Sixto Sanchez makes first start since 2021

After three years without appearing in a professional game, Miami Marlins prospect Sixto Sanchez threw one inning at the AA level on Tuesday night.

The Marlins acquired Sanchez in February of 2019 from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for catcher J.T. Realmuto. After a superb rookie season in 2020, he has been marred by injuries ever since. In his one inning of work on Tuesday, Sanchez allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out two. When it came to velocity, Sanchez topped out at 88 mph on his fastball. But for the majority of his outing, he went with off-speed pitches, which generated a few whiffs.

After inducing a weak grounder to short, Sanchez then struck out Cal Conley after beginning that sequence with a slow curveball at 73 mph. After a failed bunt attempt, he got another swing and miss with the off-speed pitch, giving him his first professional strikeout in three years.

Sanchez then gave up his first walk after the strikeout and then gave up a sharp single to Drake Badlwin, which put runners on first and second with two outs for Jesse Franklin. He began that sequence with a curveball for a strike that was a lot faster than the 73 mph pitch that he threw to the previous batter. After Franklin fouled off the second pitch, Sanchez threw another breaking ball down which got the hitter to whiff and end the inning.

Although his reduced velocity is a concern—his fastball used to sit in the high 90s before the injuries—this is a huge milestone for the Dominican right-hander. Getting into his first professional game since spring training of 2021 and being able to have success with the two strikeouts and the scoreless inning was big. It is not certain when Sixto Sanchez will pitch again, but he will most likely have a bigger workload as he goes.

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