Blake Sabol strolled to the plate with a bit of extra knowledge on Monday night at Oracle Park.
The Giants rookie smacked two home runs for his first career multi-homer game in San Francisco's 6-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners, and in the clubhouse afterward, he gave all credit to a Giants legend.
“It was pretty cool today, Barry [Bonds] was in the cages,” Sabol told reporters. “I got my first hitting lesson with Barry today. Maybe he knows a thing or two about hitting some homers.”
Sabol said Bonds pulled him aside at batting practice. He helped Sabol with his posture in the batter’s box and told him to trust his hands through the zone.
A few hours later, Sabol clobbered a 1-2 fastball from Mariners starter Bryan Woo in the fourth inning over the center-field wall. In the ninth, he battled back from an 0-2 count and socked his 10th homer of the season on another fastball, this time off Mariners closer Paul Sewald.
“That was probably the best I felt since spring training, as far as how free my body felt turning, and how still my head was,” Sabol said. “I felt like I was able to see pitches well tonight.”
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Sabol is not the first Giants player recently to benefit from Bonds’ tutelage. Designated hitter Joc Pederson one-upped the rookie with a similar experience last season, turning a pregame conversation with Bonds into one of the best nights of his career.
“After the game, Joc was joking, ‘Wow, one hitting lesson with Barry and two homers, huh? Last year, I had a hitting lesson with Barry and hit three homers.’
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“Maybe I’ll get there one day,” Sabol jokingly said.
Sabol, a Rule 5 draft pick last winter, went 1-for-12 over his first five career games. He switched things up on April 6 by pulling out a bat that was painted to look like the ones Bonds used to hit with. And sure enough, Sabol hit his first career homer that afternoon against the Chicago White Sox.
The Bonds effect is real.
