Tony Sanchez: 'I Earned The Spot'
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Former Pirates number one pick Tony Sanchez has four homers, 11 RBI and is batting .375 this spring.
Sanchez secured a spot on the 25-man roster due to an injury to catcher Chris Stewart, who will likely start on the 15-day disabled list. However, Sanchez says he earned the spot.
"It's my second Opening Day, but I feel like this one is a little more special than last year, because this one I feel I earned," Sanchez said. "Last year, with Stewart going down in the Spring, I made the team by default. But this one, I truly believe I would have been in Cincinnati regardless of what happened with Stewart."
The 26-year-old catcher had a hit in all eight games he played last April, batting .267 in 75 at bats overall in the majors in 2014. Sanchez credits some adjustments to his hot hitting this spring.
"We really worked on just firing my hands from a certain position with the least amount of wasted movement as possible," Sanchez said. "I've been doing a really good job of that throughout these games that we've been playing and it's showing. I also like to think my approach in the Dominican really helped me out."
Sanchez was joking about the Dominican, the former first round pick went to play in the Dominican Winter League in December to work on his two-strike approach, but after going 3-for-30 in 10 games, Sanchez was sent home.
He hasn't let that affect him at all this spring, working with former Pirates Gold Glove catcher Mike LaValliere since early February. Sanchez says he tries to be a sponge to everything he says.
"The thing I'm most proud of is how confident I feel behind the plate," Sanchez said. "That's going to get me my QB-1 snaps, that's what I call them, and that's going to keep me in the 'Show.'"
"They all know how hard I work for them. They all know they could throw anything in the dirt and I'm going to put my eyeball in front of the ball to block the damn thing. I don't care."
The fourth overall pick in the 2009 Draft is in an interesting spot with the club.
Francisco Cervelli was brought in to be the starter. When Stewart is healthy, he likely will be the backup and in the minors, Elias Diaz hit .328 with 54 RBI in Double-A last year. The Bucs may want him to get a majority of starts at Triple-A. Sanchez says he just focuses on working with the big league staff.
"It's a matter of getting reps with them and getting to know what they want two pitches from now," Sanchez said. "The more and more I catch these guys, the more and more they like throwing to me."