Sunday afternoon, Red Sox Nation™ flipped out over the following, uh, unflattering photo of third baseman Pablo Sandoval.
Ok yeah, Pablo Sandoval is fat. This is not surprising, because Pablo Sandoval has pretty much always been fat, from the moment he broke into the Major Leagues. It is, however, a little concerning for the Red Sox. Sandoval has always seemed to perform better when he’s a little lighter, and according to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, Boston executives have asked him to lose some weight.
Back in January, new Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski praised Sandoval for working hard on his conditioning. Via NESN:
“It’s only been a week or so ago that (Red Sox manager) John Farrell saw him. He has lost weight,” Dombrowski said. “Again, they call him ‘Panda Bear’ for a reason. He’s not going to be real skinny. But he’s also one where we think he’ll move around better with where he is, and he’s worked very hard this winter.”
…
“He’s really focused on the conditioning aspect of it. He’s been working out twice a day, so he’s working from a conditioning perspective,” Dombrowski said. “He’s been swinging the bat. Nutrition’s been important for him, and I think he’s out to show he’s a better player than he performed last year.”
Sandoval’s appearance at the Red Sox’ facility in Fort Myers, Florida on Sunday was news in itself, as manager John Farrell had promised he would arrive at camp Saturday, prompting a mini-hysteria when he didn’t.
So yeah, year two of Sandoval’s time in Boston is off to a rocky start, as if year one wasn’t bad enough. In 2015, after signing a five-year $95 million contract with the Red Sox, Sandoval batted .245 with a .292 on-base percentage and only 10 home runs and played pretty terrible defense at third base. At one point he was benched as punishment for liking pictures of women on Instagram during a game.
However, it is nice that among an ocean of “best shape of his life” stories, the Panda is giving us something else to talk about.
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About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.