Gaby Sanchez succeeding outside the mold

Gaby Sanchez knows his name will probably never be spoken in the same breath as Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira or Albert Pujols — first basemen like him, but all of them sluggers.

Sanchez doesn’t fit in the basher’s mold for first basemen, and frankly doesn’t sweat it. When you’re hitting .343, as Sanchez is, and contributing to the best doubles-hitting team in the majors, why worry?

“You can drive in runs with doubles or base hits,” Sanchez said. “I don’t feel like you need to hit home runs.”

Sanchez hasn’t hit one out yet. Then again, that’s becoming one of the early-season trends for the Marlins.

After swapping second basemen with the Braves — Dan Uggla for Omar Infante — the Marlins made a conscious decision to sacrifice power for a contact hitter and superior glove.

They have hit just five home runs in their nine games.

And backup Greg Dobbs, who was filling in at third on Saturday while injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez rested his wounded leg, is the only infielder to wallop a home run.

That stands in stark contrast to the 2008 Marlins, whose four infielders set a major-league record by becoming the first foursome to each slug at least 25 home runs.

Their bats are now on display in Cooperstown.

Sanchez is symbolic of the transformation away from the long ball.

He hit 19 home runs as a rookie last season, and the Marlins are counting on him to reproduce that modest total again this year. Infante, who will be facing his former club when the Marlins open a three-game series against the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday, hit 16 with Detroit in 2004 but has come nowhere close to that total in the six seasons that followed.

The Marlins do, however, expect Sanchez to hit.

If he doesn’t, it won’t be from lack of concentration. Hitting coach John Mallee says Sanchez might be the “toughest out” on the Marlins.
“He doesn’t take a pitch off,” Mallee said. “He’s in on every pitch, whether it be the first pitch of the game or the last pitch of the game. Every pitch to him, somebody wins, and he tries to win every pitch.”

MALLEE’S INFLUENCE
Mallee should know. As the organization’s roving hitting coordinator for more than eight seasons, he has been with Sanchez every step of the way, from the day the former University of Miami star played his first minor-league game in 2005. It’s one reason why Sanchez doesn’t spend much time in the film room, looking for flaws in his swing.

He knows Mallee will spot it first.

“He knows my swing probably better than I know it myself,” Sanchez said. “He’s the one who basically made my swing the way it is.”
It wasn’t long after the Marlins drafted Sanchez that Mallee did some tinkering.

“When he first got in the system, he didn’t pull the ball very well,” Mallee said. “He went the other way and hit .350 in rookie ball, but he didn’t hit for any power because he made deep contact in the zone.”

Sanchez kept both hands on the bat through the end of the swing.

“He told me to let go of my [right] hand, releasing the hand,” Sanchez said. “Right away, it made a huge difference because the bat speed increased and the home runs went up.”

RAW HITTER
Still, Sanchez is not a slugger by definition but would prefer to develop a reputation as a raw hitter.

“At first base, you have Albert Pujols, you have Ryan Howard, you have Prince fielder, you have Adrian Gonzalez,” Sanchez said. “You have guys who hit 30 home runs, 35 home runs, 40 home runs.

“So if you’re a guy who hits 20, it’s like, OK, he hit 20. It’s just one of those things I don’t think about. Once I start thinking about it, I’ll go south.”



(miamiherald.com)