Hector Sanchez’s Surprising Call-Up

Yesterday, the Giants called up catcher Hector Sanchez from Triple-A Fresno to make his major league debut.

Just 21, Sanchez was hitting .305 in Triple-A at the time of his recall. He’s a nice prospect and could be an interesting starter down the line. That said, this move seems quite strange.

For one thing, while Sanchez was hitting fairly well in Triple-A, it was largely batting average-driven. His triple-slash line was just .306/.370/.366–take away a bit of batting average and he looks very average, even for a catcher. Plus, it was a small sample–just 25 games.

That brings me to the bigger problem with Sanchez–his lack of experience. He spent all of 2010 in Low-A Augusta, and was in High-A San Jose until mid-June. In his 42 games in San Jose, Sanchez slugged .511, but much of that was Cal League inflation (as his .366 Triple-A slugging attests, not to mention his .394 mark last season). And he hit .301 in High-A, as well, but managed an atrocious 41/5 K/BB and .321 OBP there.

So just a month after posting that poor K/BB and OBP in High-A, Sanchez is going to the big leagues.

Weird.

Now, you might be thinking that Sanchez just happened to be the best-hitting catcher in Triple-A and was thus pressed into big league duty. But, for one, there wasn’t an urgent need for a catcher, as Sanchez is the third catcher on the Giants’ roster. Since he does hold some long-term value, it would be odd to call him up in such a limited role and stunt his development.

Furthermore, if the Giants really wanted a third catcher, they have MLB veteran Max Ramirez in Triple-A, and he’s hit .313/.418/.706 in 18 games. The 26-year-old Ramirez is probably more ready to step into a big-league role than Sanchez, and he’s also a guy who makes more sense in a backup role.

Given that Eli Whiteside‘s major league OPS is basically equal to Sanchez’s Triple-A OPS, there’s no way that Sanchez is likely to upgrade the post-Buster Posey catching situation in San Francisco. He’s definitely a good defensive catcher, but it’s not like Whiteside and Chris Stewart are particularly poor in that area. While it’s always interesting to see a prospect debut in the big leagues, I have to question the decision to rush Sanchez up so quickly, particularly if he stays in the majors for an extended period of time. In any case, though, he could be an interesting major leaguer down the line.