Panda and The Freak. It is a measure of Pablo Sandoval and Tim Lincecum’s enduring popularity around these parts that neither one of them will ever need more identification than that. But they share more than a couple of catchy nicknames and ownership of some of the biggest highlights in Giants’ history. Lincecum and Sandoval were also in somewhat similar situations entering this season, attempting to save careers that had prematurely gone not just off track, but almost over a cliff.
As midseason approaches, it’s safe to say that one of them has succeeded and one has not, a reminder that baseball can be both a funny game and a cruel one. Sandoval, who was released last season by the Red Sox after a two-and-a-half year stint so disastrous that it prompted a Fangraphs analysis suggesting he “probably isn’t a big leaguer anymore,” has reinvented himself as a surprisingly useful utility player for the Giants, filling in capably at first and third, and even spicing things up by playing a little second base and pitching in a pinch. He has been, in some ways, a symbol of the Giants’ season as a whole so far — nothing spectacular, but compared to last year’s failures, quite acceptable.
Preseason estimates that Sandoval, 31, would get 400 at-bats might have seemed a bit high last spring, but with 151 so far (in which he’s produced six home runs, 26 RBI and a .757 OPS), he’s on pace to finish somewhere in that neighborhood. He will likely never be as dangerous a hitter as he was in his first go-round with the Giants, the one who earned a five-year, $95 million free-agent contract that the Sox almost instantly regretted — The Athletic Boston recently ranked it as the worst free agent signing in Red Sox history — but he has proven to be a sound insurance policy for third baseman Evan Longoria, who’s not expected back until August as he recovers from a broken hand.
The biggest difference in Sandoval 2.0 is his significantly improved plate discipline. Always a wild swinger and remarkable bad-ball hitter — he once actually jumped to make contact with an R.A. Dickey knuckleball — Sandoval is chasing pitches out of the strike zone less often than ever before. According to Fangraphs, he has swung at non-strikes 34.5 percent of the time this season. Though that’s still a high rate, he’s never been below 41 percent for a full season in his career. Overall, he has swung at 46 percent of the pitches he’s seen. If he remains that selective it will be the first time in his 11 seasons that his swing rate has been below 55.6 percent.
His approach may have changed somewhat, but Sandoval’s physique has not. He didn’t exactly perform a physical makeover in order to mount his comeback. The paunch and pudginess is still there — he appears to be carrying every bit of the 268 pounds he’s listed to be. Lincecum, on the other hand, appeared to have spent his year out of baseball in 2017 re-making his body, coming back with a far more solid, chiseled frame than he had during his glory years with the Giants. That’s not to say that Sandoval didn’t work hard in the offseason, but Lincecum, 33, appeared to have put in longer, harder hours. It seems almost unfair that he wasn’t rewarded with nearly as positive results.
His attempt to get back to the majors as a reliever with the Texas Rangers ended in early June, when the Rangers released him after 10 appearances with their Triple-A Round Rock affiliate produced eight runs in 12 2/3 innings, a 5.68 ERA. “Despite best intentions and a lot of hard work,” according to Rangers GM Jon Daniels, Lincecum’s command was inconsistent, and though Daniels wouldn’t say it, his low-90s velocity unimpressive.
That makes two unsuccessful tries at a career revival — he had a 9.16 ERA in nine starts with the Angels in 2016 — and at this point it seems unlikely he will get a third. The chances of a Sandoval-like reunion with the Giants seem remote. It didn’t take too much reading between the lines of Bruce Bochy’s comments after Lincecum’s Texas release to see that the two-time Cy Young winner would always have a place in the Giants’ hearts, but not on their roster.
So far he has given no public indication that he wants one. Lincecum, something of a recluse when he’s away from the game, has made no public comments since his release. But then again, his time with the Rangers was affected by a blister that eventually put him on the DL, and he wouldn’t be the first former star to want one more shot at seeing if his body would cooperate. For inspiration, Lincecum need only look at his old teammate, Panda. He’s proof that even for a career that seems all but over, there can be a second life.
(Top photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)
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