San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy benched third baseman Pablo Sandoval in favor of Mike Fontenot early on this postseason. It was a move made with defense in mind. The 5-foot-11, 245-pound Sandoval was mediocre at that position in 2010, committing 13 errors and ranking 13th among all MLB third baseman in UZR/150 (1.5). He just hadn’t done enough with the bat to offset those issues in the field.
But Fontenot’s performance Sunday in Game 2 of the NLCS at Philadelphia wasn’t exactly what Bochy had in mind when he made that change. Fontenot’s throwing error in the first inning – his second error in three games – eventually led to a Phillies run. Later in the game he appeared to take charge on a pop up near the pitcher’s mound only to back off at the last instant with none of his teammates making a move for the ball. The play was ruled a hit and it didn’t cost San Francisco a run. But it didn’t exactly inspire confidence, either. Fontenot has started each of the last four games dating to Game 3 in the Atlanta series. Will Bochy go back to Sandoval today for Game 3 of the NLCS at AT&T Park? He did, after all, start 136 games at third base for the Giants during the regular season.
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“It’s a tough call, to be honest between Pablo and Fontenot. I just decided to go with the lineup that helped us get here the last couple of days against Atlanta,” Bochy said before Game 1 on Saturday. “We’d still like to get Pablo in the mix. We know he’s a dangerous hitter and can do some damage so there’s a chance he could start…one or two of these games.”
Against a rotation as good as Philadelphia’s – left-hander Cole Hamels starts today – Bochy probably has to take his chances with Sandoval in the field. Fontenot has reached base just three times in 13 plate appearances in the playoffs. Sandoval, meanwhile, has a .901 OPS at AT&T Park this season.
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