Shots Across the Bow: First base

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Gaby Sanchez brought it up right off the bat. When asked how he can keep his weight and strength where he wants it during the long season, Sanchez responded, "Hopefully playing every day. That hopefully works out."

That became a theme of a roughly 10-minute conversation: Sanchez wants the everyday first-base job and believes he can do it. In today's paper: A look at Sanchez, Andrew Lambo and the first-base competition.

It isn't exactly news that a major league player wants a starting job, but the first-base situation makes his approach to it relevant. Sanchez said a new workout regimen with a new trainer this winter had nothing to do with the opportunity to seize the starting job, but something he tries to do every year: come into camp in shape.

The talk of a platoon stems from statistical reality. Sanchez hit very well against lefties last year and poorly against righties.

"Guys get fixated on the numbers of this and that," he said. "I did fine the first two years. I had one bad two-month spur there my third year. It happens. It’s baseball."

It does happen, and it is baseball, but the Pirates can't count on the baseball gods to allow Sanchez's numbers against righties to correct. So they are looking at Lambo, a left-hander, as a platoon option at first base by sticking him there for most of spring training.

"We haven’t really gotten to too much stuff," Lambo said. "Right now it’s just continue to prepare and go out there, work hard, get better. That kind of stuff is going to fall into play as we continue to go in spring training."

Lambo proved he can hit in the minors last year, but a small sample size of at-bats with the Pirates leaves unanswered the question of whether that will translate to the majors. He is also re-acquainting himself with a position he has played in the past, but not very often in recent years. Even if he can hit, the Pirates might not want to take a chance on his defense and instead roll with Sanchez, who plays good defense at first base. Lambo worked on his defense in the Venezuelan Winter League this year.

"Covered everything in Venezuela," he said. "Whether it was pickoffs, bunt plays, arm angles, I had to warm up differently coming from where I and trying to come from different angles, slots of where you’re going to have to throw when you field the ball."

The Pirates could still trade for a first baseman, either one of the names that has been bandied about or a lesser name as spring winds down and teams trim their rosters. They could also sign Kendrys Morales, but it seems as though before Morales' asking price falls to the point where the Pirates would feel comfortable signing him and forfeiting a draft pick, another team will get there first.