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| Hector Sanchez is also a Dragon Warrior, which probably adds value to something. |
The Hector Sanchez dilemma is picking up steam, and this
will now be the 2nd time in 4 post I am writing about a backup
catcher with a .262 OBP. That really should be all I need to write, but Carl
Steward pubished this piece yesterday, which anoints Sanchez as a crucial piece
to the 2012 Giants puzzle:
"But the player who could ultimately change the organization's whole future dynamic at catcher could be 22-year-old Hector Sanchez, who is evolving at such a rapid rate, the Giants really don't know how good he ultimately could be, and how he could impact all the catchers in their system -- including Posey."
I don’t
know how good Hector Sanchez can be. He’s shown impressive power in spurts this
season, which is great for a 22 year old. How good has he actually been though?
Luckily thanks to modern technology, we have stats!
Hector Sanchez
2012: .264/.263/.364, .267 wOBA
That’s a poor man's Bengie Molina.
Like he really tries to emulate him, doing the whole OBP less than batting
average thing Bengie was good at. Sanchez has been terrible at the plate this
season, and you can’t try to convince me otherwise. He’s been Tony Gwynn jr.
(.266 wOBA) without the speed. Which makes you a poor man’s Bengie Molina. Then
there’s this:
"Sanchez's high offensive potential has always been a given. You don't see many switch-hitting catchers with the ability to hit with both power and average. But what has stunned the Giants since the end of last season is how Sanchez has taken the initiative to be as good behind the plate as he is hitting from either side of it."
His
average has been mediocore, and his slugging percentage has been awful. But the
part I want to get to is his defensive value. My view: no freakin idea. I have
absolutely no idea how good he can be behind the plate, but here’s what I do
know. Buster Posey is a monster defensively. This is why the clamoring for
Posey to move to first is ridiculous, because you’re completely disregarding
his defensive value. Tim Lincecum is tied for most wild pitches thrown in baseball
this season. Against the Dodgers last week, Lincecum threw two wild pitches and
a passed ball throwing to Sanchez. One of those wild pitches nearly scored a
run if not for a great save by Sanchez to throw out the runner at the plate
with Lincecum covering. The passed ball was almost in the strike zone. Again, I don’t know if this is the real Sanchez, but we
know what the real Posey is and he gets to almost everything behind the plate.
If Sanchez is to play, that means Posey to first, which puts Brandon Belt,
yep, on the pine. There’s such a monumental drop off between Belt and Sanchez,
that the only way Sanchez can play good enough defense to make up for it is if
he was actually a Cheetah and could catch every single ball on the fly off
every single hitter’s bat giving each pitcher a perfect game, which would be
fantastic. I have my doubts about that one unfortunately.
"Posey added he owes some of his own success in his comeback from a serious injury to Sanchez, because he has been able to take more days off since the offensive drop-off isn't as extreme as it was with Stewart and Whiteside."
I’ve never had my knee obliterated into a thousand pieces before, but
I’m assuming it hurts. The days off for Posey are a must and I’m not
complaining about that. But what I am going whine about is that the justification
is Sanchez is that much better than Stewart and Whiteside, so it does not hurt as much for Posey to rest. More stats!
Sanchez
2012: .264/.263/.364
Whiteside
2010: .233/.299/.397
Whiteside
2011: .197/.264/.310
Stewart
2012: .270/.295/.311
2010
Whiteside was better than 2012 Sanchez on offense. And it’s not really that
close. Sure Sanchez is probably hitting a little better than Whiteside and Stewart would
have for the Giants this year. But choosing between those 3 guys is like
choosing which bug you want to eat on Fear Factor. They all are awful with
the bat and at least Stewart has a gun behind the plate. Backup catchers add so
little value to a team, they’re all practically the same in terms of worth.
I really
believe it would be in the Giants best interest as an organization to send
Sanchez to the minors and bring Whiteside up as a backup. Unless Whiteside now has
the bat speed of a sloth, he will add the same value to the Giants that Sanchez
has. By going to the minors, Sanchez will be able to gain everyday at bats and
develop more as a prospect who skipped AA and AAA on his way to the big leagues.
Getting an at bat once or twice every 5 games is just inconsistent enough
playing time to stunt the growth of a promising young catcher. It’s hard to
believe Sanchez and Belt will be fighting for playing time, but that’s exactly
what might happen. And there’s no way that should be happening.
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