I don't have much energy for this yet, but I did want to talk about the catching situation briefly.
There are moves a team makes in a postseason that they would not do with the same personnel if it was a series in May, for instance Clint Frazier is NY's everyday LF but he only started 2 of 7 postseason games because Gardner was much hotter than him at the end of the season, plus he is lefty, plus he is better defensively, plus he is much more experienced.
Higashioka over Sanchez feels like it could be more than that, and a piece on Pinstripe Alley gets into some of the defensive metrics to show that Higgy isn't just a placeholder, he has some exceptional defensive skills, the best framer in all of MLB this year using BP's CSAA (Called Strikes Above Average) stat:
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/leaders/catching/catcher-stats-full-season?year=2020&lg=all&team=all&lvl=mlb&min=qualified
So it might be time to trade Gary and pair Higgy with someone else.
https://www.pinstripealley.com/2020/10/10/21510449/yankees-value-higashioka-defense-how-do-stats-compare-catchers
There are moves a team makes in a postseason that they would not do with the same personnel if it was a series in May, for instance Clint Frazier is NY's everyday LF but he only started 2 of 7 postseason games because Gardner was much hotter than him at the end of the season, plus he is lefty, plus he is better defensively, plus he is much more experienced.
Higashioka over Sanchez feels like it could be more than that, and a piece on Pinstripe Alley gets into some of the defensive metrics to show that Higgy isn't just a placeholder, he has some exceptional defensive skills, the best framer in all of MLB this year using BP's CSAA (Called Strikes Above Average) stat:
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/leaders/catching/catcher-stats-full-season?year=2020&lg=all&team=all&lvl=mlb&min=qualified
So it might be time to trade Gary and pair Higgy with someone else.
https://www.pinstripealley.com/2020/10/10/21510449/yankees-value-higashioka-defense-how-do-stats-compare-catchers