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BOSTON -- Pablo Sandoval hasn't even had an at-bat as a member of the Red Sox, but already he might be the best bad-ball hitter they've had since Nomar Garciaparra.
Garciaparra was a master of swinging at anything and everything, and was still somehow able to make hard, solid contact. Sandoval is a similar hitter -- albeit a switch-hitter -- with the ability to provide tremendous plate coverage and hit pitches everywhere from an inch above the plate to those thrown above the letters.
According to research done by FanGraphs.com, Sandoval has a .564 slugging percentage when he swings at pitches in the strike zone. But even when he chases pitches out of the strike zone -- specifically from the left side of the plate -- he manages to slug .452, a still solid percentage.
When he swings at pitches outside the strike zone -- from the left side or right side of the plate -- he makes contact almost 80 percent of the time.
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