RiverDogs catcher Sanchez rated as one of top prospects in minor leagues

Wade Spees // The Post and Courier

After eight games on the road, the Charleston RiverDogs make their home debut tonight at Riley Park, where groundskeeper Mike Williams gets the infield ready Thursday afternoon for the players and the thousands of fans who will fill the stadium.

Gary Sanchez saw himself as a third baseman. Maybe even a left fielder.

But a catcher? No way.

"I wanted to be like Manny Ramirez," Sanchez, the Charleston RiverDogs' top prospect, said through an interpreter. "I didn't grow up wanting to be a catcher. Growing up, I played all over the field, almost every position. I played a lot of third base and had played some in the outfield, mostly left field, but only once in a while I'd catch. I didn't like it because you got so hot wearing all the gear."

Sanchez, rated the No. 30 overall prospect by Baseball America, will be on the bench tonight when the RiverDogs make their home debut against the Rome

Braves at Riley Park. He was placed on the seven-day disabled list for an undisclosed injury, but he is expected to be back in the lineup by the middle of next week.

As a kid growing up Santo Domingo -- a city of more than two million in the Dominican Republic -- Sanchez learned quickly that if he wanted to play, he had to put on the gear and tough it out.

"No one wanted to catch and I was usually playing with kids a lot older than me, so it was the best way to get to play," Sanchez said.

It didn't take long before Sanchez fell in love with the position.

"I think I was 13 or 14 when I realized this was the position I wanted to play all the time. You can control so much of the game," Sanchez said. "I think it's the most important position on the field."

Sanchez, 18, has established himself as one of the top young catching prospects in the New York Yankees organization after receiving a $3 million signing bonus last summer.

"I haven't seen an arm like Gary's on a catcher in a long, long time," said Charleston RiverDogs manager Aaron Ledesma. "That's a special tool that you can't teach. You can develop an arm, you can fine-tune one, but he's got just a natural arm strength that I haven't seen in a kid that young. He's got unlimited potential. He's young and he's very hungry, so he has tremendous upside."

Sanchez made an impression almost immediately. In his second at-bat in rookie ball, he belted a grand slam and had three home runs in his first seven games. He hit .353 with six homers and 36 RBIs in 31 games in the Gulf Coast League.

"I don't think it came easy to me," Sanchez said. "I got some good pitches to hit and I was able to drive them. I'm just working hard to improve my game. I know it's going to get harder and harder for me as I advance up each level."

From the Gulf Coast League, Sanchez moved on to Staten Island at the end of the summer. There, he hit .278 with two homers and seven RBIs in 16 games.

"The pitching was better -- it was a harder league with better players," Sanchez said. "They threw a lot of offspeed stuff and their fastballs seemed to get on you quicker. That was also the first time I'd played that many games at night."

In five games with the RiverDogs, Sanchez is hitting .238 with a home run, two doubles and two RBIs.

"He's a young, talented player with a lot of tools," said RiverDogs hitting coach Greg Colbrunn. "He's a special player. You don't get many catchers who are good defensively and are capable of being productive at the plate.

"If you think about it, he should be a senior in high school. This is a good level for him because he needs as many at-bats as possible. That's what is going to make him better."