Pirates Can’t Ignore Tony Sanchez Offense

Pirates Tony Sanchez Let it Go

Pirates catcher Tony Sanchez took a lot of heat for selecting “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen” as one of three selections for his walk-up music.  Who is laughing now?  In the smallest of sample sizes, Sanchez has been the Pirates most productive offensive player.

Sanchez explained his selection in walk up music to the guys at 93.7 The Fan.

"“I listen to it all the time,” Sanchez said. “Actually, you know, guilty pleasure, I probably have the entire album starred on my Spotify.”"

Here is the link

Of the current Pirates on the roster, Sanchez is also the champion of Twitter.  He announced the walk up music selection via his twitter account and the reaction led to the announcement becoming a national story.  The machine known as Disney doesn’t need much help in promotion; it’s what they do best.  But Sanchez helped Disney and has also been a major help to the currently offensive challenged Pirates.

The impact that Sanchez has had on an offense that has yet to break out their big bats is also eye-opening.  He was originally penciled in to be sent to Triple-A after the team acquired Chris Stewart.  Now it’s hard to imagine the series against the Cubs without the offense Sanchez provided.  The season might have got off to a slower start if Sanchez was in Indianapolis–who was rained out in their scheduled opener last night.

Neil Walker took care of the offense on Opening Day with a walk off bomb against Carlos Villaneuva.  Sanchez got his turn in the next game.  After the Pirates catcher had everyone who was left at PNC singing along to Let it Go, Sanchez let it go and the Bucs walked off the Cubs once again….Tony Two Bags ended the game in the 16th inning at the 5 hour 55 minute mark.

Check out the glorious video.

It was a pretty cool moment for Sanchez, who has worked his ass off to get to where he is right now.  But the big question is going to be can Sanchez keep up the production?

Again yesterday, Sanchez stepped up to the plate in a big moment.  The Bucs had runners on the corners and Sanchez delivered a two-run single up the middle to put the Pirates within a run.   The guy who was slated for Triple-A has two big knocks in his five plate appearances.

With Chris Stewart headed back into action in Bradenton this weekend, Sanchez will probably be headed to Indianapolis.  But when?

The harder that Sanchez makes this decision for the Pirates, the better the team will be.  It certainly pushes starter Russell Martin and Chris Stewart, too.

It’s hard to imagine Sanchez spending the entire season playing for the Tribe.  The Bucs should make every opportunity to get him back with the big club.  It’s everything Sanchez told us he was going to do when he was on the RumBunter Podcast this winter.

We think Sanchez could serve as a DH during interleague games.  He should get the call whenever there is a creative opportunity to utilize his talent.  We especially think the Pirates offense needs his bat to get through the month of April.

Sanchez is confident.  No disrespect to Chris Stewart, but hurrying him back to the Bucs seems like a bad idea.  The team will need all three catchers in order to get to where they want to be in 2014–The World Series.