Catching, as he has throughtout his career, incuding in the Cape Cod League as shown here, is what former Merrimack standout Mickey Gasper feels is his ticket to the big leagues. (Courtesy photo)

This was going to be the year for Mickey Gasper. His breakthrough season in the New York Yankees organization.

The former Merrimack High School and Nashua Silver Knights standout had suffered a significant shoulder injury a couple of years ago. He rehabbed, trained, and worked out, feeling ready to go in spring training 2020.

But, of course, on his first day on the field, the practice and ultimately the season was scrapped due to the pandemic.

So when 2021 began, Gasper was primed. He was starting the season as the catcher for the Yankees Class A team, the Hudson Valley Renegades. Just a few games in Gasper, who was hitting well and improving as a catcher, suffered a dislocated left thumb against Aberdeen, the Orioles

affiliate.

“It was the second series of the year (HV’s first home series) a play at the plate and the guy didn’t slide,” Gasper said. “His shin hit my glove in the perfect spot (for an injury).”

Gone was a good chunk of the 2021 season. Gasper was originally going to be out about six weeks, but that turned into the better part of three months.

“I was feeling great and then the injury happened,” he said. “Initially I thought it would be six-to-eight weeks and it turned out to be 12 weeks because the Yankees like to take care of their guys and make sure they’re 100 percent ready to go. So they took it a little slow with me.

“But the rehab went great and it turned out feeling great.”

Gasper got in a total of 66 at-bats, but the good news was after a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League he was promoted to Double A Somerset.

Overall, he hit .318 in 25 games with Hudson Valley and then .343 in 10 games with Somerset, along with a homer, two doubles, two triples and seven RBIs.

But the time away from the game was excruciating.

“I read a little bit, watched a lot of baseball, did a lot of stretching and tried to stay as active as I possibly could.

“It certainly was frustrating, but I wasn’t going to put myself in a pity party, losing another season. Just put your head down, find another way to work and get ready. It sucks almost losing two years but I grew mentally and adversity makes for a good story.”

Coming back was exhilarating for Gasper.

“It was pretty quick for me,” he said. “I get a little nervous before but once I get in that (batter’s) box I feel I’m ready to go, feeling that nobody in the world can beat me.”

He used the Florida league to see as many pitches as he could. His first at bat for Hudson Valley, a home run, showed he was back. Then he repeated the feat when was called up to Somerset on Aug. 20, homering in his second at-bat.

“It’s a quick turnaround for me,” he said. “I feel my progressions and my drills get me ready to go no matter how much time I missed.”

Playing for Somerset, located in Bridgewater, N.J., about 40 miles from where his parents live in Freehold, N.J.,was perfect. Remember, the Patriots used to be in the independent Atlantic League and a major rival of the Nashua Pride. The Pride actually won their only Atlantic League title at that ballpark in 2000.

“My family, a lot of family members on my Mom’s side, got to see me play for the first time in a long time,” Gasper said. “It was cool seeing a lot of people coming out there rooting for me,pushing me and cheering me on.”

Gasper liked the level of play. He remembers going to Double A games in Manchester,watching the Fisher Cats, “and thinking these guys were gods. And now I’m here.

“You’ve got to breathe, soak it all in, and just remember you’re just playing baseball. The level of play is certainly an upgrade, it’s good baseball, it’s a lot of plus pitching, plus defense, and you’ve got to earn your hits. … Once you get yourself in the batter’s box, you’re in compete mode, you’re fighting, you don’t even realize you’re in Double A. You could be anywhere in the world. You’re battling and you’re having fun.”

At Double A, Gasper found a lot of familiar faces, teammates from elsewhere in the Yankees system.

Gasper has always been a hitter; he was the Futures League’s Player of the Year in 2016, and his bat is what got him drafted in the 27th round by the Yankees in 2018 out of Bryant University.

The question has been where he fits defensively. Catcher has always been his main position, but Gasper prides himself on his versatility. On the day of his injury he was talking to Hudson Valley manager Jared Sandberg about playing some first base, which he has done before.

“That got put on hold,” Gasper said. “I’d been working at first base, but all my game action was behind the plate this year. It felt good. I improved in all facets of the game analytically. I think I’m moving in the right direction and making that position stick.

“I do like first base being (proof) of my versatility and being able to stay in that lineup. But I made great strides this year behind the plate. I’m excited to keep working, keep doing it. Catching is that ticket to the big leagues.”

Gasper believes his receiving behind the plate has gotten much better, more consistent. He used a relatively new stance with one knee down behind the plate, “and I think that’s helped me. Keeps the ball in an area where I can control it. Just that comfort level with the one knee down has helped me work my way and find more consistent blockage with catching.

“I think it really depends on the player. For me, I found a way to make it my own. I’m always tweaking it. But I think it’s a good tool. I don’t think there’s any harm, especially when it’s just a stance. It’s all about comfort.”

Gasper still remembers his Double A homer, it was his second at-bat in a game in Altoona, Pa., after he was late on a fastball in his first

at bat.

“I made the mental adjustment, got into a plus count, and figured if I was late, he was going to come after me,” Gasper said. “It was a 3-1 count and I turned on it. It felt pretty sweet. My parents were there, front row, right by the dugout, they were jumping around. It was a pretty special moment to do that – my parents were late to the game so it was the first at-bat they saw.”

Gasper has always been a good hitter, but now that he’s further along in his professional career where does he rate himself as a hitter?

“You know, I’m always improving, always trying to find ways to get better,” he said. “I’m a little more aggressive now. As a younger hitter I was able to get away getting behind 0-2 and fight my way back. That was kind of how I hit. I like being in deep counts, 0-1, 0-2, and work my way back at the plate. But it’s really hard to do at the professional level because so many guys have that good put away stuff.

“I’ve learned to pick my at bats, pick my counts, where I want to go early, where I want to go late. I’ve certainly matured in that approach since, taking it pitch-by-pitch. I still have the same work ethic and love getting in that batter’s box competing.”

What does Gasper think he showed the Yankees in coming back from the injury the way he did?

“I think I showed them I could help a team win at any time,” Gasper said. “If I’m playing every day, or if I miss three months. I’m a guy if you put me in the lineup, I’m going to find a way to help a team win.”

And it helps that he’s a switch hitter. Gasper says his hitting from the right side, which had been weaker in the past, has come a long way and that he’s been driving the ball with authority from both sides of the plate.

Gasper would like to remain in the Yankees organization, a team he rooted for since growing up in New Jersey before coming to New Hampshire. But he’s now eligible for the Rule V Draft, when another Major League club can take you from your organization and place you on their Major League roster. But you have to stay on that roster the entire season otherwise you must be returned to your former team.

“My agent’s going to handle all that,” Gasper said, saying he has one more year left on his Yankee deal. And he’d love to stay with them.

“It’s a blessing being part of the Yankees organization,” he said. “It’s a dream come true. They take care of us like nobody else, top notch instruction, top notch facilities, top notch equipment.

“The Yankees give us the opportunity to try any which way to get better. I couldn’t be more thankful. I would love to make that push with the New York Yankees to the big leagues, but you’ve got to remember you’re playing for every team when you’re in the minors.

“It only takes one guy, one team to like you, so I go out there and try to represent the New York Yankees to the best of my ability, and that plays anywhere. The Yankees are the epitome of class in baseball.”

Gasper is hoping he can play winter ball in Puerto Rico to get more at bats. One of his former managers is there and Gasper has been in touch. Panama is also a possibility.

Meanwhile, he’ll work out in the Jersey area with former Silver Knights infielder Max Burt, who began the year in Class A and vaulted all the way to Triple A with the Yankees.

“I think Max went back to playing the Yankee way, and look where it’s taken him,” Gasper said. “I think he can play any position in the big leagues at a high level. He just goes out and competes. He’s shown it.

“Working with him makes me better. I couldn’t be happier meeting him and going on this journey with him. He faced a different kind of adversity. I had an injury, and he was in A-ball.

“We all felt he had no business being there. He started working, showed up to the ballpark every day and now he is finishing the year in Triple A. That’s the kind of player he is.”

The plusses of playing winter ball are obvious. “It’s high-level baseball and you can’t replicate those reps playing against elite level opposition,” Gasper said. “So I think that’s No. 1. For me, personally, it’s going to give me reps after missing a lot of reps over the last year. It will catch me up, get me competing. … The Yankees didn’t suggest it, but they totally agree with me that that would be the best thing for my development.”

If Gasper doesn’t end up going to winter ball, he’ll head to Houston, where he was this time last year, working out and playing at a facility there.

“That’s the thing I’m hunting right now, those game repetitions,” Gasper said.

And a breakout season as well.

Hopefully for Mickey Gasper, that will be in 2022.