‘Sixto Day’ finally arrived for Miami Marlins this spring. How he looked, what’s next
Miguel Rojas got the Miami Marlins’ dugout pumped up as he did a round of pregame forearm taps.
The excitement was palpable.
“Finally,” Rojas exclaimed, “it’s Sixto Day.”
Yes, indeed, it was Sixto Day.
After dealing with a pair of setbacks this spring training, Sixto Sanchez was on the mound Monday in a spring training game.
And he did what he does best. He lit up the radar gun.
Sanchez, the Miami Marlins’ top pitching prospect and a consensus top-25 prospect in all of Major League Baseball, touched 100 mph on the stadium radar gun with his four-seam fastball at least four times during his 1 2/3 innings of work at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches (the radar gun was not displayed until the final few pitches of the first inning).
His command was shaky at times but he held his own for his first time in a live game since the Marlins’ playoff run last October.
The question now is if the Marlins believe Sanchez will be built up enough to be ready for the start of the regular season. With the way Miami’s spring training schedule works out — and if Sanchez can stay on a five-day routine with no setbacks — he will likely get two more starts during camp on Saturday and March 25, both against the Washington Nationals.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Miami wants to get Sanchez a five-inning start — or a 75- or 80-pitch outing — in the spring to have him ready for the regular season. If he isn’t fully built up in time, Sanchez could remain in Jupiter to build up fully and join the Marlins a bit later in April.
“With Sixto,” Mattingly said pregame Monday, “it’s a matter of letting him dictate his plan to a point where as long as he keeps feeling good, we’ll keep progressing. If we have to slow down and give him an extra day’s rest, then we’ll do that. He’s been a guy in the minor leagues who has always gotten that extra day of rest. We’re basically transitioning him to every five [days]. That’s where we’re going to be careful.”
Breaking down the outing
Overall, Sanchez threw 31 pitches on Monday, 21 of which went for strikes. He allowed two hits and a walk but no runs and got two double plays behind him while experimenting with most of his arsenal.
In addition to the four-seam fastball, Sanchez’s sinker sat between 96 and 97 mph. His changeup and slider were both in the 89-91 mph range while topping out at 93 mph.
The first two at-bats took all of three pitches — Jose Altuve ambushed the first pitch for a single up the middle before Chas McCormick grounded into a double play.
The next three took up the bulk of his work.
Carlos Correa’s at-bat went seven pitches deep before slapping a hard-hit groundball to Garrett Cooper at first base to end the inning.
Kyle Tucker opened the second with an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a line drive single to center field on a 99 mph fastball. Sanchez walked Yuli Gurriel the next plate appearance, working back from a 3-0 count with two called strikes on his sinker before letting a pitch get away below the strike zone.
Aledmys Diaz grounded to Brian Anderson at third base for a double play on Sanchez’s 31st and final pitch.
“I thought Sixto was OK for the first time out,” Mattingly said. “Looked like his stuff was good. It’s just kind of like everyone else that first time out. He’s throwing strikes for the most part.”
Debuting after delays
Sanchez’s appearance on the mound Monday came after he twice had holdups over the course of spring training that altered his regiment.
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 before returning to camp on March 6. Sanchez threw a bullpen and a live batting practice session after returning to camp to get ramped up for Monday’s outing.
“I don’t feel frustrated, to be honest, but it was a weird feeling,” Sanchez said. “I was getting ready. I was getting that momentum. I was getting ready for a live [batting practice] that week and then that false positive came out. It kind of ruined that momentum but things happen.”
Does he feel he can be ready for the start of the season?
“I’m not that far behind,” Sanchez said. “I’m pretty much the same as everyone else.”
‘He’s still got a lot to learn’
The 22-year-old 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.
Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said Tuesday that Sanchez will be on an innings limit this season but that there are still notable areas for him to grow this season.
“We all saw a glimpse last year of what this guy’s capable of doing,” Stottlemyre said last week. “He’s 22 years old. He’s still got a lot to learn. It’s easy when you see him out there to forget that.”
On that mound, that means perfecting his sequencing and maximizing the use of all of his pitches.
Stottlemyre specifically said he wants Sanchez to throw more changeups, a pitch he used 26 percent of the time last season. The pitch had an average velocity of 89 mph, held opponents to a .148 batting average and resulted in 18 of his 33 strikeouts.
“It’s easy to get enamored at somebody who throws 97-100 to want to lean on that fastball,” Stottlemyre said, “but in reality he’s got one of the best changeups in baseball. We’re making sure he uses that enough.”
In the four days between games, that means putting together a better gameplan against teams, especially those teams he had faced in live games before.
Including the playoffs, Sanchez faced five teams during his nine starts last season — the Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.
His cumulative stats the first time he faced each team: Six earned runs allowed in 37 innings (a 1.50 ERA) on 28 hits and seven walks with 35 strikeouts.
His combined stats in his second start against the Nationals and his second and third starts against the Braves: 13 earned runs allowed in 10 innings (an 11.70 ERA) on 16 hits and nine walks with just six strikeouts.
“He still has to learn about the league,” Stottlemyre said, “knowing where his adjustments are, take some bumps and bruises and see how he reacts to those situations.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 3:44 PM.
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