Miami Marlins’ Jesus Sanchez leaning on clubhouse veteran as he adjusts to bench role
Jesus Sanchez knew there would be adjustments. He wasn’t going to be an everyday starter. His in-game at-bats weren’t going to be as steady or as scheduled as they were his first two full seasons with the Miami Marlins.
The expectations, however, were going to remain the same.
“When he does get those spot starts,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “then he’s going to need to produce.”
That’s not always easy for a young player. Schumaker, who spent portions of his playing career coming off the bench, acknowledged as much.
But considering Sanchez is out of minor-league options, the Marlins’ choices with Sanchez were either to keep him on the big-league roster as a fourth outfielder and left-handed bat off the bench, trade him or designate him for assignment and hope he cleared waivers to keep him in the organization.
They went with the first option, although it isn’t an ideal situation for a young player still trying to find his way in the big leagues.
Luckily for the 25-year-old Sanchez, he has been able to lean on a veteran in the clubhouse who is adjusting to the same role in first baseman Yuli Gurriel, a seven-year MLB veteran who himself is transitioning from being an everyday starter to a role player.
“Having Gurriel helps a lot to see how to do your work routine,” said Sanchez, who started 146 of his 162 games played over the past two seasons. “It’s a new role for me. I’m not used to this role. It’s something that I understand the role, I take it in and I do it.”
Sanchez’s early-season results show he is still adjusting, although there have been signs of progress over this series against the Atlanta Braves.
Heading into the four-game series against the Braves, Sanchez played in just 14 of Miami’s first 22 games and only started eight of those contests. Sanchez found himself overthinking his approach each time he was at the plate, trying to do more each time he batted because he had less chances to make an impression.
His stats in those games: A .148 batting average with 10 strikeouts in 34 plate appearances.
“I was doing a lot in the beginning of the season,” Sanchez said. “I was just giving up big swings in different at-bats.”
After talking with Gurriel, getting “more relaxed” and watching video to get a better understanding of his approach, Sanchez is starting to get more comfortable in his role.
He’s learning how to prepare mid-game, taking swings in the cage around the fifth and sixth inning on days he’s not starting, to be ready at a moment’s notice. He’s also working to not let that moment get too big when it does arrive, whatever the situation might be.
He entered Thursday’s series finale against the Braves with hits in consecutive games for the first time this season, getting a single in the ninth inning on Tuesday and hitting a towering home run in the second inning on Wednesday.
“That’s not easy to do,” Schumaker said. “We’ve talked about it before when you’re not playing a ton and it’s tough to just sit and kind of rot on the bench a little bit. Credit to him that he’s only gotten a couple of at-bats the last few days, but he came up and hit a big, big home run at the time. That’s all you can ask for from a guy that hasn’t played in a while.”
Schumaker wants to get Sanchez more regular playing time, but the ways to insert Sanchez into the lineup are limited.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is the Marlins’ center fielder and leadoff hitter. Jorge Soler is taking the bulk of the designated hitter reps. Bryan De La Cruz has been solid at the plate. And the team has seen strides from Avisail Garcia.
“That’s the tough part when you’re a bench player,” Schumaker said. “There’s not a lot of starts that you can find, a lot of playing time you can find, but I promise you that he will get his fair share of at-bats. It’s just so early on that trying to find the right matchup has been challenging as well.”
.JPG)