MMO Exclusive: Mets’ Catching Prospect Ali Sanchez

New York Mets catching prospect Ali Sanchez caught up with Metsmerized in a phone interview to talk about the possibility of baseball starting back up again soon.

“I’m very happy and everyone is anxious and excited to hopefully play soon,” said Sanchez through a translator. “But I think it’s really important that the league takes the proper precautions and has some security behind their plan before we start playing. The last thing we want is for more people to become infected.”

While the owners and MLB Players Association are in the early stages of negotiating a plan to play a shortened 2020 season, there have been whispers about the minor league season potentially being cancelled.

Sanchez shared his thoughts on possibly missing out on a full-year, which he believes will hurt a lot of young players.

“It’s tough and a very sad situation because personally I have a lot of urgency to play. It would be difficult to see this happen because the players need the minor leagues to grow and develop their game. I know first-hand how important of a steppingstone this experience in the minors is for our careers. It’ll hurt a lot of players in their development if they were to miss a whole season,” said Sanchez.

Sanchez was signed by the Mets as an international free agent in 2013 at the age-of-16 and recognizes how much their farm system has helped him grow as a player.

“A lot of aspects of my game has changed since the Mets signed me. I was so young, and I’ve come a very long way in my development on and off the field.”

Unfortunately, baseball is also in the aftermath of cutting 40 minor league teams and minimizing the MLB Draft from 40 to 5 rounds. This is something Sanchez says is difficult to watch from his point of view given the effects it will have on the young guys at several different levels of the game.

It has a been a rather rough off-season to be a minor league player for several reasons, but Sanchez realizes he must remain mentally strong and keep positive and hopes his peers are too.

In the meantime, Sanchez has been staying at his sister’s house where he’s been training every day. He is luckily able to get his swings in by hitting in the cage until they hopefully get the call to return for a second spring training.

“I’m focusing on my offensive game. And have been working on my arm strength to help me throw more guys out. I’ve also continued to work on my overall physical training by lifting weights daily,” said Sanchez.

The 6-foot 196-pound catcher is coming off a decent season between Double and Triple-A in 2019. In 92 games, Sanchez hit .261 with a .326 on-base percentage however he did not produce much pop slugging just .322 with only 1 home run and 33 RBI.

He is not known for his power with just 11 home runs in 381 career games. Despite his lack of power at the plate, the Mets see his value as a contact hitter and defensive catcher. Last year, Sanchez threw out 31-of-70 (44%) attempted base stealers in 81 starts.

The only blip in his season was his 13 passed balls allowed, which was unusual for Sanchez who only had a total of 17 in three combined seasons. This also could have been a result of catching knuckle ball pitcher Mickey Jannis.

During the off-season, the Mets decided to add Sanchez to their 40-man roster. This is something the Venezuelan catcher sees as motivation that he can build off moving forward in his career.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity and something i’ve looked forward to my whole career. My goal is to stay on the 40-man roster permanently. That’s what I will continue to work at,” said Sanchez.

The 23-year-old spent spring training in Port St. Lucie with veteran catchers Wilson Ramos and Tomas Nido, who he says serve as great mentors and very useful resources to him as he continues to develop his game.

“I’m always learning from them and receiving great tips playing behind them in spring training. Whenever I have a question, they always seem to give the right answer.”

If the minor league season winds up being cancelled, there have been rumors floating around that the rosters could expand, and certain players will be training nearby if needed. If Sanchez is called upon this year, he feels he will be ready to contribute to the team at the major league level.

 “I’m always ready if they need me to come up to the big-league roster and I know I can help them in multiple ways whether it’s with my bat or catching behind the plate and working with the pitching staff,” said Sanchez.

Although Rene Rivera was re-signed this off-season, Sanchez could potentially push the anemic hitting Nido for a spot if the Mets decide to carry three-catchers with expanded rosters. If Nido struggles to improve his 2019 slash line of .191/.231/.316 than the club may want to see what Sanchez has offensively.

“In my eyes they’ve (Major League Baseball) taken good care of us players during this stoppage and I think they suspended play at the right time in order to prevent guys from getting sick. As hard as it is not playing, I believe they’ve taken the proper precautions.”