After San Francisco traded starting third baseman Eduardo Nunez to the Boston Red Sox, the Giants had a glaring hole at the hot corner.
Jae-gyun Hwang and Conor Gillaspie were under-performing, while rookie Ryder Jones was pressed into action at first base due to Brandon Belt’s latest concussion. The opening at third base gave San Francisco an opportunity to evaluate former Giants’ infielder Pablo Sandoval, and for the past three weeks, Sandoval has been a fixture in the team’s lineup.
Since rejoining the club after being designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, Sandoval has hit .276 with four doubles and one tape measure home run off of Nationals’ righty Max Scherzer. Though he hasn’t looked like the Sandoval of old just yet, Giants’ general manager Bobby Evans said Sandoval is beginning to demonstrate that he’s capable of helping the Giants into the future.
“At times, we’ve seen the bat speed, we’ve seen solid defense for the most part,” Evans said on KNBR, during an interview with Gary Radnich and Larry Krueger. “He’s not showing the power but that’s okay. As long as he’s getting doubles, which was a big part of his offense in the past, he’s never been a huge home run hitter. He can hit for power and we’ve seen the power too but I think it’s a fair time to evaluate him and what you like about him is he wants to be in the lineup everyday. Boch says that even both games of a doubleheader in Washington, he wants to be in the lineup and that says a lot about what he brings to the table.”
With Boston on the hook for Sandoval’s salary through the end of the 2019 season, the Giants have a chance to keep Sandoval at the Major League minimum over the next two seasons. If he continues to perform and produces at a high level during the final month of the season, Evans said San Francisco would welcome the idea of having Sandoval back on the roster next season.
“I’d like to think he could come back for us and help us next year,” Evans said. “We are evaluating. We don’t need to make a decision at all this early. I think that for us, the value added for him at the very least it gives us more time to let Arroyo and Ryder develop. Both have struggled offensively at the big league level and if you have Pablo, that does give you more time but that said, ultimately Pablo has to play at a level that we think he can help us. Again, he’s 150 or so at-bats into his season now and we’ll have more time to see him this fall.”
To listen to Bobby Evans’ full interview with Gary Radnich and Larry Krueger, click the podcast link below. To hear Evans’ comments on Sandoval’s future with the Giants, skip ahead to the 6:15 mark.