Skip to main content

Top pitching prospect Sanchez promoted to Clearwater

Sixto Sanchez, image- Jay Floyd
It was announced on Friday that the Phillies have promoted top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez to Class A Advanced Clearwater.  Though, savvy Twitter followers of this writer were tipped off to the news on Thursday night.

The 19-year-old right-hander had garnered much attention this year with excellent command and remarkable velocity, clocking 100 MPH and higher on a regular basis for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts there, the Dominican native sports a 5-3 record with a 2.41 ERA.  He notched 64 strike outs and walked only nine batters in 67 1/3 innings.  He held opponents to a .191 average.  Additionally noteworthy is that Sanchez allowed just a lone home run this season.

Sanchez was part of a strong BlueClaws pitching rotation that helped the team come within percentage points of winning a first-half division title. 

In a recent interview, Sanchez told me that his BlueClaws teammates helped him improve and achieve success this year.  Joining a new club won't set him back at all, as he'll join JoJo Romero and Ranger Suarez as key Lakewood contributors that made the jump up a level during this season.

Competition in the Florida State League will prove to be a nice challenge for Sanchez, a six-foot tall 180-pounder.  He had begun to look unmatched for Lakewood, where his ERA over his last eight starts since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a neck strain was 1.47.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Justin De Fratus Interview Excerpts- May, 2011

Armed with a 2-0 record, 3 saves and a 2.95 ERA in 15 games this season for the Double A Reading Phillies, Justin De Fratus continues to make strides toward his goal of reaching the Major Leagues. Ranked as a top 10 prospect within the Phillies system last off-season, the 23-year-old De Fratus was in camp with the Phillies during big league spring training. In 3 games with the Phils during the Grapefruit League season, De Fratus allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings and took a loss. He did strike out an impressive 5 batters in those 4 frames, however. Drafted in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft, De Fratus stood out as a force in relief last year for both the High A Clearwater Threshers and the R-Phils. In 49 combined games at the two levels, De Fratus posted a 3-0 record with 21 saves and a 1.94 ERA. De Fratus continued his excellent 2011 by pitching for Team USA in the Pan-American qualifiers held in Puerto Rico, helping the Americans finish with a 9-1 record. He also posted out...

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball w...

Series Preview: Braves at Phillies, August 6-8

The Braves (62-46) travel to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series with the Phillies (49-59) on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. In the past month, the two clubs have faced each other in two separate series, with the Braves winning all six of the contests. Atlanta’s recent dominance over the Phils is the opposite of how things went last season, when the Phillies handed the Braves six losses toward the end of the 2011 season. Those defeats shut the door on Atlanta’s postseason hopes. Read ahead for notes on the pitching the match ups and additional statistical information on this series. Monday, 7:05 PM. Ben Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63 ERA). In 9 career starts against the Phillies, Sheets has a 3-4 record with a 4.50 ERA. Ty Wigginton is 12-for-36 (.333 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Sheets. The righty Sheets was the Brewers' 1st round draft pick in 1999. In his last 5 starts, Worley has a 2-1 record with a 4.06 ERA. In 9 home s...