How top Marlins prospect Sixto Sanchez fared during his latest round of back field work
Sixto Sanchez on Thursday continued his progression to getting into spring training games and eventually the regular season.
Sanchez, the Marlins’ top prospect and a unanimous top-25 prospect in Major League Baseball, threw a live batting practice session on the back fields of the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex before the Marlins played the Washington Nationals.
Sanchez threw 26 pitches in one simulated inning. He faced top hitting prospects JJ Bleday and Jerar Encarnacion. His four-seam fastball, which hits triple-digits, sat around 96 mph.
Sanchez has already dealt with a pair of setbacks this spring that had nothing to do with his health. He was delayed getting back to the United States from the Dominican Republic due to a visa issue and missed the first few days of workouts. He was also sidelined for a few days due to a false positive COVID-19 test.
How soon will he make an appearance in Grapefruit League games? That’s up to how quickly his arm responds.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Marlins general manager Kim Ng said.
Sanchez, ranked as high as No. 6 by Baseball America, made his long-awaited major-league debut with the Marlins during the shortened 2020 season. He made nine starts, including two in the playoffs, and posted a 3.64 ERA with 41 strikeouts against 16 walks through 47 innings.
Sanchez’s strength is his undeniable pure stuff. He threw 13 pitches during the regular season that hit at least 100 mph, more than any starting pitcher not named Jacob deGrom. Nine of those 13 went for strikes.
Sanchez’s fastball averaged 98.5 mph, fourth best in MLB behind deGrom (98.6), Brusdar Graterol (98.8) and Dustin May (99.1) among pitchers who threw at least 250 pitches in the regular season.
Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said Tuesday that Sanchez will be on an innings limit in 2021 and hinted that there’s a chance he won’t be on the roster when Opening Day arrives on April 1.
“I think it’s important they learn how to start and finish games,” Stottlemyre said, “but we’re going to have to be cognizant of a guy like Sixto Sanchez that throws a lot of strikes, and realistically, you could look up and this guy could have 80 pitches and [be] going into the ninth inning. We’re going to have to manage that, we’re going to have to answer questions from you guys as well, when we go pull him out, so that we can plan for him pitching a full season.”
Four-man rotation early?
On that note, the Marlins’ schedule logistically allows them the opportunity to use a four-man rotation early in the season. The Marlins have two off days in the first nine days of the regular season.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly did not rule that out as an option.
“We have options at the beginning because of the off days,” Mattingly said. “But definitely the four is possible. It’s just a decision you make because we’ve talked so much about innings and things like that. Do you want to go early right away or stay on turn?”
This and that
▪ Sandy Alcantara had an odd yet solid outing in Thursday’s 1-1 tie with the Nationals. The good: 3 1/3 scoreless innings, four strikeouts and five ground ball outs (one of which was a double play). The bad: Five walks.
▪ Prospect Jerar Encarnacion, an outfielder by trade, continues to impress in limited action at first base. He made a diving grab to his right to rob Jackson Cluff of a hit and end the eighth inning.
▪ Monte Harrison’s first hit of spring training was a loud one: A solo home run to left-center field off Nationals reliever Luis Avilan.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 12:44 PM.
.JPG)