 Hi Tanner. Just two topics actually. The first being Aaron Boone said that you were kind of the health and safety guy that they appointed for the staff. Just curious what that entails and what you've had to do. The health and safety? Yeah he said kind of what you were going to be taking some of the lead on the protocols or? I would imagine that probably would include just trying to help you know hold the you know our staff and players accountable in the dugout primarily but I think as a whole our entire staff is doing a good job of kind of assuming that responsibility collectively doing what we can to you know model the the protocols in place and and then also you know remind players and staff as needed to do the best we can this is you know new for everybody so yeah I think we're all just trying to do our part. And you were trying to incorporate a new stance with Gary Sanchez and the other catchers you know in spring training. How did you keep that going during the quarantine and and how do you think they are doing now that they're back? I think it's it's gone really well you know I leaned on you know Marlon a lot specifically you know when when communicating with Gary so we we stayed in communication weekly and and you know he has a training facility back home that that he utilizes so he would send me video and you know and I provide feedback and and you know occasionally we jump on a zoom call together and discuss and you know certain variations of some of the positions and moves he was working through so I think overall was it was the downtime was really positive because I think it allowed Gary specifically to kind of explore some of the positions and figure out how he could adapt them you know to his own style so there was kind of an exploratory period and we got to take advantage of you know some extra time and you know ultimately it was I think we'll we'll pay off. Thank you. Take the next questions from Meredith Morakovitz. Hi Tanner how do you expect those adjustments to help Gary Sanchez behind the plate? You know the main lens has been you know trying to you know maintain the improvements that we've seen or that we at least saw last year in 2019 from a blocking standpoint while continuing to to grow the capacity you know or his skill set I should say as a pitch framer so all of the new positioning and setups is kind of geared towards you know getting him in a position that he can be in a better position to receive the baseball and I think that it just happens more frequently than anything else so you know as we've kind of merged I talked about this you know last week where we've kind of merged his quote unquote ready or secondary stance that most catchers employ with runners on base we've kind of merged that to more closely resemble you know positions catchers get in with nobody on base so rather than have you know two very distinct stances you know the goal has been to merge them together so you know we can learn how to block and receive and throw you know from from one position and then from there you know create some some different um some some varieties out of that kind of base position so I would expect and and and even you know in a short sample spring training 1.0 and what we've been able to measure so far um here in New York you know the receiving metrics continue to grow and and and he's also getting blocking at a at a very consistent rate too so so far it's you know it's been really positive catchers and pitchers typically talk a lot especially with starting pitchers day of the start have you had to change the way the communication works because of some of the distancing uh things that are supposed to be happening and also our mound visits I know we saw one yesterday are they allowed frowned upon what has been the rhetoric with that um from from a meeting standpoint um you know we haven't necessarily employed you know the zoom platform or or or other um you know tools to to communicate we're we're still doing it somewhat traditionally but we're just being more conscious of the spacing you know we have large conference rooms so you know when we sit down together as a small group um you know just making sure we're maintaining our space and and wearing masks and and respecting you know our teammates and and fellow coaches and staff so um you know nothing's really changed in that regard other than just maybe a heightened awareness you know around you know doing what we can to to protect each other and as far as mound visits I know we saw Gary Sanchez go out there the other day I believe um yeah this a lot of this is uncharted territory so um you know I think that level of communication is um really important and you know at certain times to be able to to get out there and communicate picture to catcher and and making sure that we're on the same page from a from a sign standpoint maybe an adjustment that we need to make um you know adjusting a game plan to attack a certain hitter um there's I really don't see many alternatives to you know eliminating mound visits now we do have a system in place where we can communicate from the plate um to to communicate picture to catcher in terms of what sign system we are going to use so we will limit mound visits in that regard but that's that's not new we've done that in the past um so but you know that in game you know communication I think is is is really hard to to replace with with something else so I you know you saw Higgy yesterday was wearing a face mask I think that's probably um you know the only way that that we can safely um you know continue to have those those mound visits um but I I think they're necessary so I think we just are doing our best uh if they do need to happen you know trying to maintain some type of distance out there on the mound I think is is probably um a common ground thank you take the next question from Marley Rivera Marley hey Tanner thank you so much um Tanner when you look at what Gary when you looked at it from afar obviously being with the Yankees now but when he started his first full season in 16 and handling um this big stage in New York and failing and succeeding in the big stage what do you think his makeup is to deal with this kind of stuff I think it says a lot um you know one thing that's maybe not talked about enough is that you know this is one of the hardest pitching staffs to catch probably in all of professional baseball when you look at just the quality of arms that we have you know throughout um you know so for a guy like him with to step into a starting role you know at a young age and especially in this market and at this stage or on this stage in New York I think it says something about um you know his ability to stay pretty grounded and pretty neutral um and doesn't get overly excited and doesn't get overly low so and I think that's important to to perform at a consistent level um you know you need to be somewhat level headed and I think he has that trait um you know and and the the biggest thing I think with Gary specifically is just how that I've been most impressed by was just his ability to experiment with some you know some new um a new catching style um in you know on the biggest stage you know in our game really and and I think that speaks to his desire to grow and get better and and his ability to be a little bit vulnerable um so I've been really pleased and impressed with just the willingness um to you know implement some of the things we've asked him to do thank you George King you have the next question and what's your impressions of uh Kyle in the short period you've been with him it's it's been it's been equally great I um um I really I've really enjoyed you know getting to work with Kyle and and although they're catching differently um I think we've we've been able to um I think gain some ground with with some uh I mean he's he's already been an elite receiver and it's and um has a really high ceiling in that regard and you know but like every player there's there's small things I think as as the general awareness of pitch framing continues to grow um and teams more and more teams and organizations begin to value it um I think the margins get smaller and smaller and in in in that regard the details become really really important so with Kyle specifically although on the surface we haven't made um big drastic um adjustments to say his stance like we have Gary um but but there are similarities in terms of what they're trying to accomplish and and for for Higgy um and Gary really it's it's learning how to block and throw from their best receiving position so for Gary you've you've seen that's some variation of a knee down stance for Kyle um you know being a smaller more mobile flexible guy you know he's able to sit in that really low crouch um but he's staying in that position you know with runners on base and and he's you know proven that he can continue to block and throw at a at a um a proficient level from that position so that's been an adjustment that he's made that's um been a little bit behind the scenes or behind the curtain um but I think we'll also pay dividends so I've been impressed with Higgy I think you know he's going to be a valuable piece to this thing um and and so far it's been positive Brendan Cutty go ahead Tanner thank you for taking the time you mentioned how wearing a face mask the way Higgy did yesterday might be the best way to handle mountain visits going forward do you think Gary should do the same and wear a mask um you know I think each individual player has has the right to kind of um decide their own comfort levels and um you know you know for Higgy just in my brief conversation with him he felt like it was um in his best interest just being really close to you know not only the picture um but but more specifically the hitter the umpire um so just kind of being in in the thick of it you know his comfort level is leaning towards him wearing one um you know Gary hasn't gotten to that point and may not and that's I think that's within his right um to do so so I think every player is is handling a little bit differently um and I think we should all respect that I I certainly haven't told him he should or shouldn't um kind of reserve my my opinion um and giving him the freedom to kind of make that decision on his own thank you take a final question from Sweeney Murdy Sweeney hey Tanner can you be a little more liberal with Gary and his workload considering you're not trying to preserve him for 162 and maintain his power at the plate? Sure I you know I think that's that's always something we're trying to balance um you know and that's a really tough I think equation to really figure out in terms of what's enough work especially when you're learning a new style um and what is too much so you know I do think the style in general lends itself to a little bit less stress um and the early feedback we've gotten from Gary is that you know he's recovering very well from from some of these extended outings um you know he's self-described you know better than usual in terms of how he's uh you know how he's used to feeling you know after catching six seven innings so um I think that early feedback has been positive and it's you know we definitely take that into consideration when we plan the next day and and you know his workload moving forward but it's a it's a balancing act that you know we're we're trying to do our best to communicate um you know as best as possible with our strength staff and our training staff and our our coaching staff and and Mendy in terms of you know how many innings are appropriate you know following a an extended outing so um it's it's ongoing conversation that but we're trying to be really mindful about putting him in a position to to be at full strength as often as possible and do what he does and and uh you know hopefully not have any diminished returns of you know what we um expect him to to be offensively too that's a that's a big piece of his game and and uh we definitely don't want to take anything away you know from the the offensive capacity based on you know overworking him on the defensive end