As you know, Sandoval had a remarkable ‘08 season, hitting .359/.412/.597 in 68 games for San Jose, then .337/.364/.549 in 44 games for Double-A Connecticut, followed by a .345/.357/.490 mark in 41 games for the Giants, just edging past the rookie eligibility limit. The defense issue is still kind of strange; he’ll likely end up fantasy-qualifying at third base, first base, and catcher this year. Is the bat for real? Although I don’t think he’s going to hit .345 over a full season, yes I think his bat is legitimate. He will never be a walk machine, but he seems like a .real 280-.300 hitter to me. He’s one of those players who makes “hard contact” even on pitches most hitters shouldn’t swing at. Such hitters can win batting titles when things go well, and Sandoval does have that kind of potential. He really snuck up on both statheads and scouts last year.
PECOTA comps are all over the map and show how odd of a player Sandoval is: Arquimidez Pozo, Benito Santiago, Ruben Sierra, Leo Hernandez, Pedro Munoz, Jose Desa, Jose Guillen, Ron Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, Victor Diaz, Darryl Motley, Rafael Palmeiro, Carlos Baerga, and Richard Hidalgo all show up. Talk about a huge range of possible outcomes.
For 2009, projections
PECOTA .289/.329/.455
Shandler: .294/.319/.482
James: .320/.346/.500
ZIPS .284/.313/.455
CHONE .283/.315/.426
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1. PreservedFish Posted: April 10, 2009 at 02:33 PM (#3133168)Rich Aurilia, the player the Brewers walked Sandoval to get to, promptly hit into a double play.
Sandoval's next at bat: he flipped a curve ball easily three inches off the outside corner into left field for a single. Then Rich Aurilia promptly hit into a double play.
As far as the projections go, Sandoval can't hit fastballs in on his hands and up. If he doesn't lay off those pitches or figure out how to hit them he'll put up the CHONE numbers or worse. Otherwise, he could put up the James numbers--the guy can hit everything but the fastball on the hands.
Sandoval consistently hits the ball harder than anybody.
Sandoval could be the first player to have more home runs than runs scored in a season. Every time he gets on base that will happen.
The Orioles called Matt Wieters up from AAA. He will be their regular catcher for the rest of the year. Then Rich Aurilia promptly hit into a double play.
The Chicago Cubs raised ticket prices by an average of 2.50 per seat. Then Rich Aurilia promptly hit into a double play.
Before the game, Bruce Springsteen sang the national anthem. Then Rich Aurilia promptly hit into a double play.
It works.
huh?
We'll have to see what Derek Lee has to say about that.
Or if Robin Ventura is on first when Pablo hits the jack.
Yesterday they went all the way to "Kung-Fu Panda" once.
"Sugarbear" Floyd Rayford meet "KungFu Panda" Pablo Sandoval.
In this imaginary world A-Rod also never posts an OPS over 900 again, and Rivera is still pitching past 700 saves in 2016.
Back to Korean spring. It's 82 degrees here. Woo!
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