Yankees' Gary Sanchez picks off Red Sox's Eduardo Nunez, ties MLB high for pop time
New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez looks on after he throws to Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres to tag out Boston Red Sox second baseman Eduardo Nunez to end the top of the fifth inning in an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, May 31, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is well-known for gunning down opposing baserunners. He kept his reputation strong on Friday night against the Red Sox — and tied an MLB-best in the process.
Sanchez picked off Red Sox second baseman Eduardo Nuñez at second base to end the top of the fifth inning with Andrew Benintendi at bat on a 2-1 count.
In this specific instance, Sanchez's pop time to second base — which, according to MLB's Statcast, is the time from the moment the pitch hits the catcher's mitt to the time the ball reaches the fielder — was 1.85 seconds. That ties the highest average in Major League Baseball this season, which as of Friday belonged to Phillies backstop J.T. Realmuto, according to Statcast. Sanchez is tied with Austin Hedges of the Padres for the second-quickest average pop time to second base at 1.93 seconds.
Sanchez finished the 2018 season with the ninth-best average second base pop time (1.94 seconds, trailing the best time by 0.4 seconds) and the fourth-best arm (86.8 miles per hour, trailing the best arm by 4 miles per hour) among 85 MLB catchers, according to Statcast. The Yankee took third place in 2017 with a 1.93-second pop time and was second overall with a 87.8 mph average throw.
The Yankees led the Red Sox, 3-1, at the time of the pickoff.
