the same. That said, as a fan of the team sending Higoshioka and Rohrvedt out there, maybe your team could use a little pop back there.
Certainly the Mets made the bigger mistake by giving him only a 3 game trial while hanging onto a DH like Vogelbach. Sanchez would have been a better keeper as DH, and it is Always good if you can somehow justify keeping 3 catchers on your roster.
117 OPS+ which is 17% above league average. 19 HR in 232 AB. Top 7 in framing since joining the Padres.
Thinking its not Sanchez that has a zero baseball IQ.
Sanchez has been great as a padre. He may not be a top 5 catcher but he has been above average defensively and offensively and everything you could ask a waiver wire pick up to be.,
Breaking News
*Gary Sánchez broke his wrist this afternoon
*Ji Man Choi fractured his ankle
I think you actually meant “revived” because he’s been a massive upgrade over Nola.
I would agree with you except the. I know that he has 173 hr; $24 million earnings; silver slugger and 2x all star – I could keep going – yeah, that’s some “fractured career” LOL.
He just likes to sniff their hair
Every pitcher, Hoffman included, who injures an opposing batter with a pitch should immediately be suspended and remain so until the player is able to resume playing in the Major Leagues. In this case, the suspension should carryover into the next baseball season as Sanchez’s season is surely over. It is well past the time that the antiquated, outdated practice of only one side being hurt by a HBP is ended. .When a team loses a productive member of their roster and has to pay him while he is on the DL, while neither the pitcher or his team incur any penalty is absolutely unjust. The, “OOPS, Sorry, It’s just part of the game”, does not go far enough in today’s high stakes game and high priced players. How long would it take you to make even the MLB MINIMUM SALARY ??
You could always watch tennis instead. The US Open has been fantastic and not a single player has been hit by a pitch.
Jack – emotionally I get what you are laying down but from a practical standpoint, I think of last year when a Padre pitcher did this to Harper – reports said they were really good friends and Harper knows he didn’t mean to do that and came out supporting the pitcher. Snell I think it was.
It’s just part of game – pitching inside; crowding a plate; pitch getting away and so on.
An unfortunate part of game but still.
There are probably very few pitchers who could make it through a season without hitting a batter. At least if they don’t want to get shelled every appearance. And whether it results in serious injury is often a matter of bad luck. A penalty would only make sense if there’s clear intent involved or some sort of long-standing pattern of dangerous pitching.
This is such a bad idea. Two players could get hit in the exact same spot with the exact same velocity and have entire different outcomes. Then you’re just penalizing based on randomness. What are we going to do next, suspend every batter who hits a pitcher with a comebacker?
Getting HBP used to be an accepted part of the game. If a player hit a HR against Bob Gibson and made the gestures today’s players make while rounding the bases, the next time up the exhibitionist would be looking for the first pitch in his ear. Pitchers could pitch inside without getting glared at by the batter. Today’s players practically stand on home plate. A pitcher can’t just throw the ball to the outside. They have to be able to pitch inside. I saw the game between SD and the Phillies. Sanchez checked his swing, which put his hands in the way of an inside pitch and got hit. Players aren’t trying to get HBP and pitchers, for the.most part, aren’t trying to hit the batter. Just part of the game.
I hate the Padres but sanchez has been such a great story it’s really hard not to root for him. Hate to see him go out hurt on his comeback but I think he’ll get a contract for next season and do very well by a team that needs a bat behind the plate.
Why do you hate the Padres? They’ve dwelled in the basement of baseball for 50 years and twice made it to and lost the WS. Not much to hate about them. Feel sorry for them. I get that.
I’m a Giants fan and I hope they lose 162 every single year. Losing 100 isn’t enough.
Those 3 ego maniacs in the middle of that lineup are fracturing that organization.
Last nail in the Padres coffin…
Padres catcher Gary Sánchez’s wrist was broken. Sanchez didn’t break it.
Welp! Speedy recovery Kraken and JMC!
Hoffman takin names this year hot dang.
I know I will receive flak for this, but I feel pitchers today throwing how hard they do should be penalized for hitting these guys. I know in the past it was part of the game to brush a guy back or throw at him , but today there are more bones being broken and pitchers should be held accountable for this. In my time , I have taken a bat to a pitcher, enough said.
90 mph will break a bone if it hits the right spot too.
Luckily, no one that has any real say in things has a similarly stupid opinion.
This might be the only thing to save the Giants from a 4th place finish
Wow that’s terrible, Gary has looked like a completely different hitter with San Diego, and he’s been a much better catcher too. Hopefully he heals up, probably done for the season, and re-signs with the Padres this offseason, I think he found his home.
Ryan Weathers must feel great about that trade. Hill and Choi. Sheesh.
Wasn’t Ryan traded to Miami though? These guys came from Pitt.
Ryan has given up 11 Earned in 7 innings in 2 starts since the trade so he hasn’t been missed. As for his future, he was given multiple multiple chances and simply sucked in AAA and with Padres.
He is young enough to figure it out for sure (opposed to Hill who is just toast) but until he does, he isn’t something to count on.
“The foot injury suffered on his rehab stint will end his season and, quite likely, his San Diego tenure.”
This is not the correct usage of commas. MLBTR writers repeatedly show they lack a basic understanding of punctuation. It needs to be:
“The foot injury suffered on his rehab stint will end his season and quite likely, his San Diego tenure.”
Don’t overuse commas.
The Kraken is out for the year.