BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Freddy Sanchez was a man without a job last spring. This time, he doesn’t have a position.

Winning the NL batting championship wasn’t enough to gain Sanchez some stability, even with a team that last had a winning season 15 years ago.

“It can be tough to find spots in this game and you have to be in the right place at the right time,” Sanchez said Monday. “It was a long road to get to the big leagues, and it’s even tougher to stay here.”

Hitting .344 would seemingly be enough to gain some job security, but not for Sanchez – after all, he was a utility infielder for the first month of last season, yet went on to become the 11th Pirates player to win an NL batting title.

Sanchez, who came up through the Red Sox organization as a shortstop before being dealt to Pittsburgh in 2003, played most of last season at third base.

He has played mostly at second base this spring as the Pirates experiment with Jose Castillo, the second base starter the last three seasons, and utilityman Jose Bautista at third base.

The shuffling has meant that the 29-year-old Sanchez has moved from an unfamiliar position to one he knows even less. With Jack Wilson around, he’s finally given up hope of returning to shortstop and is readying to make yet another move.

“I don’t look at it as I want to play shortstop, I want to play where they need me,” Sanchez said. “Last year it was third base, and I wanted to do the best I could do there. If (manager Jim) Tracy feels this year it’s second base, I want to be the best second baseman I can be.”

The Pirates appear to be making the move because they are convinced Wilson and Sanchez will be better defensively up the middle than Castillo and Wilson.

During the offseason, Wilson said the Pirates need more from Castillo, saying he wasn’t always into games mentally last season, wasn’t in top shape and was occasionally lazy on defense.

Sanchez isn’t getting caught up in that debate, even if the apparent lack of chemistry between Castillo and Wilson may have figured in the change.

Curiously, when they were summer league teammates in the Los Angeles area years ago, Sanchez was the shortstop and Wilson was the second baseman.

“I just want to get familiar with the position and, when I say get familiar, I mean I pretty much want to perfect it,” Sanchez said. “I haven’t perfected it yet, and that’s why I’m over there, to get as good as I can over there.”

General manager Dave Littlefield understands there is risk involved by constantly switching a player’s position, but he said Sanchez has enough experience at all three positions that it shouldn’t be a worry. Sanchez has played 172 games in the majors at third, 92 at second and 54 at shortstop.

“I think, in general, that is a concern – you hear a guy talking about comfort and getting settled in at one spot, they like where they are in the lineup, they like where they are defensively,” Littlefield said. “However, last year Freddy Sanchez played a variety of positions, played them all well defensively and hit .344. With that kind of base line, I don’t see where that really matters.”

The numbers that matter more to the Pirates: Sanchez’s .344 batting average, the club’s highest since Roberto Clemente hit .345 in 1969. Sanchez’s major league-best .388 home average. His NL-best .442 average against left-handers. His .386 average with runners in scoring position.

Sanchez’s move has already had a downside – he has been sidelined by a strained knee ligament since being clipped on a double play last Tuesday and won’t resume playing again until Wednesday at the earliest.

“Obviously, any time you miss time it’s a little bit of setback, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Sanchez said. “I’m using spring training to get ready, to see pitches and learn more techniques at second. Definitely this is a little bit of a setback for me offensively and defensively.”

Sanchez never worries about his production in March, but he is missing at-bats that could prove beneficial once the season starts April 2.

“I’m not a very good spring training player, I’m terrible, but in spring training I’m trying to work on things and get my eyes to see pitches,” he said.

To an athlete who was born with a club right foot and a severely pigeon-toed left foot, and needed years of therapy merely to walk normally, being asked to switch positions is a trivial matter.

Especially when injuries and the considerable talent above him in Boston’s farm system contributed to him not playing a full season in the majors until he was 27.

“I don’t think it’s going to matter what position I play,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t matter to me. It shouldn’t affect my offense.”