Dodgers Call Up Jerry Sands

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 18, 2011 6:32 PM EDT in Baseball

MLB.com beat reporter Ken Gurnick tweeted the following a few minutes ago:

The Dodgers have called up Jerry Sands from Albuquerque. See dodgers.com. 9 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

The Dodgers designated fan favorite Xavier Paul for assignment. The Dodgers are not calling him up to sit the bench, so I imagine he will start in left field tonight, and play some first base at some point as well. The left field experiment of Tony Gwynn Jr., Marcum Thames and Jay Gibbons is over, for now.

More from Eric Stephen over at True Blue LA:

Sands has played corner outfield and first base, though it remains to be seen what his role will be on the Dodgers. For tonight at least, Sands is batting seventh and playing left field. He will wear No. 47 with the Dodgers, per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.

"To me, he's got a different demeanor than I've seen from most guys. He's a guy who doesn't get bothered, he makes adjustments. His approach is solid," Mattingly said of Sands. "He's one of those guys you feel like if he struggles a little bit, it's not going to change his mind."

Sands should be picked up in NL-only leagues, and in deeper mixed leagues, as he can provide some power and a decent batting average.

Update 7:57pm:

From ESPN's Keith Law:

Sands, a right-handed hitter, was No. 7 on Keith Law's Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects List and stands to help offensively. "He needs to play first," Law said Monday, but added that Sands has "real raw power. I'd expect some home runs but a low average and lots of swing and miss."

Sands struck out at a 25% rate in Low A and 24% in AA, but also walked at a 14% rate in Low A and 11% rate in AA.

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Comments

from BP's R.J. Anderson

I’ve never been a PECOTA fan, but,…..

Whenever Sands’ name is mentioned around PECOTA, it blushes. The system is absolutely swooning with Sands’ potential, throwing around comparables like Mark Reynolds, Evan Longoria, Eddie Murray, Miguel Cabrera, and Kendrys Morales. There are a few sour comparisons too, like those to Wladimir Balentien, Brandon Wood, and Justin Huber. Despite never playing in a Triple-A game at the time of the projections, PECOTA’s weighted mean still has Sands hitting .246/.321/.466, good for a .277 TAv (the league-average left fielder had a .275 TAv last season).

Ray Guilfoyle
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by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 18, 2011 8:11 PM EDT reply actions

As an owner of Sands in a fantasy keeper league, I’m not a big fan of this move. Although he was tearing it up at AAA, he only has 348 PA’s above A ball. I fear that he could struggle against major league talent which could impact his overall development. However, Posey was in a similiar situation last year and proved me wrong. Hopefully Sands will do the same.

by mg050369 on Apr 18, 2011 8:35 PM EDT reply actions

that is a concern

for sure. Tough first matchup vs Hudson tonight. But, Mattingley says he goes to the plate with a plan and knows how to make adjustments….hope I didn’t take that out of context….think that was the gist of his comments though.

Ray Guilfoyle
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www.minorleagueball.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 18, 2011 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions