Tanner Swanson, the Yankees’ new catching coordinator, brings with him to New York a new-school mindset, a framing-first philosophy and one very strong example of success to point to in his track record. In his new role, he’ll be asked to take the lead on finally solving the defensive woes that have plagued Gary Sánchez throughout his career.



Swanson, who will also serve as the team’s quality control coach, was the Minnesota Twins minor league catching coordinator across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He is credited with implementing a new approach to catching throughout the Twins organization, but his name rose to industry prominence when he helped Mitch Garver grow from one of the worst defensive catchers in 2018 to an upper tier backstop in 2019.



“I think if we can have a similar impact on Gary Sánchez that we had on Mitch Garver, you’re dealing with a beast,” Swanson told The Athletic in a recent phone interview.