Say what you will about Pablo Sandoval’s weight, but he certainly wasn’t just sitting around eating pizza all winter.
The Boston Red Sox third baseman finished off a disappointing 2015 campaign, during which he batted .245 with a .658 OPS, 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and some pretty poor defense, by missing the final two weeks of the season with pneumonia. But according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, everyone who saw Sandoval this offseason said he went right to work once he was medically cleared to start working out again.
“Sandoval would set his alarm for 4:30 a.m. from Monday through Saturday,” Speier wrote. “His morning workout ran from 5 a.m. to 7:30, following by a hitting session (emphasizing his right-handed swing starting in mid-November) from 8 a.m. to about 9 or 9:30, followed by yoga at 11 a.m., rest, and then an afternoon lift from 3-5 p.m., a 12-hour, six-day-a-week routine.”
And contrary from what many analysts and fans deduced from Sandoval’s first spring training interview, the 29-year-old sounds like he’s ready to turn over a new leaf. Sandoval told Speier he feels stronger and in a better position than last season.
“Work hard. Work hard every single day to prove to my teammates and the fans that I can be a better player,” Sandoval said. “It’s not hard (to follow that schedule). It’s not hard at all when you’re hungry for work and to do all the things that you want.
“I had to prove a lot. When I got approved to work out, I started working hard. I’m not focused on looking back at what I did. I’m focused forward to be better.”
Thumbnail photo via Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports Images
