Like many, I have always been a huge Jerry Sands fan, so you can understand the anguish that I felt watching the 24-year-old Clayton, North Carolina native struggle miserably during this past spring training at Camelback Ranch. It was pretty much accepted by all that Sands entered spring training 2012 with a guaranteed spot on the Opening Day roster – a spot that was his to lose. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he did. It wasn’t Jerry’s stellar defense or his cannon arm that caused his fall from grace, but rather his inability to find his stroke and the power that he enjoyed during spring training 2011.

Jerry Sands seems to have found his stoke again which led to his call up from Triple-A during the recent rash of Dodger injuries. Jerry is 4 for 16 with two doubles since his call up. (Photo by Jon SooHoo)

During spring training 2011, Sands was among the team leaders in hitting and displayed his excellent defensive talents. This ultimately led to him being called up to the Dodgers from Triple-A during the 2011 season. And though Jerry struggled offensively during his initial call up and was sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque, he quickly found his stroke and finished the 2011 season on the Dodgers 25-man roster and appeared to be there to stay.

Sands’ dismal 2012 spring training landed him back in Triple-A for the beginning of the 2012 season where he continued to struggle offensively. And though he showed occasional pop, his strikeouts were excessive and his average hovered in the low .200s. But then something clicked. Jerry began hitting again and hitting with power. Between May 4 and May 14, Sands went 10 for 32 (.313) with four home runs (two in one game) with an impressive 11 RBIs. His OBP jumped to .375 during this stretch and his OPS to 1.125. He had found his stroke… again.

At about this same time, the injury bug hit the Dodgers landing five Dodger regulars on the DL – including outfields Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera. This led to Jerry Sands and fellow Triple-A outfielder Scott Van Slyke (and several other Isotopes) being called up to the Dodgers where they have all done exceptionally well as part of a group affectionately known as “the Cardiac Kids” for their propensity to yank victory from the jaws of impending defeat.

I recently caught up with Jerry Sands in the Dodger clubhouse and asked him about his recent success and his return to the Big leagues:

RC: After a rough spring training and a rough start to the 2012 season, you have recently turned things around and are again hitting well. What adjustments did you make to turn things around?

JS: It was a bunch of adjustments really. Everybody has their own little piece of advice they want to throw in there, so I had a bunch of stuff going on at spring training. I just had to settle down and get the basics of what I wanted to do. The last week or two of  spring training (Triple-A hitting coach) John Valentin and I nailed down what I wanted to work on. After we got the fundamentals and the technique and stuff out of the way, it was more just approach and getting good pitches and hitting them. After that it gets a little bit easier when you don’t have to think about what you’re doing and you just go up there and hit.

RC: You always hear guys talking about seeing the ball better. Are you seeing the ball better now that you were during spring training?

JS: Even in spring training I was seeing the ball pretty well; there was just something going on in between me starting (to swing) and hitting the ball that wasn’t allowing me to do it, but I’m seeing the ball pretty well right now. I’m just trying to keep my rhythm and timing and not playing every day like I was in Triple-A it’s a lot tougher to keep your rhythm and stuff.

We’ve got a hitting coach here who is one of the better pinch hitters of all time who is helping me figure out ways to keep (my rhythm and timing) going when I’m not getting the at bats that I was. It definitely helps having Hanny (Dodger hitting coach Dave Hansen) around.

Sands credits Dodger hitting coach Dave Hansen for helping keep his rhythm and timing when not playing every day

RC: It’s been an incredible run the past couple of weeks, especially for guys like yourself and the other guys who came up from Triple-A. They say that chemistry equals winning or winning equals chemistry. What do you feel is happening here?

JS: I’ll say chemistry; I’ll say mentality might be another word you might use. We come to the ballpark everyday expecting to win. We’re getting to that point where we’re just feeling good, we’re confident in what each and every one of us do. We’ve got a lot of guys on the DL and we’re just trying to pick up some of the slack. We’ve got Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera (on the DL), two of our guys that drive in a lot of runs; you’ve got (Juan) Uribe who’s a big power guy, too. We’re just trying to pick up wherever we can… win some games, and hopefully we’ll be able to do well until they get back. It’s just one of those things where we’re coming in with that chemistry and mentality of we want to win and we want to win every day.