Beloved SF Giant returning as non-roster invitee
"Kung Fu Panda 4" hits theaters March 8. Baseball's Kung Fu Panda will be hitting for the SF Giants this spring.
Alex Pavlovic reports that 2012 World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval will come to Arizona as a non-roster invitee this year. While Sandoval hasn't played in the major leagues since hitting four home runs and slashing .178/.302/.342 for the Atlanta Braves in 2021, the Panda has reportedly slimmed down and is in great shape, for him.
Since the Braves traded Sandoval and the Cleveland Indians subsequently released him in 2021, he's continued playing. He hit baseball's first six-run home run last fall playing in Dubai, and played for teams in Venezuela, Mexico, and Puerto Rico in 2022-3.
Sandoval won three rings and made two All-Star teams in his first go-round with the Giants, finishing 7th in the MVP vote as a 22-year-old in 2009. He hit three home runs in the opening game of the 2012 World Series, leading the Giants to a shocking series sweep of the Detroit Tigers. After the 2014 season, in which he caught the final out of the World Series, he left for a big free-agent deal with the Boston Red Sox.
That didn't work out for either side. Sandoval hit .245 with only ten homers in his first year in Boston, and played only three games the next season. Meanwhile the Giants cycled through third basemen like Casey McGehee, Matt Duffy, Eduardo Nunez, and the immortal Ryder Jones before the Red Sox released Sandoval halfway through his five-year deal.
Sandoval still showed good power when he came back to the team, but his free-swinging approach lacked the contact skills in his first stint. While he was still a plus hitter, his low on-base percentages didn't make up for his limited defense. Still, he remained wildly popular in and out of the clubhouse, and even worked two no-hit innings out of the bullpen, though he hit a batter.
Does he have a chance to play for the Giants in the regular season? It's not likely. While the team does need left-handed hitting, and hitting in general, signing Jorge Soler to a $42 million deal suggests he's taking the majority of the designated hitter at-bats, while first base presumably belongs to LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores, not to mention some potential innings from J.D. Davis.
The Giants are even having Blake Sabol take grounders at first base to help their infield depth. But they also had Joc Pederson practice at first base last spring, and he ended up playing a grand total of four innings there, though he did successfully handle all three of his putouts.
Last year, reliever Sergio Romo returned to the team for a ceremonial final appearance before retiring, though Sandoval is reportedly attempting a serious comeback. It's not like the Giants have so much hitting that they couldn't use a revitalized Panda, but at age 37, it's not clear how revitalized Sandoval can get.
Most likely, this is a nice throwback for the spring, ahead of the tenth anniversary of that 2014 title team. With Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt both contemplating retirement, Sandoval is the only member of the 2010-2014 dynasty left. At worst, he'll get some huge ovations and sell a few more Panda hats before returning to Dubai.
After all, no one has ever hit an eight-run homer before. It might as well be Sandoval.
