The Ducks' Sal Giardina bats in a game against the...

The Ducks' Sal Giardina bats in a game against the West Virginia Power on July 14 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. Credit: George A Faella

There was a time, not so long ago, that Ducks catcher Sal Giardina thought he’d never play professionally again. Now, he’s playing more than ever.

Giardina was close to retirement after six seasons in the Atlanta minor league system. He was primarily a backup who only played 25 games in 2019 because of an injury. But, after the 2020 minor league season was wiped out by COVID-19, the 29-year-old decided he wanted to go out on his own terms.

"I was at peace with my career," Giardina said. "The only reason I didn’t retire this year was just because I would have ended my career on an injury. My wife kind of talked me into it. It was like, ‘you know, why don’t you just go enjoy yourself, play one more year and see what happens?’ "

If he was going to go the unaffiliated route, the Atlantic League was the only place Giardina wanted to play. The league’s reputation as a feeding ground for affiliates is unmatched in this corner of the baseball world and he didn’t want to miss out.

Giardina’s brother, Carmine, who pitched for the Ducks for part of the 2015 season, called Ducks president and general manager Michael Pfaff and got the ball rolling on bringing another Giardina to Central Islip, Sal said.

Giardina has played well. He entered Saturday night hitting .303 with five home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .433 on-base percentage. He was third on the team in batting among those with over 50 at-bats, behind only lynchpins L.J. Mazzilli and Steve Lombardozzi.

Giardina doesn’t have to look too hard into his success to know where it comes from. Finally, he’s playing. As a career minor league backup, playing time was hard to find. While in the Atlanta system, he never exceeded 67 games in a season — and he played more than 53 only once.

Entering Saturday night, he had already played 62 games with the Ducks, with more than a month left on the schedule.

"I think it’s just getting consistent [at-bats]," he said. "In professional baseball, you see guys that are throwing hard and have good stuff. If you don’t play every day, and you play once a week, it’s really tough to have timing, be able to see balls that are hittable pitches, and do damage when you only see four at-bats a week."

It’s a relatively simple equation on the surface. More playing time equals better numbers. While innumerable players have proven this to be a fallacy, Giardina has shown that sometimes all you need are a lot of looks.

His workload has been plentiful, not only because of production, but opportunity as well. With Hector Sanchez, a former Giants catcher, battling some injuries this summer, Giardina got even more time behind the plate. Ducks manager Wally Backman has repeatedly called Sanchez the best catcher in the Atlantic League, but thinks Giardina is right behind him.

"I feel lucky," Backman said. "I believe I have the best two catchers in the league, which is huge for us. It’s a matter of keeping them healthy, keeping them both sharp."

Backman also said that he may find a way to have both Sanchez and Giardina in the lineup when the playoffs begin next month. Giardina can also play first and third base.

"They’re both going to be very important to our success, especially in the end," Backman said.

Still, Giardina thinks this may be his final go-round as a pro. He said that, baring being picked up by an MLB organization for spring training, he doesn’t think he’ll play next year.

If that is the case, he has a shot to go out on top. The Ducks, despite struggling in the first month of the second half, have already clinched a spot in the Atlantic League playoffs by virtue of their North Division first-half championship. The Ducks entered Saturday 11-15, last in the North Division standings.

They began the first half in much the same way, struggling to put it all together for long stretches before finally reeling off a franchise-record tying 12 straight wins and running away with the division title. The Ducks and Giardina know that the potential for a breakout is there. Just, will it come again?

"Tonight was a good example of what we can do when we pitch and hit well," Giardina said Friday after the Ducks 9-1 win over the first-place Lancaster Barnstormers. "Going into the second half, we kind of knew we were already in the playoffs. So, I think we got a little lackadaisical. But, I think this month we’ll probably turn around and get hot going into the playoffs."

The playoffs are scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

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