Approximately one year ago, when Pablo Sandoval entered his second spring training as a member of the Boston Red Sox, he admitted he felt as though he didn't have anything to prove.
Times have changed, and a much different looking Panda has completely altered his outlook after an offseason program helped him shed a significant amount of weight.
"Everything. Everything. I have to prove everything," Sandoval told reporters at JetBlue Park, according to Christopher Smith of Mass Live. "Especially when you're coming from an off year after the injury. You've got to prove a lot of things to fans, to the team, to your teammates."
The 30-year-old missed all but three games last year after multiple injuries forced him to sit out. Although Sandoval is visibly thinner and has taken on a training regimen that forced him to wake up at 5:30 a.m., every morning, he wouldn't reveal exactly how much weight he lost.
"I don't know," he said. "I don't focus on the scale. I focus (on) doing my job, the team stuff. The program that I've been working out, they've been touching on that. But I don't focus on that, the scale."
The three-time World Series champion enters the season as the favorite to be the Red Sox everyday third baseman. With injuries behind him and a brand new appearance, which he hopes leads to better on-field results, Sandoval told reporters what influenced him to get his career back on track.
"My baby," he said. "I just want to play eight more years. To be on the field to show my son, so can he see his dad play when he is growing up."