Sand has been ripping in in AAA, some is BABIP, but his BB rate is way up, though his power is down.
Last three seasons:
AA wRC+ 109
AAA wRC+ 116
AAA wRC+ 136
Fangraphs pre-season:
A high schooler drafted in 2015, Sands spent the last few years (very) slowly traversing the Yankees system and hadn’t yet escaped A-ball due in part to a logjam of catching ahead of and around him. All the while, he slowly improved his feel for airborne contact, which helped him have a career season in 2021 split between Double- and Triple-A. Sands came into the year with eight career homers, but hit 10 of them in his first 50 games with Double-A Somerset, then hit eight more at Triple-A Scranton. When he was drafted, he was viewed as being at risk of a 3B/1B move, but he’s actually become a good receiver and pitch framer, especially at the bottom of the strike zone. He catches on one knee and his glove works from the ground back up into the zone on low pitches, which Sands tends to present in a convincing fashion. His arm is less consistent, popping in the 1.95-2.03 range right on the bag, though Sands is a little slower out of his crouch than average and his accuracy is mixed. Philly acquired him and Nick Nelson in November of 2021 in exchange for T.J. Rumfield and Joel Valdez. Sands is in the backup catching mix for 2022 and fits in that sort of role long-term, as a bat-first archetype.
