© Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
It seems as though the San Francisco Giants are going to find some fresh energy for their outfield from a surprisingly familiar face.
On Monday, Giants beat writer Alex Pavlovic reported that not only is veteran infielder Pablo Sandoval taking outfield reps in practice this spring, but that Bruce Bochy is even considering starting the Panda in the outfield for a Cactus League game.
According to Pavlovic, this isn’t the first time Pablo has been keen on playing in the outfield, and it seems that Bochy is coming around on the idea.
“Sandoval also brought an outfield glove to camp last spring,” Pavlovic said, “but Bochy laughed last year when asked about that possibility, cracking, ‘he doesn’t need to show me that glove.’ A year later, the Giants are no longer joking about that possibility. Sandoval has been taking fly balls on back fields this spring and Bochy hopes to get him into left field in at least one Cactus League game.”
Pavlovic went on to say that a similar approach will be taken for other versatile players like Alen Hansen and Yangervis Solarte, hoping to find some untapped outfield depth. He also went on to mention that this season may be the swan-song for both Bochy and Sandoval, giving Bochy a fun idea for one game this season for Pablo.
“At some point we may see Sandoval in the outfield regardless of need. Bochy has said he wants to let Sandoval play all nine positions in one game, and this is the manager’s last season and the final year of Sandoval’s contract.”
Safe to say the Giants outfield this season is going to be at least somewhat interesting, if nothing else.