However, this year Boonie has found himself in an awkward position.
Coincidently, putting Sanchez’s leg kick modification when batting aside, the Kraken started impressively raking around the time Boone announced that he would be catching less in the future.
Up until now, Boone, the pitchers, and the players involved have not spoken about the situation, at least publicly.
During a recent Blue Jays game in Buffalo, for example, he hit a solo home run in the second inning and then allowed a passed ball that helped Toronto scored three runs.
For some reason, the ability of catchers to call the correct pitches during a game doesn’t receive the amount of attention it should.
Good things happen when the pitcher and catcher are in sync, and bad things happen when they are not.
In the present case involving Higashioka and Sanchez, it appears that Cole and Kluber prefer Higgy’s pitch calling strategy and how he engages with them on the field over the Kraken’s.
Many previous players, veteran analysts, and fans don’t like the idea of permitting pitchers to determine the manager’s decision in regards to who catches them.
Though this is a somewhat different situation, we would assume that Higgy and Gary have been doing the same.
Veteran pitcher David Cone, the Yanks’ announcer on the YES Network, has stated that he doesn’t like this arrangement, primarily because it takes Gary’s bat out of the lineup.
When Sanchez doesn’t catch, he can fill in as the designated hitter when Stanton is injured or needs a rest.
Also, there’s serious discussion about having Stanton play right field this season, as he regularly did when he was with the Miami Marlins.
While I have criticized Boone’s decision-making a lot in previous pieces, I think that he has dealt with the catching situation quite well.