By John Shea

I caught up with Freddy Sanchez, who's confident he'll be ready to go for the 2012 opener.

"I'm doing great. I'm throwing. I'm out to 60 feet now, and the shoulder's coming along great," said Sanchez, who began his throwing program two weeks ago in the wake of his August shoulder surgery. "I'm feeling really good."

Late last week, Sanchez finished a three-week strength session in Arizona as "the old guy" among several Giants prospects. "They pushed me to my limits," said Sanchez, who plans to begin hitting in early January, which isn't supposed to be as big of a deal as the throwing process.

The best news is that Sanchez is getting his strength back. He recalls times in the past two years, because of the bum shoulder, he couldn't do 10-pound dumbbell bench presses, and now he's up to 60, 65 pounds and rising.

"My strength has come a long way," Sanchez said. "Obviously, (the injury/surgery) was terrible timing, and you never want it to happen. But looking back, it might've been a blessing in disguise as far as the future and my career with the Giants. I'm excited about the season and getting going. When you're not out there, you realize you miss the game so much. Buster (Posey) and I talk about it a lot."

The second baseman figures to be a week or two behind his teammates at the start of spring training. In the Cactus League season, infielders do throwing in the early mornings – to first, double plays, cutoffs etc. – and again before games and then do whatever is necessary during games. With a month of exhibitions, there seems plenty of time for Sanchez to get game ready.

"We're going to build up stamina as far as the games," said Sanchez, who plans to report early with pitchers and catchers. "I will be ready. I'm definitely right on schedule if not ahead of schedule."

As far as his new double-play partner, Brandon Crawford, the projected Opening Day shortstop . . .

"I think that's great," Sanchez said. "We all saw the ability Crawford has. Great young player. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I'm excited to get together with him and work on double plays. We didn't get together much last year, so we'll get to spring training and get to work. He has the ability to do well both offensively and defensively. Coming up last year and dealing with what he had to deal with will help prepare him for next year."

In 2011, Sanchez hit .289 with three homers and 24 RBIs in 60 games.

In 2010, he hit ..292 with seven homers and 47 RBIs in 111 games, and in the postseason he had many key hits – becoming the first player in history with doubles in his first three World Series at-bats — and key defensive plays.

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