Sanchez turning heads league-wide

09/13/2007 3:41 PM ET

Second baseman is gaining recognition from peers and media

By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com

PITTSBURGH -- Freddy Sanchez had just come off another multi-hit game. His defensive prowess had been showcased on another scintillating diving stop. And with the Pirates playing in St. Louis at the time, one of the Cardinals' reporters took notice.

"What about the game from Freddy Sanchez?" the reporter innocently asked manager Jim Tracy afterward.

Tracy smiled. It was like the reporter was three months late.

"Ask these guys," Tracy responded, pointing to the small contingent of Pirates beat writers. "They've seen it all year.

"These guys have seen him a lot and they can tell you how appreciated he is as a Major League player, and how far he's come and what a remarkable job he's done," Tracy continued. "We've seen the best of it here over the last couple of months."

What Sanchez has done over the last couple of months has been on par with what he did a season ago, a season in which he became the first Pirates player since Bill Madlock in 1983 to capture a league batting title.

Take a look at this -- there have been seven National League batting champs in the past 13 years. Among them is a current Hall of Famer (Tony Gwynn) and the home run king (Barry Bonds). There are household names, like Albert Pujols and Larry Walker. Then there is Sanchez.

He has to be one of the best-kept secrets in baseball.

"That's the bad part about being in a small market," said Jack Wilson, Sanchez's middle-infield partner. "Some of these guys don't get the attention that they deserve."

Well, in that case, it's long overdue.

The batting crown finally started to turn some heads, as did a second consecutive All-Star nod earlier this summer. And with one of the best second halves the Majors has seen this year, Sanchez has convincingly shown that neither was a fluke, nor were either unwarranted.

Sanchez insists that he is driven more by his loyalty to Pirates fans than a desire for national attention. And he said that he remains motivated not by duplicating the success he had last year, but by striving for the lofty personal goals he sets.

"I put more pressure on myself than anyone else can put on me," said Sanchez, who finished the 2006 season with a .344 average. "I want to come out here and do well for myself. Like I said, this is baseball -- you're not going to win a batting championship every year and that's just how it is."

No, but his credentials haven't exactly been lacking this season either.

Only one NL player -- Colorado's Matt Holiday -- has a better average since the start of last year than Sanchez (.330 compared to .328). No one has more than Sanchez's 94 doubles during that span, and since Aug. 1, no one in the league has tallied more RBIs than the Pirates' second baseman, who has 40.



"What else can you say about this guy?" Tracy asked.

Regardless, he tried.

"He's a gamer," the Pirates' manager continued. "He's a winner. He wants to win. It's what you look for."

Sanchez's .313 average ranks 13th in the Majors and second best among the league's second basemen. Twice this season, Sanchez has recorded more than 40 hits in a month. In comparison, Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, who currently holds a slight edge in the league's batting-title race, hasn't had a single one.

However, just reaching the .300 mark earlier in the year seemed like it might prove to be too formidable a challenge. Sanchez sprained his right knee early in Spring Training, and though he sat for just the first week of the season, its effects lingered.

"For that month, month and a half, I just couldn't feel good," said Sanchez, who was hitting .224 when April came to an end. "I just couldn't get it down. It wasn't a lack of preparation or work -- I was in the cage every day doing what I needed to do. I just wasn't seeing the ball well and wasn't feeling good."

Little about Sanchez's offensive jump-start since those first six weeks needs to be said. Four multi-hit games in April gave way to 11 in May. And from there, Sanchez's offensive tear began.

But it wasn't just his comfort level at the plate that took a hit. After playing the majority of 2006 at third base, Sanchez was working on the transition to second. However, the number of reps he could get was greatly diminished when he went down with the knee injury.

It'd be impossible to tell now.

Recognized last year for his offense, the recognition is coming as much for his defense this year as anything else. And considering his current average of .313 isn't too disappointing a follow-up to last year's output, that's quite a statement.

Wilson, who has watched 18 different second basemen come and go during his tenure in Pittsburgh, including the likes of Pokey Reese and Pat Meares, recently called Sanchez the best to stand next to him.

"I don't think there's been a better one," Wilson said. "Day in and day out, he's been the most consistent every day on the field."

It took time for that knee to heal. And maybe even more telling, it took time for Sanchez to believe the knee was healed. Once he was convinced, there was no looking back.

"I've always been one when I was younger and in high school to put defense first," said Sanchez, who had 10 errors as an infielder a year ago. "I definitely don't see myself as an elite second baseman. When you're talking elite, I think one of my favorite players to watch is Orlando Hudson. I think when you can get to his level, I think you can call yourself elite."

If Sanchez's measuring stick is Hudson, he doesn't come up short. Though Hudson's zone rating, which measures the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," is slightly higher, Sanchez has made fewer errors (six to 10) and been a part of nine more double plays than Hudson.

"It doesn't surprise me because he's an athlete," Wilson said to Sanchez's quick emergence as a defensively sound second baseman. "If you're an athlete out there, you can do anything. With the way that he played third base last year, you knew it wasn't going to take him very long to get on the right track at second base."

Though he likely won't take home any hardware this season, Sanchez won't go unnoticed in the NL Gold Glove Award discussion after this season. He joins a shrinking fraternity of current players who excel on both sides of the field, one who will compete perennially for batting titles and Gold Gloves.

"We know what he is with the bat, and he's shown that this year," Tracy said. "But the progress that he's made defensively and the job that he's doing overall with his game, he's a greatly appreciated player in this clubhouse. Believe me."

After watching him all season, how can you not?

Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.