The Boston Red Sox placed Pablo Sandoval on the disabled list, just another chapter in the disastrous marriage between both parties.
In yet another chapter in the joke of a season for Pablo Sandoval and the Boston Red Sox, the Panda Bear has been sent to the DL after injuring his left shoulder. Sandoval claims that he is unaware when this happened or how it happened, except that he couldn’t move his arm when he awoke on Wednesday morning.
He was placed on the DL before any sort of medical exam, but when he went for an MRI on Thursday, it was determined that there was “a great deal going on in his left shoulder” per Dave Dombrowski, who works in the Red Sox front office. Sandoval will see renown orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews next Monday and they will discuss whether he will need surgery or not.
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Boston doesn’t seem to be working well for Pablo Sandoval. After some great postseason play for San Francisco in 2014, it seemed as if he would be one of the most prized players when the offseason hit, as he declined to resign with the Giants and opted to test free agency himself. After a fierce bidding war with the San Diego Padres, the Boston Red Sox were the team that Sandoval was heading for, signing on a 5 year, $95 million contract with a sixth year club option or player buyout.
It all seemed good until the 2015 season actually started, which saw Sandoval bat an abysmal .245 and play sub-par in the field. Enter 2016, and with the entire MLB watching he showed up to Spring Training looking huge and playing terribly, eventually being announced as a backup for Travis Shaw at third base.
To put this into a little perspective, in 2016 Sandoval will be paid $17 million to back up Travis Shaw who will make $515,000. Despite seeing a limited bench role in the 2016 season, Sandoval has managed to strike out in four of his seven at bats with no hits to speak of.
All through this ordeal, the Red Sox have maintained that they expect him to play a crucial role on this team and that they won’t trade him despite all the reports. However, actions speak louder than words and the Red Sox actions clearly show what they think of him. In a game against the Orioles on Monday, the Sox pinch hit righty Chris Young against right handed pitcher Mychal Givens, despite Young being clearly outmatched in this scenario. Usually, the coach will put in a lefty against a right handed pitcher, which Sandoval is. Also, Sandoval was not penciled in on Wednesday despite having great career numbers against the pitcher the Orioles were throwing that day. This shows that Boston has zero faith in Sandoval at the moment and will probably not have any all year.
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Whatever the case is with his left shoulder, don’t expect to see the Kung Fu Panda in the starting lineup of the Boston Red Sox anytime soon.