Comments on: Should Pablo Sandoval Catch?

By: Buddythebowler

Buddythebowler — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:41:38 +0000

As to Gillaspie, I saw him in AZ and so far, not very impressive. Posey has great legs and catching could really hamper them. Besides, following the point made earlier, what a great position for the Giants to be in – having two players battling for the same position…

By: theMLBeat

theMLBeat — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:20:36 +0000

Posey is the Giants best option at 3B for the future? Did you give up on Conor Gillaspie after a half season of development? Posey was drafted as high as he was, and paid his bonus amount because the Giants believed he was the closest thing to a certainty at Catcher. His value is intrinsically tied into that position.

I completely agree with Ben’s piece in that not letting Sandoval catch in 09 hampers his overall development, and the Giants run a serious risk of not having a viable candidate for the Catching position in 2010. Molina is going to need a spell at the Catching position, and who better to do that than a developing young player like Sandoval. It should be a trial by error situation for San Francisco. If it works out and Sandoval succeeds while Posey progresses, than the Giants have a problem they haven’t had in a long time: two positional players fighting for one spot, and that is a good thing.

By: buddythebowler

buddythebowler — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:02:10 +0000

Having seen Sandoval catch in San Jose his quickness behind the plate was a real eye opener. His lateral movement was first class and he blocked pitches in the dirt well. I saw him catch Alderson who has nasty late movement on his pitches and Pablo had no hesitation calling low zone pitches. What amazed me most was his foot speed. He got down the line quickly and had good home to second speed.

There are any number of football comparisons that can be made here. The quickness of both offensive and defensive lineman of enormous size is now taken for granted. Why not a quick 245lb catcher? Additionally, Buster Posey may be the Giants best option for 3rd base in the future… IF he can hit in the majors! We know what Sandy can do with the stick and this fan thinks he’s the Giants best option behind the plate – even at 5’11” and 245!

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:23:40 +0000

Ben, I agree with you. Why would the Giants limit Sandoval’s catching development when they have so little to lose? It’s not like they’ll contend this year, so they won’t need a good defensive backup.

By the way, I no longer trust height and weight stats.

By: obsessivegiantscompulsive

obsessivegiantscompulsive — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:08:16 +0000

Who says the Giants won’t start him in games where Molina rests? Sandoval started 9 games at C in 2008 while up in the majors, about once every fourth game, plus appears to have relieved two other games at C.

I would expect Sandoval to continue to start games at C in 2009 in relief of Molina, given the current roster configuration. One reason they might still do that is because that would open up starts at 3B for Frandsen, which could happen whether or not he wins starting 2B role, as his shifting to 3B would give Burriss (should Burriss lose 2B battle) starts at 2B or Velez, should the Giants decide to send Burriss down to AAA (where he hasn’t played much anyway and thus could use the experience; hitters typically need a lot of AB to develop to their potential). This would keep his bat in the lineup while giving Molina a rest and Frandsen/Burriss starts in the infield.

About the pitching staff, what I would like to see is pitch usage stats of the pitchers with Williams vs. Sandoval catching. Just like runners run less against good catchers, perhaps the pitchers didn’t throw as many low pitches with Sandoval because they knew he would have trouble catching them. But, yeah, that is an odd stat because Williams is suppose to be a very good defensive catcher.