You need to see second baseman Pablo Sandoval (!) rob a hit with a diving play and finger-wag afterward
Baseball never stops finding ways to surprise us. In just the last week, we've seen relief pitchers start games and make MLB history (thanks
Sandoval, whom you've come to know and love as a slugging third baseman or first baseman over the years, was the Giants' starting second baseman for Sunday night's 8-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Prior to this game, Sandoval had only one inning at second base in his career -- since, again, it's not his primary position by any means.
Surely, out there at second base, it'd be easy to expect Sandoval to have some trouble with the specific rigors of the position, right? Nope.
See that finger-wag after making the great play? That's some good confidence from the man put out there by manager Bruce Bochy in hopes of boosting San Francisco's offense. He was also using a glove belonging to shortstop
Sandoval later reached on an infield single that saw him bust out some serious speed:
27.2 feet/second sprint speed for the suddenly fleet-of-foot P. Sandoval. His average is 25.3.#Statcast https://t.co/1KTaALmsNl
— Manny Randhawa (@MannyOnMLB) May 28, 2018
Sandoval was double-switched out of the game in the fourth inning with
Naturally, Sandoval was involved in the first two defensive plays of Sunday's game. "At first I was a little scared," he said after the game. "After I made that (second) play, I felt a little more loose."
He also pitched a clean inning this season, you may recall. Is he becoming one of the most valuable utility infielders in the game today?