Gary Sánchez walked up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out. The Yankees had just been shut out in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays. The May 27 nightcap was tied, 3-3, when the Yankees’ sixth hitter in the lineup drew a full count against Toronto starter Robbie Ray.

Coming into that game, Sánchez was batting .174, and he had hit safely in just two of his previous 24 at-bats. That difficult stretch proved to have similar consequences to those from the abbreviated 2020 season, which Sánchez finished with a .147 batting average. In both cases, the Yankees moved Sánchez down in the lineup and limited his playing time, putting Kyle Higashioka behind the plate on a much more regular basis.

But this is not a story about a once-great player losing his job. This narrative has nothing to do with a guy making excuses or not putting in the work. It is instead about how Gary Sánchez, a two-time All-Star catcher with 130 home runs and 321 RBI through 490 career games, knew that he could regain the form that made Yankees brass and countless fans fall in love with him. (Among Yankees, only Aaron Judge, with 134, had more homers in his first 490 games.) It’s also about how Sánchez listened to and trusted those around him, even as they suggested that he drastically change his approach at the plate — not during the winter months when hitters aren’t in the constant spin cycle against the best pitchers in the world every night, but rather on the fly in the middle of the regular season.

The talented 28-year-old just needed to figure it out.

“He was so inconsistent,” Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames said from Seattle during an early July phone interview. “You know what they say: If you keep doing the same thing over and over without getting results, it’s insanity. We just felt that it was time to do something different. We went into the offseason, and he was doing some stuff a little differently, but once the season started, and he wasn’t consistent with that, (assistant hitting coach) P.J. Pilittere and I got together and decided that we needed to do something different to get Gary going.”

Thames and Pilittere noticed that Sánchez was missing an alarming number of fastballs. He was swinging late, and pitchers were able to blow the baseball past him.

“He’s had success with his traditional move at the plate,” Thames said. “He’s been an All-Star twice, and he’s hit 30 home runs twice. It’s tough for a guy who has had that kind of success to make a change.”

But Sánchez welcomed the help. He embraced the late April conversations with Thames.

“The way that 2020 went for me and the way that 2021 started, at some point as a professional hitter, you’ve got to realize that what you’re doing isn’t working,” Sánchez said, assisted by Yankees bilingual media relations coordinator Marlon Abreu in a phone interview during the Yankees’ three-game series in Houston prior to the All-Star break. “What I was doing three years ago, that worked at that time, but it isn’t working today. That’s how the conversation with Marcus went.

“He identified certain things that he felt would help me. You have to put those things into practice. It was time to make an adjustment. You implement the change, and you keep at it. It’s hard because old habits tend to return from time to time, and you have to break away from that. And, we’re talking about a change in my mechanics as a hitter, but on a daily basis, you still have to make the normal adjustments we are always making. Pitchers are constantly making their own adjustments. They’re seeing what I’m doing differently and developing a plan on how to attack me now. You have to keep making those adjustments, as well.”

Despite the challenges that come with making major in-season hitting adjustments, Thames wasn’t surprised that Sánchez was completely willing to rethink his approach.

“At the end of the day, Gary’s a prideful guy,” Thames said. “He wants to do well. So, when he started to lose playing time, his attitude was like, ‘Whatever you’ve got, I’m OK with.’ We started by watching video of some different set-ups and mechanical moves. We made a few suggestions to him, and he picked out a move that he liked.”

Thames also approached the process of reinventing the catcher’s swing with the belief that his pupil would give the type of effort needed to resurrect his season — and his career.

“Gary works his butt off,” Thames said. “Even this past offseason, he wanted to play winter ball because he didn’t have a good season in 2020. He called me right after the season ended and told me that he was coming to Tampa, and that he was going to be at the complex on a regular basis. He and I would work together for an hour every weekday. He would work out in the morning, and then come in and hit with me every day. He didn’t take a day off from when he got to Tampa in October until he went to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball around the first week of December. After that season was over in January, he came right back to Tampa and continued to work straight through. That never wavered. He knew that he was a better player than what he had done in the last year or so.”

So, with the 2021 season quickly slipping away from Sánchez, he and the team’s hitting coaches began a routine in which the catcher arrived at the ballpark a few hours earlier than he normally would. The first move Thames made was effective.

“We have really focused on me not having such a big leg kick, being more compact and getting to the ball quicker,” Sánchez said. “That has allowed me to be better at the plate and additionally to see pitches better. I am recognizing pitches in a better way.”

“I’ve always felt like the swing is built from the ground up,” Thames said. “It’s just like with a house: If the foundation isn’t good, it’s not going to last long. With Gary’s swing, his lower half is everything. You can look at the hand movement and all of that, but I felt like his lower half wasn’t in a good position at touch-down to be consistent. The ball would have to be in one particular area for him to make contact. He calmed that big leg kick down, and it kept his head a lot quieter. He stopped moving all over the place, and now he can recognize pitches a lot better. That was one of the other goals of this change — to quiet his lower half down so that he would be in a better position to make contact and make consistent and good decisions at the plate.”

The process was by no means easy, but Sánchez remained dogged in his efforts to turn things around.

“Even through all of the struggles he had early in the season, Gary continued to come in early,” Thames said. “We stayed late after a few rainouts. He took swings, and then we would sit down and talk for a while. When a guy is struggling and really wants to get more work in, that’s huge. He’s never going to quit or give up. I’m glad we have him and that he’s trending in the right direction for us.”

With his new plate mechanic in its infancy, Sánchez belted a 3-2 slider from Ray over the left-center-field wall for a solo home run in that late May game against Toronto. In the sixth inning, Sánchez capped off his night with a single to left, giving him his first multihit game in exactly two weeks.

Three days later, Sánchez earned a fourth-inning walk against Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, then collected base hits in his final two at-bats of the Yankees’ May 30 loss at Comerica Park. A day after that, Sánchez pinch-hit for Higashioka in the seventh against the Rays, and he kept the inning going with another walk. In the first two games of June, Sánchez hit doubles on back-to-back nights against in Tampa.

“He’s been in a good position to see the baseball,” Thames said. “He has tons of talent, but when you’re not in a good position to swing, all of that talent doesn’t matter. But he’s in a better position to catch up with fastballs now. That’s how pitchers were attacking him, and right now, I don’t think that any pitcher can throw a fastball past him. He’s showing us that he can consistently get the barrel to the baseball, regardless of how hard guys are throwing.”

Process begat progress. But, for a player of Sánchez’s ilk, there was still a long road ahead, with many more milestones to be reached.

“When you start recognizing pitches well, it’s a telltale sign that things are going to turn around,” Sánchez said. “You have to understand that when you’re implementing a change in the way you hit, the good results are not going to happen overnight. It’s almost impossible. It’s a process. You start to implement the change, then you have to feel comfortable with the changes you made. You start seeing the ball better, but you still have to hit it. Once the changes are in place, you have to get used to them. Slowly, you start feeling better, and eventually you feel good hitting. You feel like everything is clicking and moving in the right direction.”

Batting above .200 in late May for the first time since April 25, Sánchez began reaping more significant dividends from all of the added work and from his new swing.

“In the beginning, it was tough for him, but eventually, he did it,” Thames said. “And, kudos to him. It’s something that’s hard to do when you’re competing at the major league level. You’re facing guys who throw at high velocity and are mixing in breaking balls, while you’re in the middle of changing your batting stance. Doing that in season says a lot about him. He wanted to do better and get his playing time back.”

Thames noted that the initial success also gave the catcher a much-needed confidence boost, and that was another important piece of the puzzle.

“He started walking up to the plate again looking like himself,” Thames said. “I told him when he was going through the struggles, even though he was working his butt off, it can be really hard for you mentally. As an athlete, when you lose that confidence, you become a different player. Once he got the confidence back, he was consistently having good at-bats.”

In the series finale against Boston on June 6, the catcher finished the night with a walk, a single, a double and two RBI. From there, Sánchez took off, hitting eight home runs before the end of the month, including a stretch with seven in 13 games. Besides the increased power, Sánchez raised his batting average by 36 points during the month of June.

“When you’re seeing the results you want and you’re helping your team, it feels good,” said Sánchez, who, during a 20-game stretch beginning on May 27, went 22-for-64 with six home runs, 14 RBI, seven walks and only 19 strikeouts in 71 plate appearances. “My mind is settled. But I know that there are good times and bad times. I’ve gone through moments in my career when things have gone extremely well, and I’ve gone through times when things have gone extremely bad. But now, I have the experience to deal with the bad times. When you’re not used to it, and you get to the big leagues and you encounter a really tough stretch, that’s not easy. That’s hard, and it takes time to learn how to deal with that physically and mentally. Every ballplayer wants to produce and help their team. That’s what we strive for; that’s why we work so hard.”

During Sánchez’s hot month, Yankees manager Aaron Boone moved Sánchez up in the order, batting him third on June 19 and keeping him there into the All-Star break.

“Out of all of the spots in the lineup, hitting third is my favorite,” Sánchez said. “It has always been that way because I get to hit in the first inning. At the end of the day, just being in the lineup gives you the opportunity to help your team. If you have that opportunity, it doesn’t matter where you hit. It’s hard to help your team from the dugout. As long as you’re playing, you can find a way to help. That’s the most important thing.”

Sánchez’s comments about his mental state when things weren’t going well showed why he is so well respected by his teammates. Sánchez was accountable even as he trudged through his inconsistency over the last year. But more than that, he felt frustrated by the fact that he wasn’t helping his team when he was needed. He never talked about his stat line, only his desire to help the Yankees reach the top of the American League East.

“When you’re playing a game like this, your mind is important,” Sánchez said. “When you’re not contributing to your team, when you’re not helping your team in some way, you become anxious. I was anxious to find a way to help the team. When you’re struggling and things aren’t going well, you know that it’s part of the game. There are ups and downs for every player. But when you’re not helping your team for four or five days in a row, that feeling of wanting to get a hit, wanting to bring in that runner from third base, that feeling keeps increasing.”

Regardless of how he was swinging the bat, Sánchez’s teammates didn’t hide their support for the catcher.

“His teammates are really happy that he’s back to being Gary Sánchez,” Thames said. “All the guys in the lineup were pulling for him, even when he was struggling. Guys kept coming up to him and telling him that they were going to need him if we’re going to go where we want to go. That really helped build Gary’s confidence.”

While Sánchez’s tremendous raw talent at the plate has never been questioned, he has encountered criticism for his performance behind the dish. Since coming up to the bigs in 2015, Sánchez has at times had defensive issues, and that has also contributed to him getting less playing time, especially during the 2020 season.

This past offseason, Sánchez was tireless in an attempt to become a better defensive catcher. And through the first half of 2021, he kept more baseballs in front of him. Through the first 65 games he caught this season, Sánchez allowed just four passed balls and made five errors. In comparison to previous seasons, Sánchez allowed five passed balls in only 41 games behind the plate in 2020, while making six errors in the abbreviated campaign. Prior to that, he was solid behind the plate in 2019, allowing just seven passed balls in 90 games, but he led the Majors in that dubious category in 2017 and 2018 with 16 and 18, respectively.

“Defensively, what I’ve been able to do is the result of a lot of work,” he said. “I’ve been working with [catching coach] Tanner Swanson for a while now. We did a lot of work even before Spring Training, and I feel like all of the work we’ve done and all of the preparation before the season is clicking for me behind the plate. I feel like I’m putting myself in position to be a better receiver behind the plate.”

The back of Sánchez’s baseball card makes a definitive case for why the Dominican Republic native is regarded as one of the best catchers in the game. He hit 33 home runs in 2017 and 34 in 2019. He was an All-Star in both of those seasons, and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 2017.

At the All-Star break this season, Sánchez had 15 home runs, including a three-run shot on July 11 in Houston. He had climbed back from the most prolonged slump of his big league career, and he felt better prepared to deal with the ups and downs of professional baseball than ever before.

“As a human being, some negative thoughts are going to cross your mind, but one thing I’ve worked on is staying positive,” Sánchez said. “Even more important than that, I’ve tried to stay consistent and neutral in terms of how I feel. If I don’t produce, or if I have a great game, I try not to take that into the next at-bat or the next game. That’s something that has helped me, and I’m continuing to concentrate on that every day now. I don’t carry over things that are not going to help me the next day.”

Sánchez knows what he can do, but he’s mindful that the work is far from done.

“It’s all about consistent work,” he said. “Even today, I feel like I can still get better. You’re always chasing consistency as a hitter. You’re putting continuous work into the craft, always trying to find a consistent balance and trying to get the right results.”

After countless hours with Sánchez, Thames knows what the catcher can do as well as anyone in the game. He has seen him at his best, and he has helped him make the most significant comeback of his career. The veteran hitting coach may not have a crystal ball, but he has some idea of what the future holds for Sánchez.

“Knowing Gary, he’s going to continue to keep working as hard as he has to this point,” Thames said. “He’s not going to settle just because he’s had a good run. He was in a dark place. He had lost his starting job; then he fought back. He’s seen the dark side already, and he wants to make sure he stays away from that now.

“I think Gary is a top-line catcher in the big leagues,” Thames continued. “He wants to be a complete player. A guy who has the type of talent he has and is willing to put in the work is going to be a frontline catcher who is going to hit in the middle of the order for a while. He’s going to keep working hard and be that force in the middle of the lineup."