Slugger Sandoval steps up, moves up

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Slugger Sandoval steps up, moves up
06/27/2008 8:00 AM ET
By Lisa Winston / MLB.com

The prevailing theory says that the Class A Advanced California League is a hitters' league, and a look at the overall statistics tends to uphold that claim. After all, out of 10 teams, eight have composite ERAs above 4.00 and two are over 5.00.
But then you look at the San Jose Giants' pitching staff: A 3.03 ERA and 10 shutouts in their first 76 games.
The man who could make the best argument for either side of the debate is catcher Pablo Sandoval.
Since starting the season with an eight-game hitting streak, four of which were three-hit performances, the 21-year-old switch-hitting catcher tormented opposing pitchers, contributing to those inflated ERAs.
Sandoval batted over .400 until May 21, and sported a .359 average with 12 homers, 59 RBIs and a .597 slugging percentage through 68 games at the California League All-Star break.
Meanwhile, behind the plate he worked in sync with the six starting pitchers who went in and out of the Giants rotation. He was at least partly responsible for the appearance of four of the club's starters among the league's Top 10 in ERA.
And if you ask him, the latter means even more to him than the fact that he ranks among the Minor League leaders in batting, hits, runs scored and slugging percentage.
"I'm prouder of the work I do with the pitchers, the communication I have with them," said Sandoval. "I'm happy I have four pitchers in the All-Star Game."
Sandoval originally signed with the Giants at age 17 out of Venezuela, standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 180 at the time. His most recent official weight was listed at 245, but he's definitely been working on his physique and is currently probably somewhere between those two weights.
A catcher by trade growing up, he moved to third base and then first as he climbed the Giants' organizational ladder.
In 2005, at Class A Short-Season Salem-Keizer, he batted .330 as the team's starting third baseman. The next summer, at Class A Augusta, he hit .265, seeing most of his playing time at first base with a few games at third. That summer he also represented San Francisco at the All-Star Futures Game as one of the World Team's corner infielders.
In 2007, he moved up another step to San Jose, hitting .287 with 11 home runs, 33 doubles and 52 RBIs, with a pretty even split between first base and catcher. And though his stats certainly warranted a move up the ladder to Double-A Connecticut, the Giants brass sat down during the offseason and took a good hard look at the organization's future options behind the plate.
They have a very solid starting option in 34-year-old journeyman Bengie Molina, who was hitting .314 through June 26. But Molina's contract expires at the end of 2009.
"In the National League, you really have to figure out where a guy is going to play defensively," explained San Jose manager Steve Decker. "He's such a good hitter that the organization sat down and said, 'You know what? Let's give him a shot to play every day at catcher.'"
As a result, the decision was made to have Sandoval return to San Jose to start the '08 season, where he would work exclusively as a catcher and closely with Decker, himself a 13-year pro backstop who was promoted to San Jose this summer after three years at the helm at Salem-Keizer.
"He throws out 50 percent [of opposing baserunners], but that's just a little part of the game. He needs to learn to control the tempo of the game, control the pitching staff, a lot of little things such as blocking technique," Decker said. "You really need to have someone who is an ex-catcher to work on the finer points with you, and that's why he came back to the Cal League."
Rather than mope about after returning to a level where he'd already had success at the plate, Sandoval was thrilled about the decision because of what it enabled him to do behind it.
"I felt comfortable and happy with the decision because I thought he could help me a lot, and I appreciated that," said Sandoval. "I love my position. My favorite thing is to throw out guys at second base."
Decker, meanwhile, could not be more delighted by the quick progress made by his star student.
"He has soft hands and quick feet, and I think he's not far off," Decker said. "He's an energetic guy, he has aptitude and coachability and he comes to play every day. He's a really nice guy, so sometimes to get on pitchers and hold them accountable is a little hard for him, but he's getting better at that. He's developing as a young leader."
And the pitchers? They loved working with the genial "teddy bear."
"Pablo's fun to be around. He's goofy and singing every day, keeping everybody happy," said San Jose's ace Ben Snyder, who was leading the Cal League with a 2.00 ERA. "He's a great guy in the clubhouse, who brings a smile to everyone."
Sandoval, Snyder and three other San Jose starters (southpaw Jesse English and right-handers Kevin Pucetas and Tim Alderson) represented San Jose at this past week's Carolina-California League All-Star Game, as did Decker and his field staff.
Sandoval even showed off his booming bat by making it to the finals of the annual pre-game Home Run Derby, before he fell to hometown favorite Ernesto Mejia of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
But neither Snyder nor Sandoval had to climb on the plane the next morning for another cross-country flight. Both were promoted to Double-A Connecticut after the game.
"I'm excited, because it's a lot of the same pitchers we had last year at San Jose," Sandoval said, "so I have some communication already with them."
In the 12-team Eastern League, where ERAs and team batting averages are a bit lower, Sandoval will get the opportunity to disprove another theory: that the Eastern League is a pitchers' league.
One thing's already certain, the Defenders' pitchers will be very happy they get to throw to Sandoval instead of trying to get him out.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.