Pablo Sandoval cutting weight this offseason
Share
Maybe weight was the reason why Pablo Sandoval had the worst year of his career last year.
If it was, then Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell addressed the issue alongside Hanley Ramirez, who also signed with the team in November 2014.
Farrell and Ramirez met in south Florida earlier this offseason — and Farrell made it clear to Ramirez that he needed to lose some weight. Ramirez did that.
On Wednesday, however, Farrell revealed that he has Sandoval cutting down as well.
“Right now, he’s roughly 20 pounds lighter than the last game he played for us in 2015.” the Red Sox skipper told Sean McAdam of Comcast Sports Net New England. “I know for a fact that both guys (Sandoval and Ramirez) went into the off-season with some clear markers, with some clear goals to achieve from a physical standpoint. Both are doing that.
“I can tell you this — after meeting with Hanley, I spent another day or so with Pablo. Pablo’s extremely eager to get back. He feels like he’s got to make amends for a year ago and is eager to do just that.”
In 2015, Sandoval had career lows in every single major offensive category. But statheads would point to his -0.9 WAR on the season — and that alone would tell him that he was a major detriment to the team. Most of the reason why his WAR was so low was because he played abnormally poor defense. Perhaps carrying extra weight at third base made it difficult for him to make plays.
On the bright side, Sandoval hit left-handed pitching a little bit better last year once he stopped switch-hitting. Even so, it was not pretty. He posted a .590 OPS while hitting lefty-lefty — but at least it was an upgrade over what he hit while hitting righty the year before.
Before the season, he was listed at 5-foot-11, 245 pounds in the team’s yearbook.
Even though Sandoval might look a little less like Santa Claus this year, TMZ Sports reports he is still generous. He gave his girlfriend quite the early Valentine’s Day present — a $140,000 custom car.
It’s good to see the Red Sox’ money being put to good use.