Player Profile #76: Pablo Sandoval | 3B | SF

Pablo Sandoval has had some wildly erratic seasons in his short career, but what else would you expect from a player with swing-first mentality? Over the last three seasons there have been 304 players who’ve totaled 750 plate appearances (an average of 250 per season). Sandoval’s 58.3 percent swing rate ranks second highest behind only Vladimir Guerrero. Despite that high swing rate, though, Sandoval ranks 132nd of those 304 in contact rate. His 18.3 percent line drive rate ranks just 188th over that span, but it improved last season to 19.5 percent. Of course, all of this is just the long way of saying that Sandoval is improving, and his 23 homers last season were just two shy of his career high…in 36 fewer games. Best case scenario: Mike Morse (WAS) from 2011 Similar players: Aramis Ramirez (MIL), Kevin Youkilis (BOS), Carlos Beltran (STL) Worst case scenario: Jhonny Peralta (DET) Strengths Conditioning, BA, HR.I never thought I’d list Sandoval’s conditioning as a strength, but...