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PrintSARASOTA, Fla. -- Some spring-training debut Friday night for rookie Tony Sanchez: He threw out a runner attempting to steal in his first inning behind the plate, and he smacked a 415-foot home run in his first turn at the plate.
It came in the middle innings of a 5-3 Pirates victory against Baltimore before 4,187 at Ed Smith Stadium.
• Game: Phillies, 1:05 p.m., Kevin Hart vs. Joe Blanton, McKechnie Field.
• Radio: WPGB-FM (104.7).
• Camp roster: 66 players; 36 pitchers, 6 catchers and 24 position players.
• Injuries: Ps Octavio Dotel and Joel Hanrahan long-tossing; INF Ramon Vazquez rehabilitating.
• Opening day: 30 days until the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park.
Sanchez, the No. 4 overall selection in a June 2009 draft where some critics expected him to go later, replaced starting catcher Ryan Doumit with the Pirates trailing, 3-2, in the sixth inning. He was catching left-hander Javier Lopez, who got designated hitter Luke Scott on a flyout, reserve first baseman Brandon Snyder on a groundout and an assist from Sanchez on left fielder Jonathan Tucker, who singled. Sanchez easily nailed Tucker trying to steal second to end the inning.
Then, with two out in the eighth, Sanchez's homer tied the score once more at 3-3. After fouling off four pitches at least, he knocked a 2-2 pitch from minor-leaguer Troy Patton to center.
To open the ninth, he threw out reserve center fielder Matt Angle trying to bunt aboard.
"I was shaking," Sanchez said of his sixth-inning entrance on defense. "My helmet was shaking, my legs were twitching. ... It was a good nervous. I embraced the nerves.
"And then, my [at-bat], I didn't know what to do. It was my first AB off live pitching in six months. Swing at the first pitch, didn't feel too bad. Then I'm down 0-2, and I went, 'Oh, great.' I wound up fouling off a couple, then seeing a couple of balls. Then he threw me one in my zone, and I didn't even feel it. I didn't even know how to run the bases, I forgot. I was sprinting. It was a great feeling.
"Hopefully I can keep doing what I'm doing and have a chance to play at the next level. This is who I am. I was trying to show people. I don't know about home runs; that was kind of lucky."
In the ninth, Neil Walker, John Raynor and Delwyn Young singled in succession, Walker scoring on the final one. Jose Tabata's sacrifice fly brought in Raynor.
"Great night for [Sanchez]," Pirates manager John Russell said. "I knew he was excited. Great to watch. You get a home run late in the game, yeah, it will pick you up a little bit."
Eric Kratz, who had a two-run homer against a local junior college Tuesday, then rapped a two-run double to temporarily tie the world-champion New York Yankees the next day, sat out his second consecutive Grapefruit League game. But a quick glance at the Pirates' statistics shows he is the only player with an official 1.000 average.
"It has definitely been a difficult road," Kratz said of his path to the Pirates, where he hopes to remain the regular Class AAA Indianapolis catcher or work as a major league backup.
He is 29, three months from 30. He has a wife and two boys and an offseason job with a buddy's construction company at home in Harrisonburg, Va., to where he nearly quit this baseball journey in 2004, '06 and again in '08. He has played for eight teams in six minor leagues and two countries.
He was placed in 2004 on what he called the "phantom" disabled list, toiling for three teams in three levels totaling 29 games. "It'd be like, 'How's that shin contusion?' " Kratz recalled Friday. "And you look down at your shins, and they're fine."
He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2002 draft, after he established a Division III record for career doubles at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg. Only once did he play more than 49 games in a season at one spot for the Blue Jays, only once did he play as many as 90 games in any season. Once, he said, the parent club promoted an injured catcher over him.
Kratz's wife, Sarah, taught school until Brayden was born in 2006. She has worked as a long-term substitute teacher since then, with Ethan arriving in January '09. Maybe that was a sign. For barely a week before his birth, Kratz was signed to a minor league deal with the Pirates. With Robinzon Diaz -- since departed -- shuttling between the Pirates and Indianapolis because of Ryan Doumit's wrist surgery, Kratz gathered career highs with one team: 93 games and 319 at-bats and 43 RBIs, though he tied his previous mark with 11 homers. He not only made the International League midseason and postseason All-Star teams, he was the midsummer's game MVP with a double and a two-run homer. "I always felt like I could do it, and I got the opportunity to prove it last year," he said.
General manager Neal Huntington noted that last year's backup, Jason Jaramillo, has minor league options remaining and could go to Indianapolis on occasion for extended playing time, with Kratz or non-roster invitee Luke Carlin backing up Doumit. Kratz said he prefers "not [to be] just a JIC guy -- Just In Case. I feel like I can step in and help this team right away. That's the hope. That's the goal."
Bobby Crosby, a potential corner outfielder, a reserve first baseman, a man for every infield position, is still in the Pirates' shortstop picture.
But it's a fuzzy picture, Huntington said.
"What intrigued us about [signing] Bobby was his ability to come in and play every day," Huntington said. "If Ronny Cedeno were to get hurt or to not hold the job, we got Bobby Crosby who could step in or play with regularity. ... So it's not a true competition. But it's having a legitimate major league player ready to go if Ronny isn't able to do what we need him to do, or if he gets hurt. An upgrade over what we had last year, no offense to those guys intended."
Octavio Dotel (oblique) threw long toss for a fourth consecutive day, this from roughly 70 feet, and aims to find out next week when he can return to mound work. Joel Hanrahan (elbow) tossed 40 throws from 60 feet -- likewise from flat ground -- and is scheduled for a March 15 return to a mound.
"We still have plenty of games [left]," Huntington said of both key relievers. Particularly Dotel, the presumptive closer, may get less innings in games than he initially intended. Added Huntington, "At this point in time, we still feel we're right on track and we'll be fine for opening day."
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