Pablo Sandoval’s weight is such a problem that his former team was going to extremes to prevent him from overeating

Patrick Semansky/AP

Pablo Sandoval’s time with the Boston Red Sox hasn’t gotten off to the best start.

After signing a five-year, $95 million deal with the Red Sox in 2014, he under-produced in his first year and they failed to make the postseason.

Sandoval then showed up to spring training overweight this year, played poorly, and got benched for a little-known second-year player.

Through three games and six at-bats this season, he has gone hitless, and it seems that his weight is becoming a serious concern to those around him.

Comcast Sports’ Sean McAdam said on a radio appearance on “Toucher and Rich” that the San Francisco Giants, Sandoval’s former team, used to go to extreme measures to keep Sandoval from overeating, according to Deadspin:

This is how concerned the Giants were when he played for them … they would make special arrangements at the hotel the Giants were staying in to not allow him to order room service. They would tell the front desk management, “If he calls down for room service at night after games, do not send anything to this room.” They went to great measures to try to cut down on those eating binges, and it would only work for a time because he would find someplace to get food.

These comments come around the same time that Sandoval’s ex-trainer compared the player to an alcoholic who won’t admit that he or she has a problem, reported the Boston Herald:

He needs to be smart enough to say there’s a problem. It’s like the alcoholic that won’t admit he’s an alcoholic: well, you can’t address that you’re an alcoholic if you don’t ever admit there’s a problem. He’s got to address that.

He’s proven to me and shown consistently that he’s got to have somebody like me holding his hand doing that. And it’s not an exercise thing, it’s an eating thing. Obviously exercise is an important factor in it, a very important factor, but eating is going to be the component that needs to be managed and monitored.

Athletes are easy bait for weight jokes, but it’s becoming clear that this is an actual issue for Sandoval. At just 29, he should still have a long career in front of him, but he needs to get his health in order first.