CLEVELAND — The only All-Star with a better redemption story than Sonny Gray might be the catcher to whom the right-hander disliked pitching.

And no one, be he pitcher, fan or opposing manager, is shunning Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez any more.

While Gray, the Yankee-turned-Red (who preferred to work with Austin Romine), arrived at the Midsummer Classic as a replacement, Sanchez cruised here on the strength of an outstanding season and thunderous fan support just one year after putting his pinstriped future in doubt.

Sanchez started at catcher for the American League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Progressive Field, going 1-for-2 with a double and a run in the AL’s 4-3 win.

With the AL leading 1-0, Sanchez, who flied out in his first at-bat, led off the fifth inning with a double off the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler. After moving to third on a groundout, he scored on another groundout, by the Twins’ Jorge Polanco.

“It feels great,” Sanchez said Monday through an interpreter. “I really focused on improving stuff that I had to work on this offseason, and to be able to be here and not only to be here, but to be here because the fans voted for me means a lot, because it means that the work I put in was worth it and the fans noticed it.”

Asked what he worked on improving, Sanchez said, “Offensively, it’s been looking for my pitch in the zone and not swinging at pitches outside of the zone. Defensively, I’ve worked with Brownie [Yankees catching coach Jason Brown] and he’s helped me receiving, particularly receiving and framing pitches outside of the zone.”

The 26-year-old Sanchez owns a slash line of .245/.315/.556, quite a step up from last year’s line of .186/.291/.406. He also has been charged with just five passed balls after registering 18 last year. It’s no wonder he won the fan vote to get his first All-Star Game start after he appeared as a reserve in the 2017 contest.

When AL manager Alex Cora, of the rival Red Sox, introduced his starting lineup on Monday, he described Sanchez thusly: “Power-hitting catcher who dominates the game on both sides. What he’s doing defensively for the New York Yankees has been great.”

“It means a lot to me,” Sanchez said of Cora’s praise, “because people don’t know how much work I’ve consistently put into my defense. I think I continue to get better, and I will continue to get better. But it’s even more important because of the fact that pitchers depend on me. And they need me to be good back there.”