Gary Sánchez DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Baltimore Orioles catcher Gary Sanchez will make his Orioles debut on Saturday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays. Sanchez was riding pine during the opening two games of the series but will make his first start as an Oriole behind the dish. As a result, Adley Rutschman will serve as the designated hitter. The Orioles signed Sanchez to a one-year $8.5 million contract in the winter. Last season, Sanchez appeared in 89 contests for the Milwaukee Brewers and posted a .220/.307/.392 slash line with seven doubles and 11 long balls. He generated a modest 10.5 percent barrel rate with a 44.5 percent hard-hit rate. Fantasy managers should expect Sanchez to continue to see a limited role in the Baltimore offense, operating as the No. 2 backstop. He should not be targeted in DFS this afternoon, facing Max Scherzer, who will make his Toronto debut.

The Baltimore Orioles have signed free-agent catcher Gary Sanchez to a one-year, $8.5 million deal. Sanchez will back up frontline catcher Adley Rutschman, but could also DH if need be. The 32-year-old played for Milwaukee last season, slashing .220/.307/.392, including 11 home runs, with a .307 wOBA and 96 wRC+ in 280 plate appearances. The veteran backstop still has plenty of pop in his bat, registering a 10.5% barrel rate last season and a 15.4% rate with 19 home runs in 240 at-bats just two seasons ago in 2023. Coming to Baltimore brings him back to the AL East, the division in which he played in for his first several seasons up through 2021 as a member of the New York Yankees. Unless the Dominican gets regular at-bats, however, he won't be all that relevant for fantasy purposes.

The Milwaukee Brewers reinstated catcher Gary Sanchez (calf) from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday and placed outfielder Christian Yelich (back) on the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. Sanchez isn't in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale at Wrigley Field against the division-rival Chicago Cubs, but the 31-year-old veteran backstop figures to be the team's regular DH moving forward now that Yelich is out for the foreseeable future with a nagging back injury. Sanchez has been out the last month with a left-calf strain but is worth rostering in two-catcher leagues due to his power from the right side, at the very least. He hasn't been quite as good as he was with the San Diego Padres in 2023, but Sanchez has contributed seven long balls in 51 games as the primary backup to William Contreras.