Padres News: Gary Sanchez’s Big Wednesday Outing Placed Him in Franchise History

The new Padres catcher continued his hot run of form on Wednesday, accomplishing something that put him in the franchise's history books.

In case you hadn't heard, the San Diego Padres recently acquired a new catcher in Gary Sanchez.

You may remember Sanchez from his time with the New York Yankees, when he electrified the Bronx nightly with a thunderous bat before eventually falling out of favor and becoming everything from a derided figure to a footnote in the majors.

Recently, he'd been with the Minnesota Twins in 2022, putting up subpar numbers in the Twin Cities, before playing a grand total of three games with the New York Mets in this season.

So when the Padres brought Sanchez to southern California, not all that much was really thought of about the move besides "oh, remember when he used to be great?"

Well, since he moved over to the Friars on May 30th, Sanchez suddenly found his form from six years ago, turning himself suddenly back into a feared figure in the Padres lineup.

He hit another home run on Wednesday against the Mariners, and that latest bomb put him in the Padres' history books.

Gary Sánchez is the first Padres player since Jake Cronenworth in June 2021 to have four or more home runs in an eight-game span. He's the first Padres catcher to perform the feat since Austin Hedges in April 2017.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) June 7, 2023

Yes, Sanchez is already in Padres' lore, something that many would comfortably describe as being completely unexpected when he became the newest Padres backstop around one short week ago.

He's provided the rather surprising jolt of energy when the Padres needed it the most.

San Diego's currently faced with another injury problem as Xander Bogaerts remains out with wrist pain, and the Padres currently sit eight games behind the NL West division leading Arizona Diamondbacks as of Wednesday afternoon -- not quiet out of contention, especially in early June -- but definitely a concerning deficit to be in at this point of the season, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Bogaerts.

For Sanchez, he's certainly done enough to be an every day starter for the Padres, and his heroics could be enough to at least keep San Diego afloat.