Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Greg Brown calls him, "Steady Freddy."
Lanny Frattare calls him, "Frederick the Great."
Both work.
Although it might be an understatement to call the National League batting leader steady and it might be an exaggeration to call him great, both nicknames are rooted in reality.
Frederick Phillip Sanchez is spectacularly steady. In five consecutive months since September last season, he has batted .325, .333, .360., .380 and .375. In every one of those months he had a slugging percentage over .500. Doesn't get much steadier than that.
Sanchez might not be up to the level of greatness of the real Frederick the Great (King of Prussia for 46 years in the 18th century), but he is performing at a majestic level for the Pirates.
He went into last night's game against the Colorado Rockies -- a 13-4 loss at PNC Park -- not only leading the National League in batting but leading by 18 points over Nomar Garciaparra.
As he makes believers out of almost everyone -- almost all of whom, including this columnist, were non-believers -- he is regularly shattering myths.
The greatest myth surrounding Sanchez was the label firmly affixed to him once he joined the Pirates: Utilityman.
It was understandable he would fall into this category because he seemed little more than a throw-in in a trade between the Pirates and the Boston Red Sox in July 2003. When he was immediately diagnosed with a bone spur in his right ankle that necessitated surgery and kept him out until the following June, the label seemed legitimate.
Overlooked in this labeling was that he had been a bright prospect for the Red Sox. His career minor-league batting averages read like this: .288, .303, .339, .326, .328, .301. .341.
Those are not the numbers of a utilityman.
"I always knew I could hit," said Sanchez last night. "I didn't know if I would get the chance to play this season, but I had hit all my life, everywhere I played."
That utilityman label was so set that even after he batted .325 with four homers playing third base last September, the Pirates never considered him starting material. They went out and paid $4 million for Joe Randa.
Only an injury to Randa gave Sanchez his chance.
Now he is exploding other myths, particularly the one that says a team needs a home-run hitter playing third base.
Sanchez only has five home runs, but there are more ways to drive in runs and prove your mettle as a hitter.
Heading into last night, he was tied for the National League lead in doubles with 33, was third in batting with runners in scoring position with a .409 average and was torching left-handed pitching at a .478 clip.
A greater measure than home runs of a player's worth is slugging percentage. Sanchez is 20th in the National League, which might not seem all that impressive but it does put him in front of such well-known "power" hitters as Andruw Jones, Carlos Delgado, Todd Helton, Shawn Green, Bobby Abreu, Aramis Ramirez and Prince Fielder.
His reputation being what it is, no one is giving Sanchez much of a chance of holding off the likes of Garciaparra and Albert Pujols, both former batting champions, to become the first Pirate to win the honor since Bill Madlock in 1983.
"That not something I even think about," Sanchez said. "It's on the back burner. You get a couple of people who want to talk about it, but it's July and there's still a lot of baseball left. Just as quick as you go up, you can go down. I don't pay attention."
Sanchez has made a believer of manager Jim Tracy, who was reluctant to play him in front of Randa at one point. Tracy believes Sanchez can win the batting title.
"One of the things that makes him so special is his ability to get the barrel of the bat on the same plane as the ball," Tracy said.
"There are some swings of his that look unorthodox. But more times than not it's the pitcher making a great pitch and him still handling that pitch. There are not a ton of names you could come up with who have the capability of doing that. He has an uncanny ability to do that."
Sanchez had his fifth consecutive two-hit game last night and drove in two runs. His average is a cool .365.
A batting title is within reach. He has done it consistently for five months. There's ample reason to believe he can continue to do it for 2 1/2 more.
(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468. )
No comments:
Post a Comment