Giants' Pablo Sandoval - a double enigma and tons o' fun

Could a trimmer Pablo Sandoval be a more effective third baseman? (AP)

Can't we just accept Pablo on his own terms? Maybe we're not supposed to figure out the formula that  makes Pablo a great hitter.

Because we've been down this road of "a trimmer Pablo would be a better hitter, a more effective 3B and presumably a better husband and father, now haven't we? And Pablo is the Giants antithesis of the Moneyball  train of thought that  better plate discipline metrics makes one a better hitter ( or is it the other way around? )

My only question is: given that the dude has a .303 lifetime average and .833 OPS and a 129 OPS+ can we not cut him a little slack on the .353 OBA and whatever dude is tipping the scales at theses days?


from Yahoo Sports:
Giants' Pablo Sandoval gives himself two seasons before he's forced to confront weight issues - Yahoo! Sports:

The other is that he's a remarkable hitter, preternaturally gifted like only a handful of players, maybe less. At 5-foot-11 (give or take – no, take – two inches) and 262 pounds (give or take – no, give – 20 pounds), Sandoval hits everything everywhere anytime anywhere. If anyone in baseball today is going to stroke a single off a pitch that bounces before it reaches home plate, it's him.

This is Sandoval's dichotomy, what makes him who he is – and the relationship between the two may be parasitic. Sandoval does not hit like a madman because he's fat. It could be argued he's fat because he hits like a madman – because his success in spite of his weight gives him little motivation to shed it, and because his bat makes him a hero in his native Venezuela where he returns annually and comes back heavier, and because this character he plays, the silly Kung Fu Panda, doesn't fly for a skinny guy.

At some point, the reasoning goes, his lack of conditioning will catch up. Sandoval thinks it's at 30 years old, when his metabolism may go to hell and send him up toward three bills. And it's why he's giving himself two years. He turns 27 in August and wants to allow a grace period for slip-ups, as all attempts at resolutions in the past – who can forget Operation Panda? – ended back where they began.

"It's part of my job," Sandoval said. "People want to help me. They want the best for me. I always say thank you to people when they try that. I never get mad. I never get pissed. It's one of the things they're doing to help me to be in the big leagues.

'via Blog this'



My guess is it may be closer to 3 bills than 250, but who cares? Nobody tried to mess with Tony Gwynn and he's in the HOF. As I recall he hit when he was thin and he hit when he was a bit on the pleasingly plump side. And I'm not sure he ever mashed 3 HR's in a World Series game, but my point is he did reasonably well. And there was a guy named Ruth, used to play for the Yankees a while back, he did pretty well for himself.

I mean, what would Pablo's average be if he was a svelte, Muscle and Fitness cover boy who mysteriously discovered the elusive plate discipline that makes Billy Beane's heart flutter? My guess is the over / under would be about .400.

So let's give it a rest shall we? Until Pablo' s average drifts down to below .250 or his weight is 50 points greater than his average, who cares? I'm all for good conditioning and plate discipline, but sometimes dudes can just hit. I heard Krukie on ESPN during one of the spring training telling someone that one year he came into camp in the best shape of his life, struggled and a team mate told him "I think you hit better fat".

Maybe Pablo is the same way. I still recall the Mets trying to slim down Sid Fernandez and he lost his FB along with the weight. I think Mickey Lolich with the Tigers was the same way. Whatever works.


We love the Panda (or whatever you call him):
Pablo E. Sandoval (Kung Fu Panda, Fat Ichiro, Round Mound of Pound or Little Money)