The New York Yankees often used Kyle Higashioka as Gerrit Cole's personal catcher last season, but Gary Sanchez will catch the ace on Opening Day.

A specific catcher was often used behind the plate during Cole's tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.

In four starts with Higashioka at catcher in 2020, Cole had a 1.00 ERA and 34% K rate over 27 innings. With Sanchez his ERA increased to 3.91 with a 31.9% K rate over eight starts (46 innings).