It’s a really good thing that Gonzalo Sánchez was excellent defensively, because he could not hit. Like, at all.
Even in the deadball era, a career 195/227/222 slash line is problematic … but not unheard of. It leaves us in a somewhat familiar situation: Sánchez was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949, but it’s just very difficult seeing him as a fulltime MLB player. It certainly happens–and still happens (Martín Maldonado, we’re looking at you)–but it’s rough. We’ve decided to retain Sánchez’ long career, keeping him as a part-time backstop for almost all of the time.
Perhaps predictably, Sánchez’ best offensive seasons were his first. But after 1903, even mediocrity is hard to find. 1909 was a decent season, and he had a bit of a low-usage offensive season in 1911. But the rest is just miserable, with his OPS rooted firmly in the .400s.
So, it’s a good thing he was impactful defensively.
Sánchez played almost exclusively behind the plate (a few games at 1B, even fewer in RF), and showed excellence across the board: he had an strong and accurate arm, sure hands, and a great reputation for handling pitchers. There are some inconsistencies in the record, largely year-to-year variance (he was better than the numbers in 1909 and not as good as his stellar 1904 seasons, for example), but being in the conversation for the gold glove is possible, although he really only would qualify as a full time player in 1906 and 1908 (his only seasons with over 400 PAs).
I’m not thrilled with this projection. It feels like splitting-the-difference in an unsatisfying way, where it is more likely that either Sánchez just doesn’t have much of a career, flaming out after 4 or 5 years despite his defensive brilliance OR his defense carries the day and there are 3 or 4 more years that, despite his lack of stick, he exceeds 400 PAs as a fulltime backstop. I suspect the latter is more likely, but more research is needed to figure it out.
| Name | Gonzalo Sánchez |
| ID / Status | sanch01gon / Draft |
| Pos | C |
| DOB / i9s Career | 1883 / 1903 - 1912 |
| Birthplace | (Cuba) |
| Height / Weight | 5'8" / |
| B / T | R / R |
Batting Projections
| Year | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1903 | 184 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 0.255 | 0.283 | 0.283 | 0.565 |
| 1904 | 286 | 54 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 9 | 3 | 0.189 | 0.211 | 0.224 | 0.435 |
| 1905 | 275 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 0.156 | 0.186 | 0.171 | 0.357 |
| 1906 | 411 | 81 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 42 | 12 | 5 | 0.197 | 0.229 | 0.221 | 0.450 |
| 1907 | 299 | 55 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 32 | 7 | 3 | 0.184 | 0.213 | 0.221 | 0.434 |
| 1908 | 428 | 77 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 38 | 13 | 4 | 0.180 | 0.206 | 0.208 | 0.414 |
| 1909 | 260 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 7 | 3 | 0.204 | 0.228 | 0.223 | 0.451 |
| 1910 | 128 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0.195 | 0.264 | 0.211 | 0.475 |
| 1911 | 234 | 57 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 0.244 | 0.280 | 0.291 | 0.571 |
| 1912 | 268 | 48 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 0.179 | 0.223 | 0.198 | 0.420 |