Giants fortunate to have Hector Sanchez in back up catchers role

[Band of Brothers]

Hector Sanchez came into the 2014 spring camp on a mission. People questioned his work ethic and his weight ballooned up last year. This year he has taken great strides to working and crafting his position and it has paid off. Last nights game was a testament to his dedication. He got beat up big time by some of Lincecum's pitches and that meant that Posey was spared some of that punishment on his body which in the long run does wonders for the health of #28 and the Giants team.

Sanchez seems real happy right now. At only 24 years old his future looks brighter than ever and his bat does some big talkin' too. He has had some of the teams most clutch hits and his confidence seems to grow pitch to pitch. He has been working hard on his blocking ability behind the plate and in time will be a starting catcher either here or somewhere else. He has that much talent and you can't hold back talent.

I have really enjoyed his AB's this year and Grand Slams might be a fixture in his future. He always seems to come up with men on base and makes opposing managers pay for pitching to him. He is a valuable member of the team on a team with so many players who make themselves valuable. The vibe is real good right now and the Giants continue to play great baseball as Sanchez does his thing behind the dish.

Go Giants !!

 

[tzill]

Andrew Susac does NOT agree...

 

[MarcoPolo]

I've never been impressed with Sanchez at all. Wait, not true - there is ONE thing that just amazes me, and besides that he is pretty mediocre. Although he has improved over the last 2 years, he just isn't a very good defender or a very good game caller. He doesn't hit for AVG and he doesn't walk much. I don't see him being a starting catcher for ANY major league team. I really would have preferred that he learn the needed skills while in the minors instead of in the majors, running up his service time (next year he will be arb eligible as a super-two) - but the Giants really didn't have much of a choice at the time.

The one thing that is amazing is that even though he's a fairly poor hitter, he seems to get those hits when the Giants really, really need them. This started his first year up and has continued. He has a ridiculous number of walk-offs for such a young player who doesn't hit that well. And that's not counting the much larger number of hits that weren't walk-offs, but either tied the game or put the Giants ahead really late in the game. He doesn't always come through (far from it), but it seems that his hits come when the chips are down.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Like I said, he may not have a high AVG or a lot of walks, but Sanchez gets his hits when the Giants need them.

Today, two on, two out, on the first pitch he splits the OFers and he knocks both of the runners in. We should be calling him "Mr. Clutch".

 

[tzill]

I've never been impressed with Sanchez at all. Wait, not true - there is ONE thing that just amazes me, and besides that he is pretty mediocre. Although he has improved over the last 2 years, he just isn't a very good defender or a very good game caller. He doesn't hit for AVG and he doesn't walk much. I don't see him being a starting catcher for ANY major league team. I really would have preferred that he learn the needed skills while in the minors instead of in the majors, running up his service time (next year he will be arb eligible as a super-two) - but the Giants really didn't have much of a choice at the time.

The one thing that is amazing is that even though he's a fairly poor hitter, he seems to get those hits when the Giants really, really need them. This started his first year up and has continued. He has a ridiculous number of walk-offs for such a young player who doesn't hit that well. And that's not counting the much larger number of hits that weren't walk-offs, but either tied the game or put the Giants ahead really late in the game. He doesn't always come through (far from it), but it seems that his hits come when the chips are down.

I dunno about that. His OPS+ this year is 93 (league average is 100 for all positions)

I count 11 ML catchers who have at least 20 starts and a worse OPS+. His dWAR is slightly positive (0.2). I've got to figure he'd start for at least 6 teams.

 

[MarcoPolo]

OK, maybe a team that couldn't afford a decent catcher would start him - until they could find somebody else. But 20 starts after 50+ games isn't "a starting catcher", IMHO. Buster has started 37 games at catcher so far, and he get extra "rest days" by playing 1B at least once a week.

Out of curiosity, how many catchers have at least 35 starts and have an OPS+ of 93 or lower? And are they players who are having a down year at the plate, who have much higher career numbers? (unlike Sanchez, who generally has much worse offensive numbers)

 

[tzill]

OK, maybe a team that couldn't afford a decent catcher would start him - until they could find somebody else. But 20 starts after 50+ games isn't "a starting catcher", IMHO. Buster has started 37 games at catcher so far, and he get extra "rest days" by playing 1B at least once a week.

Out of curiosity, how many catchers have at least 35 starts and have an OPS+ of 93 or lower? And are they players who are having a down year at the plate, who have much higher career numbers? (unlike Sanchez, who generally has much worse offensive numbers)

Great question. I did a little research, and here's what I found:

Number of ML teams who don't have a catcher that meets this criteria: 7 (TEX, LAA, LAD, COL, PIT, WAS, NYM).
Of the 23 other teams, 15 had catchers who fit the criteria.

So, given we are only 1/3 of the way through the season, and SSS, etc, etc, right now a case could be made that Hacktor could start for half the teams in the majors.

At the very least, he would start for 8 or so. As for being able to "afford a better catcher" the doyers are on that list...Ellis and Feddy are worse than Hacktor.

I think you overestimate the pool of catching talent out there. There just aren't that many "decent" catchers, by your definition anyway. I think Hacktor could be a very interesting trade chip when my boy is ready to come up. By all accounts, he's a superior defender to Hacktor.

 

[SFGRTB]

Maybe I'm just used to Eli Whiteside, Steve Holm, Chris Stewart etc., but I've enjoyed Sanchez as the backup catcher the last few years. He's much better defensively this year from what I remember, and as Marco said, he's always come up with some huge hits. I usually feel like he's a threat at the plate, I'm not dreading his plate appearances like I was when the guys I mentioned above came up.

I don't think there are many better backups in the game at this point.

 

[calsnowskier]

Eli and Stewart were decent catchers. To have a defense-first catcher on the roster is not a bad thing. When all you have are two defense-first catchers, that is a problem. That is why 2011 was a bad year.

Hacktor is a total stud as a backup catcher, and would not be a hole on your team if he had to start for you. If we wanted to make a deal for a 2B or a #3-type SP, I suspect Hacktor would work fine as the centerpiece of a package. If we wanted to go for a #1-type SP (Shark), Hacktor may be enough to save us from having to give 3 of our young arms. No getting away from including Crick in that deal - Crick, Hacktor and Blackburn might get that deal done, and if they thought they could sign him, I would make that trade in a second.

 

[msgkings322]

Eli and Stewart were decent catchers. To have a defense-first catcher on the roster is not a bad thing. When all you have are two defense-first catchers, that is a problem. That is why 2011 was a bad year.

Hacktor is a total stud as a backup catcher, and would not be a hole on your team if he had to start for you. If we wanted to make a deal for a 2B or a #3-type SP, I suspect Hacktor would work fine as the centerpiece of a package. If we wanted to go for a #1-type SP (Shark), Hacktor may be enough to save us from having to give 3 of our young arms. No getting away from including Crick in that deal - Crick, Hacktor and Blackburn might get that deal done, and if they thought they could sign him, I would make that trade in a second.

Hate to admit ignorance here but who is Shark?

Agreed if we can get a 1/2 type for those 3 I'd do that all day

 

[calsnowskier]

Hate to admit ignorance here but who is Shark?

Agreed if we can get a 1/2 type for those 3 I'd do that all day

Samardja (I have idea how to spell it)

 

[msgkings322]

Samardja (I have idea how to spell it)

Thanks...I would definitely swap those 3 for Samardzija

 

[Mays-Fan]

Hate to admit ignorance here but who is Shark?

Agreed if we can get a 1/2 type for those 3 I'd do that all day

And go to a 6-man rotation? Or trade away Vogey, who might be our best pitcher at the moment? Or have a long reliever getting $17.5 mill a year?

If we're going to do something like this, might we be better served by scaling it down and getting a 2B (although I haven't looked who might fit and be available)?

Those are questions...

 

[calsnowskier]

And go to a 6-man rotation? Or trade away Vogey, who might be our best pitcher at the moment? Or have a long reliever getting $17.5 mill a year?

If we're going to do something like this, might we be better served by scaling it down and getting a 2B (although I haven't looked who might fit and be available)?

Those are questions...

And those are legit questions.


I actually think we do not need to be buyers this year. At least not in a major way. (Barring injury, of course)

But if we have the ability to add another Ace to the staff, you have to look at it. And if this were to happen, I think Timmeh goes to the BP. He can take over for Romo next year as a WAY over-priced closer. Timmeh's days as a SP, I think, are almost over. 5 IP is not a good SP. Not even in today's game.

 

[msgkings322]

And those are legit questions.


I actually think we do not need to be buyers this year. At least not in a major way. (Barring injury, of course)

But if we have the ability to add another Ace to the staff, you have to look at it. And if this were to happen, I think Timmeh goes to the BP. He can take over for Romo next year as a WAY over-priced closer. Timmeh's days as a SP, I think, are almost over. 5 IP is not a good SP. Not even in today's game.

It's an interesting thought, but closers are a certain mental breed. I don't think Tim has that mentality. And he walks way too many guys to close.

It is nice to think that even though we are contending we don't need to be buyers and give up prospects this year. Maybe 2B as MaysFan notes, but even that's not a major hole.

 

[calsnowskier]

It's an interesting thought, but closers are a certain mental breed. I don't think Tim has that mentality. And he walks way too many guys to close.

His stuff is still filthy. Right now, he tends to do alright until his second time through the line-up. That is usually a sign that a guy should be in the pen.

Who knows. Maybe you are right. But a guy who can only go 5 IP on his best day just does not belong in the rotation.

 

[Mays-Fan]

And those are legit questions.


I actually think we do not need to be buyers this year. At least not in a major way. (Barring injury, of course)

But if we have the ability to add another Ace to the staff, you have to look at it. And if this were to happen, I think Timmeh goes to the BP. He can take over for Romo next year as a WAY over-priced closer. Timmeh's days as a SP, I think, are almost over. 5 IP is not a good SP. Not even in today's game.

Agreed that you have to look at it. A pitcher of Samardzija's stature being available doesn't happen often - not like buying a new car with all kinds of choices whenever you want. But let's also consider that while Samardzija is having a great season, it's an outlier in an otherwise short and decent, but not great, career:

Jeff Samardzija Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

I'm just not sure it's worth depleting our prospects and bench for a guy who really doesn't have much of a track record. Throw out this year, and who in our current rotation is he really better than? And I might be more inclined if Susac was a proven MLB hitter. Great prospect, yes, but completely unproven in The Show. I'm not ready to anoint him as the next catcher, particularly if Posey is going to transition out of catching. And please, not Quiroz.

Also, I don't honestly know if we can take on more payroll. Only the FO does. I suspect they can, particularly if the trade will get us deep into the playoffs.

 

[msgkings322]

His stuff is still filthy. Right now, he tends to do alright until his second time through the line-up. That is usually a sign that a guy should be in the pen.

Who knows. Maybe you are right. But a guy who can only go 5 IP on his best day just does not belong in the rotation.

Agreed that if Timmy can't get right he can't stay in the rotation (maybe ok as a 5th starter...)

But yesterday his first inning was by far his worst so again, I'm not seeing closer...