Sixto Sanchez has been key in Marlins’ playoff hunt. His idol, Pedro Martinez, has noticed
Pedro Martinez can only watch with awe each time he sees Sixto Sanchez take the mound.
Sanchez, the top prospect in the Miami Marlins’ organization and the No. 22 overall prospect in baseball, has five big-league starts under his belt but has been quick to impress the Hall of Famer.
“I’m watching Sixto pitch, and I’m watching mini me with probably a little better stuff,” Martinez, Sanchez’s idol growing up in the Dominican Republic, said recently on MLB Network. “I think this kid is that special.”
The Marlins think he’s special, too, and the start of his rise to stardom couldn’t have come at a better time.
Since making his debut on Aug. 22, exactly 18 1/2 months after joining the organization as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, Sanchez has cemented his spot in the Marlins’ young-but-promising starting rotation.
His next start Friday against the Washington Nationals, like each of the five starts before it, comes with pressure as the Marlins continue their push toward their first playoff berth since winning the World Series in 2003.
“I feel eager to get on the mound and pitch and help my team,” Sanchez, 22, said. “I want to help my team win and make the playoffs.”
‘He’s not a secret’
Sanchez has done his part so far.
Through five starts, all against teams in the top half of MLB in OPS (on base percentage plus slugging) and runs scored, Sanchez is 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 29 strikeouts against just five walks over 32 innings.
He is one of three pitchers in MLB history to record at least 20 strikeouts and have an ERA at or below 2.00 through his first five MLB starts. The others: Steve Busby for the 1972 Kansas City Royals (31 strikeouts, 1.58 ERA) and Rich Delucia for the 1990 Seattle Mariners (20 strikeouts, 2.00 ERA).
“I’m telling you what, if he stays healthy, he’s going to give people fits for a long time,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who could only watch as Sanchez carved through a Braves lineup that is one of MLB’s best for six shutout innings on Sept. 8. “That’s the total package right there.”
He brings an excitement level to the rotation that hasn’t been seen since Jose Fernandez made his debut in 2013. Sanchez, though, does so as part of a rotation that features the likes of Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers, making him a critical part of a supporting cast moreso than the single pitcher who had to carry a rotation.
“Jose kind of seemed like he was a Lone Ranger a little bit,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He was one guy. Now, it’s starting to be every guy. ... [Sanchez] has definitely brought an excitement to our rotation, and he continues that competition that we want with all of them in a healthy way.”
The velocity is the first thing most notice. Sanchez’s four-seam fastball averages 98.6 mph and has topped 100 mph 12 of the 105 times he has thrown the pitch — a staggering 11.4 percent rate. He’s one of nine starting pitchers this year to hit triple digits. Jacob deGrom, the two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner, is the only starting pitcher with more total pitches to hit triple digits this season (15). Of course, deGrom has thrown twice as many pitches as Sanchez this year.
“He’s not a secret,” Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro said. “He throws gas.”
He also balances his arsenal. Sanchez’s best pitch is his changeup, which averages 89.3 mph. He complements it with a sinker that can also touch 99 mph and is thrown with the same grip and arm motion. Those two pitches serve as his primary attack against left-handed hitters, who can expect to see one of the two pitches nearly 60 percent of the time they’re in the batter’s box against him.
Sanchez also has a slider that can touch 92 mph and a low-80s curveball he began developing during summer camp ahead of the season.
Sanchez is inducing groundballs at a 59.5 percent rate, which is the fifth-best mark among starting pitchers this season who have put at least 50 balls in play.
“He’s got really good pitches, throws all of them for strikes and always likes to compete,” Alfaro said. “He always comes to the ballpark with a mentality to compete and win. I like to see that in my pitchers.”
Getting him built up
The Marlins took a cautious approach with their top prospect ever since they acquired him.
He was coming off a limited 2018 season as he dealt with right elbow inflammation. The Marlins delayed his 2019 season by a couple months to ease him back into regular action before he ultimately threw 114 innings last season between Class A Advanced Jupiter and Double A Jacksonville.
The Marlins invited Sanchez to big-league spring training before the coronavirus pandemic struck, but he wasn’t able to take advantage of the opportunity.
Simply put, he was out of shape. The Marlins had to wean him back into baseball activities, limiting him to mostly drill work and bullpen sessions instead of having him play in Grapefruit League games like the slew of other prospects.
In that sense, baseball’s three-month hiatus helped him. He slimmed down to about 225 pounds and built up to about 90 pitches at the team’s alternate training site in Jupiter. Also, a shortened season meant less cause for concern when it came to innings limits when he did finally get called up.
“You could sense the excitement because we’ve been talking about Sixto for a couple of years,” Mattingly said. “I think we did a good job making sure he was built up, so he didn’t come here with rules. ... You were able to build him physically and give him the best chance to go and be one of the guys.”
Admiring Pedro
When Sanchez is on the mound, it’s almost like watching a younger Martinez take the mound.
The delivery. The leg kick after the pitch. The excitement after a strikeout. It all looks like a duplicate of the three-time Cy Young Award winner.
“When I was young, I loved watching Pedro play for Boston,” said Sanchez, who moved from shortstop to pitcher at age 15. “Every time I saw Pedro pitch, I said, ‘Wow, when I grow up, I want to be like him.’”
The two spoke on an MLB Network segment last week, a moment that Sanchez said he would always remember. Sanchez has the number 45, the same number Martinez wore throughout his MLB career, tattooed on his neck and hopes to wear the number next season.
Before Sanchez joined, Martinez gushed over the prized prospect.
“He looks like he’s really confident, and I wouldn’t blame him,” Martinez said. “When you have 100, you’re young, you’re that talented, you have to be confident. When I watch him, I’m just trying to see what I was never able to see.”
Mattingly understands the aspect of having an idol in the baseball world. His was Rod Carew. But the Marlins manager also wants Sanchez to be able to forge his own path, something he has already begun to do.
“You hope Sixto is able to take that all in and then be himself,” Mattingly said. “At the end of the day, he’s not Pedro. He’s Sixto.”
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