Yolmer Sanchez

Note: Carlos Sanchez redirects here; for others with that name, click here

Yolmer Carlos Sánchez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.
• High School Ayacucho High School
• Debut July 13, 2014

• Born June 29, 1992 in Maracay, Aragua Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Yolmer Sánchez, also called Carlos Sanchez, began playing in the Chicago White Sox system in 2009, reaching Triple-A for the first time in 2012 and the major leagues in 2014.

He was signed by scout Amador Arias. He had a poor pro debut with the DSL White Sox, going 5 for 32 with 8 walks. He improved to a .269/.431/.346 batting line for the 2010 DSL White Sox, fielding .943 as their main third baseman. He finished 6th in the Dominican Summer League in OBP, right behind another Carlos Sanchez. He split 2011 between the Bristol White Sox (4 for 16, 2B, 5 BB) and Kannapolis Intimidators (.288/.341/.345 in 63 G), playing mostly second base. Baseball America rated him as Chicago's #21 prospect. He was 1 for 3 with a walk and a steal for the Tiburones de La Guaira in his Venezuelan Winter League debut.

He had a breakout year in 2012, hitting .323/.378/.403 with 79 runs, 169 hits and 26 stolen bases (though caught 15 times) for the Winston-Salem Dash (.315/.374/.395, 92 games), Birmingham Barons (.370/.424/.462, 30 games) and Charlotte Knights (.256/.256/.308, 11 games in the regular season, 4 for 23 in the playoffs). He split time between SS (68 G) and 2B (59 G). He tied Dan Black for the best average in the Carolina League and was 5th in OBP (between Xander Bogaerts and Jesus Aguilar). Among White Sox farmhands, he was first in average (.008 ahead of Black, boosted by his time with Birmingham), first in hits (12 ahead of Black), tied for third in triples (7, even with Greg Golson and Michael Earley), tied for 6th in OBP with Keenyn Walker, tied with Justin Greene for 4th in steals and tied with Walker for first in times caught stealing. He tied Ronny Rodriguez for the league's All-Star nod at second base and was was named the Chicago White Sox Minor League Player of the Year. He played in the Futures Game, replacing Wilmer Flores at third base for the World team. He doubled off Jameson Taillon and scored on an Oswaldo Arcia hit, then struck out against Alex Meyer his other time up, in a 17-5 loss to the USA. Baseball America named him the #3 prospect for the White Sox, their best prospect in terms of hitting for contact and their best defensive infield prospect. He was 10 for 33 with 3 doubles, a triple and four walks that winter for the Tiburones.

He slumped to .241/.293/.296 in his first full year at Triple-A, 2013. With La Guaria in winter ball, he rebounded to .348/.428/.443 with 48 runs, 32 RBI and 30 games in 58 games, fielding .979 at 2B. He finished third in the league in average (behind Alex Cabrera and Cory Aldridge), 4th in OBP (behind Cabrera, Aldridge and Guilder Rodriguez), tied C.J. Retherford and Gorkys Hernandez for 4th in runs, tied Retherford for 6th in hits (77) and just missed the top 10 in OPS by .006. He won Rookie of the Year honors and got the Gold Glove at 2B.

Sanchez reached the majors in mid-season in 2014 and played 28 games, hitting .250 with no homers and 5 RBIs. He returned to the AAA Charlotte Knights for a second season and hit .293 in 110 games, with 7 homers and 57 RBIs, a marked improvement over 2013. He started the 2015 season with the White Sox, but returned to Charlotte after one week and stayed there until mid-May when he returned to the Windy City for the rest of the year. He hit .344 in 29 games in AAA, showing he had mastered the level, and in his first extended taste of the majors, was at .224 in 120 games with 23 doubles and 5 homers, 40 runs and 31 RBIs. He was the team's regular second baseman after his call-back but his OPS+ was only 66 given his limited ability to get on base. Thus, he was back in Charlotte to start the year in 2016 and hit .255, but with decent power: 11 doubles and 8 homers in 61 games. In Chicago, however, he continued to struggle at the plate, hitting just .208 with 4 homers and 21 RBIs in 53 games. He was used at second base and at the other two infield spots.

Yolmer finally established himself as a major leaguer in 2017, when he spent the entire season in the majors, played 141 games and hit .267 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs while splitting his time between second base and third base. His OPS+ was 97 and combined with good defence, it made him a useful player. In 2018, he was the full-time third sacker with top prospect Yoan Moncada getting the nod at second base. He led the American League with 10 triples that season, after hitting 8 the year before, and also hit 34 doubles and 8 homers. His batting average was .242 in 155 games, with 62 runs and 55 RBIs. In 2019, he and Moncada switched positions, to give the better defender the more difficult position, and it worked in that Moncada had an excellent season at the plate while manning the hot corner, and Sanchez won a Gold Glove at second base. However, his offensive production regressed, his OPS+ tumbling to 73 (it had been 87 in 2018) as he hit .252 in 149 games but his power fell dramatically, to just 20 doubles, 4 triples and 2 homers. With the White Sox feeling they were on the verge of making dramatic improvements with the emergence of Moncada and OF Eloy Jimenez as excellent offensive players and of Lucas Giolito as a top-rank starter, they decided after the season to ditch Sanchez, in spite of his excellent defensive play. On November 25th, it was reported that he had been placed on irrevocable waivers, as another prospect, Nick Madrigal, was ready to take over second base duties and Sanchez was likely to make around $6 million if he filed for salary arbitration.

In 2020, he first signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants, went to spring training with them but failed to make the team and spent time at their alternate training site. He was released on August 21st and re-signed with the White Sox a week later. He ended up playing 11 games with Chicago, in which he hit .313 and slugged .688, well above his career norms, albeit in a very small sample. He was on the team's postseason roster, but his only appearance in the Wild Card Series was a defensive replacement. He spent all of 2021 with the Atlanta Braves Triple-A squad the Gwinnett Braves, batting near the Mendoza Line. He had cups of coffee with the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets in 2022, hitting .108/.214/.108 in 37 at-bats. He returned to the Braves system for 2023, again playing for Gwinnett, hitting .236/.381/.350 in 117 games. The Mets brought him back for 2024, assigning him to their Triple-A club, the Syracuse Mets.

Notable Achievements

• AL Gold Glove Winner (2019/2B)
• AL Triples Leader (2018)

Sources

• 2013 White Sox Media Guide
• 2012 Futures Game
• Purapelota
• Baseball America

Related Sites

• Yolmer Sanchez at mlb.com
• BR Minors page