DENVERThe Giants held a summit of sorts with PabloSandoval in an effort to get the free-swinging Panda back to being a productivehitter.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy reviewed film and had a longdiscussion with hitting coach Hensley Meulens and special assistant Joe Lefebvre,then shared their findings with Sandoval.
The Panda was receptive, Bochy said.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Its trying to keep him in control up there, Bochy said. Hegets a little big with his swing sometimes. Weve just got to calm him down.Pablo wants to do something when hes up there. Hes just got to shorteneverything up, including his stride, and improve his balance.
In the past, Sandovals balance issues were related to hisconditioning. He certainly is not slender at the moment, and Giants officialsare hoping he will continue to address the issue by taking off weight in theoffseason.
As for his other physical issues, including the two hamatesurgeries hes had on his hands the past two seasons, Bochy doesnt see a lackof hand strength being the cause of Sandovals failure to drive the ball.
Sandoval has gone 138 at-bats since his last home run July8. He has a .274 slugging percentage since coming back from his last DL stint(a strained hamstring) August 8.
San Francisco Giants
I think his hand strength is there, Bochy said. You watchbatting practice and its obvious its there.
The problem is the approach. He saw four pitches in fourat-bats on Saturday, and was 0 for 5 while making outs twice with runners inscoring position in Mondays 6-5 loss. Sandoval reviewed video as coachesexplained what theyd like him to do.
He saw it right away, Bochy said. Its when he gets in thegame, he gets anxious. Thats the biggest issue.
Sandoval is back in the No. 3 spot in the lineup, ahead of Buster Posey.
--
In other pregame news, Xavier Nady was available to pinchhit last night and continues to make progress from his strained hamstring.Bochy said Gregor Blanco has had better at-bats of late, but he acknowledgedthat the Giants would prefer to start Nady when they face three left-handedpitchers in Arizona this weekend.
The Giants bullpen is up to 14, and dont think Bochy wontuse them. Clay Hensley was activated from the DL after missing two weeks with astrained groin. This will be a big couple weeks for Hensley, who will battlewith many others to show he deserves a spot on a potential playoff roster. Hecertainly had solid stretches in the first half.
In other rosterifications, right-hander Steve Edlefsencleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Fresno.
--
Bochy said he would be comfortable playing Brandon Belt inleft field in Wednesdays series finale here, which would indicate Buster Poseyat first base and Hector Sanchez catching Tim Lincecum yet again.
The other mitigating factor is the weather. Theres a 50percent chance of rain later tonight, and its supposed to be constant rain onWednesday. If the game is postponed, the teams share a common off day onThursday. Of course, nobody wants to give that up without a fight.