Austin Romine has one postseason start on his résumé, and he’s 1-0. He went 0-for-2 in the Yankees’ memorable, come-from-behind, 6-4 victory over the Astros in last year’s American League Championship Series Game 4.
Now that he’s the new and improved version of Romine, would you have any hesitation about seeing him start the majority of the Yankees’ (desired) upcoming postseason run?
The Post wouldn’t. The Yankees shouldn’t.
This isn’t to advocate for Gary Sanchez riding the bench upon his return from the disabled list. Rather, it’s to argue for a short leash in the short term, particularly if the Yankees find themselves battling the A’s and/or Mariners for home-field advantage in the Oct. 3 American League wild-card game. For the Yankees have a perfectly capable everyday catcher in Sanchez’s absence.
Romine has displayed that he can be the main guy for a championship run.
“He’s been really good for us. Both sides of the ball,” Aaron Boone said of Romine. “He just … impacts our club in so many positive ways every day, just with who he is, what he brings.”
He always brought the defense — an ability to work smoothly with pitchers, block balls and control opposing base runners — that made him a major league entity in the first place. Now the 29-year-old has brought sufficient offense, especially in light of Sanchez’s meltdown of 2018, to not be a liability at the plate. He brought a .268/.318/.453 slash line into Tuesday night’s game against the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
It’s especially notable that Romine is on the verge of setting all sorts of career highs, given the fact he didn’t play much the two prior seasons — or even 2014 and 2015, both spent primarily in the minors — and he is showing little sign of fatigue.
“Nothing I’m not used to,” said Romine, who played in his 58th game Tuesday. “I caught all the time in the minor leagues, so I know what it’s like. I know what it takes. It’s just been a while. Fatigue-wise, no. I’ve been given days off. They’ve been good with me with that.
“Honestly I would much rather not have any days off, because I know how much playing every day right now means. But I’m not tired, no more than any other catcher who’s playing four, five times, six times a week.”
Sanchez, on the disabled list with a strained right groin for the second time this season, could play in a minor league rehabilitation game as soon as next week, Boone said. The polarizing catcher spoke with the media Tuesday afternoon and said he has been watching as many of the Yankees’ games as his rehab schedule allows.
Romine and his backup Kyle Higashioka have “done an amazing job,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “To me, there’s no weakness back there. Those guys have been great behind the plate.”
Agreed, by and large. What the Yankees miss most of all is Sanchez’s power potential, which dissipated but didn’t disappear this season.
If Sanchez can get healthy, he’ll receive a “hopefully heavy” percentage of the starts at catcher, Boone said Tuesday, and that’s the right thing to say. “I would expect, once he’s back that he’s playing regularly for us,” the manager added.
If Sanchez can’t live up to the team’s expectations, though — if he still struggles with handling pitches and pitchers or displays a lack of effort — then the Yankees should turn to Romine as their top catcher, be it in important September games or the postseason. Let Sanchez be the designated hitter, or even save him for a big pinch-hitting spot. Tell Sanchez he’ll have the winter to straighten out and return as the No. 1 catcher next year.
From this 2018 opportunity and success, Romine said, “I’ve got a little more reassurance that if I did get to play, what I could do. Never getting the chance, you never know. A little more confidence moving forward.”
That confidence could pay dividends sooner than he and the Yankees anticipate. Romine represents a Plan B that might be too good to refuse.
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