Héctor Enrique Sánchez (born November 17, 1989) is a Venezuelan

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the

Milwaukee Milkmen The Milwaukee Milkmen are an independent baseball team based in Franklin, Wisconsin. They are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. They began play in 2019 and play hom ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Career

San Francisco Giants

In 2011, after hitting .302 with 11 home runs and 58 RBI in 52 games for the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

, Sánchez was promoted to the

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in do ...

. Sánchez was called up to the majors for the first time on July 15, 2011. He was selected to join the Giants' 2012

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster as the backup catcher behind

Buster Posey Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III (born March 27, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Posey spent his entire twelve-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the San Francisco Giants, from 2009 until his retirement at ...

. Due to their pairing during

Barry Zito Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. His pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball ...

's rehab stint at AAA in 2011, and their continued success together at the major-league level in 2012, he had been designated as Zito's personal catcher. On April 23, 2012, Sánchez hit his first career home run off of

Dillon Gee Dillon Kyle Gee (born April 28, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins. In addition, Gee pitched for the ...

. On May 6, 2012, Sánchez hit a pitch-hit, walk-off single against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

despite a five-man infield. On May 21, Sánchez hit his second career homer in the top of the 14th inning, against the Brewers again, to help the Giants win 4–3. In 2012, Sánchez appeared in 74 games, batting .280 with 3 home runs and 34 RBI. He was the backup catcher during the 2012 postseason, which culminated in the Giants winning the

2012 World Series The 2012 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2012 season. The 108th edition of the World Series, the series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and th ...

. In 2013, Sánchez played in 63 games, batting .248 with 3 home runs and 19 RBI. On August 15, 2013, he hit a pinch-hit, 3-run home run off Washington Nationals closer

Rafael Soriano Rafael Soriano (born December 19, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, and Chicago ...

with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. The Giants were trailing 3–1 and held on to win 4–3. On April 23, 2014, Sánchez hit his first career

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the top of the 11th inning against the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

. On June 25, 2014, Sánchez was the catcher for

Tim Lincecum Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( ; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "The Freak", "The Franchise", "The Freaky Franchise" and "Big Time Timmy Jim", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San ...

's second no-hitter against the

. Sánchez went on the concussion list on July 26 and suffered a second concussion while on a rehab assignment and missed the rest of the 2014 season. On July 21, 2015, Sánchez hit his second career grand slam off

Dale Thayer Dale Scott Thayer (born December 17, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, and San Diego Padres. Playing career Draft Thayer was drafted out of ...

of the San Diego Padres. In early September, Sánchez strained his left hamstring and sprained his left ankle running to first base and missed the rest of the season. After the season, Sánchez was not tendered a contract by the Giants and became a free agent.

Chicago White Sox

On December 14, 2015, Sánchez signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training with the

. The White Sox promoted Sánchez to the major leagues on April 26, 2016. He was designated for assignment on May 9.

San Diego Padres

After being designated by the White Sox, Sanchez was claimed by the

and added to the 25-man roster. On June 14, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to the AAA

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in El Paso, Texas, and play their home games at Southwest University ...

. For the season, he had the third-slowest baserunning sprint speed of all major league players, at 22.9 feet/second. He was non-tendered in the 2016 offseason, and signed a minor league contract with the Padres on December 13, 2016. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Return to San Francisco Giants

Sánchez returned to the Giants organization on a minor league contract on January 5, 2018. He was released from Triple AAA on May 27.

Detroit Tigers

On January 21, 2019, Sánchez signed a minor-league deal with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

that included an invite to Spring Training. He was released on March 28, 2019.

Long Island Ducks

On April 8, 2019, Sánchez signed with the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He became a free agent following the season. On November 30, 2020, Sánchez signed with the

Ottawa Titans The Ottawa Titans Baseball Club (French: ''Les Titans d'Ottawa'') is a professional baseball team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Titans made their debut in 2022 as a member of the independent Frontier League, which is an official MLB Pa ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. However, he did not appear in a game for the team before he was traded. On April 17, 2021, Sánchez was traded to the

of the

in exchange for future considerations. In 82 games, Sánchez slashed .247/.324/.495 with 18 home runs and 70 RBIs. Following the 2021 season, Sánchez was traded back to the

of the

. On October 22, 2021, Sánchez was traded by the Titans to the

Gateway Grizzlies The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team based in the St. Louis suburb of Sauget, Illinois, in the United States. The Grizzlies are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseb ...

of the

. However he would never play a game for the Grizzlies as he left them on January 24, 2022.

Cleburne Railroaders

On January 24, 2022, Sánchez signed with the

Cleburne Railroaders The Cleburne Railroaders are a professional baseball team based in Cleburne, Texas, that plays in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The team, which began play in 2017, plays i ...

of the

Milwaukee Milkmen

On August 16, 2022, Sanchez was traded to the

of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Hector 1989 births Living people Arizona League Giants players Augusta GreenJackets players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Dominican Summer League Giants players Estrellas Orientales players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic El Paso Chihuahuas players Fresno Grizzlies players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Sportspeople from Maracay San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Sacramento River Cats players San Jose Giants players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States

Career

San Francisco Giants

Chicago White Sox

San Diego Padres

Return to San Francisco Giants

Detroit Tigers

Long Island Ducks

Cleburne Railroaders

Milwaukee Milkmen

See also

References

External links