SAN FRANCISCO -- Sunday had to be an odd day for Hector Sanchez. Not only is he now behind Andrew Susac on the Tim Lincecum's Catcher Depth Chart, but he's also once again behind Buster Posey. Sanchez, once Lincecum's personal catcher, hasn't started any of the last 16 games. To keep the backups sharp, first-base coach Billy Hayes took Sanchez and Susac out early Monday for a series of drills.
"They have to get their work in," manager Bruce Bochy said. "If you're not out there (playing) every day, that's the only way to stay sharp. With Hector, it's even more difficult. His playing time has really been cut back ... Having three catchers, one of them is usually the guy who loses the playing time."
That's been Sanchez, who still is just 25 and still is a switch-hitter with power potential. He has never quite developed since hitting .280 in 218 at-bats in 2012, in part because his formative years have been spent behind a guy who is in the squat as long as he's healthy. Sanchez has just 568 at-bats in parts of five big league seasons and could benefit from playing every day in Triple-A, and that may happen soon.
Hunter Pence is on the way back and Travis Ishikawa restarted his rehab assignment. Matt Cain and Jake Peavy will return to the roster at some point, too.
The Giants won't carry three catchers for much longer. In the meantime, Bochy said he would look for a spot to get Sanchez two or three at-bats.
--- Pence will hit today and tomorrow and then take Wednesday off, and then he'll take BP on Thursday and Friday. After that, the Giants may be able to set a rehab assignment. Bochy watched Pence on Sunday and it was clear he's still getting his swing back.
"He's getting close, but you can tell he's not quite ready to start a rehab," Bochy said.
The good news, Bochy said, is that Pence "hasn't had a day where we go, 'Oh, no, we've got to back off him.'"
--- Ishikawa (back) will play five innings for the San Jose Giants tonight. His rehab assignment starts over, so the Giants have 20 days before they have to recall him.
