Monday, July 09, 2007
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Freddy Sanchez boarded a private plane last night to fly to San Francisco for the All-Star Game, he took along a bat that has delivered an inclining .296 average and a glove going in the same direction.
As Sanchez put it, "All around, I think things have gotten better."
That has been most evident with his offense.
His average was at .206 on April 29, but it has hovered steadily in the .280s or .290s since mid-May, largely because he has hit safely in 53 of his past 62 games.
Not the stuff of National League batting titles, but not bad.
The glove has been slower.
A sprained ligament in Sanchez's right knee, the result of a collision in spring training, cost him the opening week of the season and plenty of aches and limitations in his first month back. That, combined with being moved from third base to second for the first time in his career, brought a visible lack of range and fluidity in the field.
Now, as might have been best evidenced Thursday with his excellent stop of a grounder well to his left by the Milwaukee Brewers' Tony Graffanino, those issues seldom come up.
"No question, Freddy looks a lot more comfortable," manager Jim Tracy said. "He looks more sure of himself in going after the ball, in fielding the tough hops, even in going after those popups that are between him and the outfielder. And there's no question our double plays have been better."
The Pirates lead the National League with 99 double plays.
"Obviously, I wasn't able to get a lot of reps in the spring, so those reps came in the first month or two of the actual season," Sanchez said. "I feel like I've still got a lot of work to do at second base, but I also like the way our whole infield is coming together."
Doumit's hamstring ailing
Catcher Ryan Doumit was scratched yesterday because of discomfort in his left hamstring, the same one that cost him two-thirds of last season.
He was injured Saturday in the seventh inning while running from first to second base on a Ronny Paulino single. He wound up scoring on Jack Wilson's double and stayed in the game, but he later complained to the athletic trainers.
Yesterday morning, Tracy said, it was decided he should stay out for precautionary reasons.
"With it being the same hamstring, that sends up kind of a red flag," Tracy said. "We can't take a chance on damaging that thing again."
Doumit missed three stretches of last season because of the hamstring, including most of June, July and August when it was torn.
Adam LaRoche circles the bases after hitting a homerun on July 4th.
LaRoche's knee to linger?
First baseman Adam LaRoche was back in the lineup after his left knee "felt better," Tracy said, than when he was scratched Saturday night.
Tracy said the Pirates' medical staff has told him the knee trouble -- infrequent fluid buildup that began with the June 26-28 series in Miami -- has a chance to linger, but little chance to worsen.
"It's just something we've got to manage day to day," Tracy said.
Buried treasure
Reliever Salomon Torres pitched two scoreless innings -- one hit, three strikeouts -- in his second rehabilitation appearance for Bradenton of the Gulf Coast League. He will pitch a side session Wednesday at PNC Park. After that, general manager Dave Littlefield said, he will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis.
Littlefield said he is "getting closer" to contract terms with pitchers Daniel Moskos and Brian Friday, the Pirates' first- and third-round draft picks.
Altoona first baseman Steve Pearce, the top player in the Pirates' minor-league system this season, was 0 for 1 with a walk in two plate appearances in the Futures Game yesterday at San Francisco's AT&T Park. The Pirates' other representative, Class A Lynchburg pitcher Serguey Linares, did not play.
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