San Francisco Giants: Bruce Bochy reports Sandoval is “getting close” to a reunion
Although he is set to travel to Omaha with the Sacramento River Cats, Pablo Sandoval is nearing his return to the San Francisco Giants.
Three years since straying into foul ground and putting away the final out of their 2014 championship run, Pablo Sandoval is once again a part of the San Francisco Giants organization. The Giants’ 41-68 showing this season opened the door to sign Sandoval to a minor league deal in late July when he failed to live up the five-year $95 million contract he signed with the Boston Red Sox following that 2014 run.
According to Andrew Baggarly via Twitter, manager Bruce Bochy said Sandoval “is getting close” to reuniting with his former team.
Pablo Sandoval will go to Omaha w/AAA club. Bochy said Panda "is getting close" but needs more at-bats.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) August 2, 2017
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Once the ink dried on his new contract, Sandoval began a 40-50 plate appearance trial in the minor leagues. Now, with 44 plate appearances under his belt between the Class-A San Jose Giants and Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, Sandoval is batting .231 with one home run and two extra base hits. His batting average might be down, but he brags a .364 OBP through eight games with the River Cats.
“Pablo is going to go to Omaha, he’s going to continue to play,” Bruce Bochy said (per knbr.com). “Get his at-bats, when that right time comes it’ll happen. But for right now, we feel that it’s still important for him to get a lot of at-bats. He’s missed a lot of playing name. Not just this year.”
Who knows? Following Sacramento’s three-game series against the Omaha Storm Chasers, the “right time” may come in the next few days. August and September are the months where non-contending teams are free to give anyone a chance to show their stuff in the major leagues.
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With nothing to lose in San Francisco and everything to gain for the Panda, Sandoval could reunite with the Giants before the season’s end. If he performs well, maybe he can keep them from losing 100 games this season. They’ll need to do better than a 21-32 (.396) record the rest of the way, which may be a tall order considering their current .376 winning percentage.