Pecyna: Sanchez an unsung hero in playoff run

The Pirates clinched a playoff spot last night, and as weird as it feels to type those words, it felt even more surreal to watch the champagne showers and goggled players celebrate in their visitor’s clubhouse.

As the Root Sports telecast broadcasted the Pirates’ celebration in Chicago, the station’s reporters interviewed players to ask them about the key components to the team’s success.

They spoke with Andrew McCutchen, whose legitimately venerable expression gave me goosebumps; Pedro Alvarez, who was touted for his role in the team’s turnaround; manager Clint Hurdle, who manned the righting of the ship, and general manager Neal Huntington, who first burned down the miniscule semblance of structure left by his predecessor, Dave Littlefield, then resurrected the organization.

Lost in the gala was catcher Tony Sanchez. Limited to a reserve role for the majority of his season, Sanchez was not nearly as critical to the team’s success as McCutchen or Alvarez.

He is, however, one of the chief reasons that the team did not fall out of the playoff picture in the second half of the season.

When discussing Sanchez, it’s important to consider three things: His pedigree, his path to the majors and the incompetence of Michael McKenry, who began the year as a backup catcher.

McKenry is impossible to despise — even when he spent his 122 plate appearances hitting a futile .217 with a .262 on-base percentage and a .348 slugging percentage. The guy is illuminating, consistently beaming a smile and forever praising his teammates. But he was simply awful this year before being shelved for the season after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee on July 27.

McKenry — known as “The Fort” because of his last name’s similarity to Fort McHenry in Baltimore and perhaps more subtly for a positively embracive demeanor — was as deficient at throwing out base stealers as he was at swinging the bat.

Enter Tony Sanchez: former fourth-overall, easy-sign, high-rise pick in the 2009 first-year player draft, Twitter aficionado and two-time recipient of a broken jaw — once in 2010 as a result of being hit by a pitch, the other from a reported bar fight following the 2011 season.

When the Pirates selected Sanchez that early in the draft, their goal was to pass on perceivably tough signees in the first round — high-school players with soaring potential like Zack Wheeler, Shelby Miller, Jacob Turner, Mike Trout and Wil Myers — and save money by nabbing players with equally high upside who were predicted to be selected in the draft’s later rounds. Sanchez and Turner are the only players of that group who have acclimated to the majors slowly. The others burst onto the scene with remarkable rookie debuts.

The Pirates signed Sanchez for $2.5 million. Only Wheeler, the sixth pick, and Miller, the 19th, received higher signing bonuses — $3.3 million and $2.87 million, respectively.

Sanchez was inconsistent in his five years in the minors, with his most promising campaign coming this year at triple-A Indianapolis. In 296 plate appearances there, he posted an .872 on-base plus slugging.

While Sanchez hasn’t exactly duplicated those numbers since joining the big-league club — you can’t depend on a rookie to do so — he has been an outstanding reserve, standing in for starting catcher Russell Martin when called upon.

Sanchez, through a small 61-plate appearance sample, has looked decent in his first 20 major-league games. He’s hit .255 with a .311 on-base percentage and a .436 slugging percentage. However, Sanchez has walked at an uncharacteristically low rate (4.9 percent) and struck out a bit more than he did in the minors. This isn’t completely unexpected, as most rookies struggle with plate discipline in their first trial in the big leagues.

Consider that McKenry’s 2013 campaign resulted in a .271 weighted on-base average, a stat that encompasses and properly weighs offensive values. Sanchez, meanwhile, has posted a .326 weighted on-base average. An average mark is about .320.

That 55-point differential between McKenry and Sanchez is massive. It’s the difference between San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. If you align the numbers for other players, Sanchez is similar to Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval, while McKenry is comparable to Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro.

Add in Sanchez’s superior pitch framing and defensive prowess and the Pirates have an outstanding option for Martin’s backup — and possible starter in the next two years.

So although Sanchez is not an All-Star backstop just yet, Pittsburgh should be content with his contribution and his role on a — wait for it — playoff team.