SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As the Giants built their team for 2009, the most frequently asked question was how they were going to beef up last year's anemic offense to support their Cy-laden pitching staff. One of the club's common responses was: "Another 100 games worth of Pablo Sandoval."Sandoval is the roly-poly 22-year-old ambidextrous catcher/first baseman/third baseman who managed to hit a cool .345 in the season's final six weeks after he was called up last year.
And he managed to do it while swinging at everything. He swung at 64.6 percent of the pitches he saw, the highest rate of anyone in the majors with at least 100 plate appearances. He swung at 53.8 percent of pitches that were outside the strike zone, also tops in the majors.
Now he's going to be the Giants' everyday third baseman, and you wonder: Can he still be successful that way?
Around the Giants, the word is that Sandoval is the rare player ("One in a thousand," according to hitting coach Carney Lansford) who can get away with swinging so much because he has the eye-hand coordination to get his bat on the ball and the strength to drive it even if it misses the barrel.
Sandoval's teammates call him "Zorro" because of the precision with which he wields his bat. On Monday, they were in collective awe as he swung at a pitch in the dirt ... and got a hit.
The Giants, though, are biased. Obviously they want to believe that he can still be a great hitter, because they're going to be just as offensively impotent as last year's team if he can't.
To find out what's real, FanHouse asked a scout who watched Sandoval last year and this spring.
"I think that he'll be good enough to make contact," the scout said. "I don't think he'll be as fortunate to get as many hits as he got last year on a lot of pitches he did. In an age of video and so many things to break down guys' strengths and weaknesses, it'll be interesting to see how the rest of the league now approaches him. Do I think he'll become a good hitter in the future? Yes. But there will be an adjustment period this year.
"By people knowing he's very aggressive and he'll swing at almost anything, they are going to pitch him even more off the plate. Some balls you are going to put in play, but you are going to put in play right at somebody."
The scout added that he thinks Sandoval can eventually hit for power, but not until he learns to be disciplined (well, more disciplined) and stop swinging at anything white. Home runs generally come on pitches that hang over the plate, and no one is going to be hanging anything over the plate to Sandoval if they don't need to sniff the strike zone to get him to swing.
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
Eric Holder Personally Approved Controversial Fox News Warrant
Senate Confirms Key Obama Nominee As Filibuster Fight Looms
Warren's First Bill Already Seeing Strong Wave Of Support
'Well That Was Actually Pointless'
Hospital Prices Explained: How Charges For Medical Care Got So Crazy
Emergency Landing Prompts Closure Of Heathrow Runways
Are You Inhaling Pesticides With Your Pot?
McCain: We Should Only Have To Pay For Cable Channels We Watch
Sequestration Hits National Parks Just In Time For Tourist Season
Polls Show How Americans Targeting Ire Over Gun Checks
Steve King Points Finger At Reagan For Helping Obama Get Elected
This Major Stock Collapse Is A Serious Warning For The U.S.
Horror In Bethesda
McDonald's Quietly Offers Ohio Hero Free Food For Year
Powerful Earthquake Hits Russia's Far East
Senate GOP At Odds With Tea Party On Budget Negotiations
Anti-Abortion Leader Compares Rape And Incest To Accidents
Ex-Student Allegedly Planned 'Columbine-Style' Attack At School
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
Could Miscarriages Become Criminal?
Farm State Senator Defends 'Monsanto Protection Act'
NOAA Releases 2013 Hurricane Season Predictions
Tom Coburn Ratchets Down Opposition To Tornado Relief Bill
Bill O'Reilly: 'I'm The Fairest Guy On The Planet'
Obama, Chris Christie To Reunite
Boy Scouts To Allow Gay Youths
U.S. Drone Guidelines Could Reduce 'Signature Strikes'
Newtown Gets Major Gift From The Government
Elite Colleges Accused Of Mishandling Sexual Assaults
