The Atlanta Braves got an excellent start from Anibal Sanchez on Friday. Could he be a positive for the Braves in 2018?
When the Atlanta Braves brought in Anibal Sanchez, the thought was that they were likely bringing in a temporary fill-in that would only get a single start, if even that, until some of the young guns in the farm system were ready to step in to take over in the 5th starter role.
Instead, on Friday, against one of the strongest offenses in the National League, Sanchez gave the Atlanta Braves an excellent start, going 6 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk, striking out 6. This followed a start in Colorado where Sanchez went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6.
Overall, Sanchez has pitched in 3 games for the Atlanta Braves, 2 of them starts, tossing 14 innings, with a 1.29 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 6/14 BB/K ratio.
The Atlanta Braves are hoping to see their young arms take over the back of the rotation in 2018, and young lefty Luiz Gohara will be ready to go within the next two weeks. Lefty Max Fried is showing well in AAA as well. So, what value would Anibal Sanchez have over the 2018 season for the Atlanta Braves?
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In 2016, the Braves had a similar rotation piece in veteran Jhoulys Chacin. The team signed Chacin, coming off an injury-riddled pair of seasons, where he’d only been able to make 16 combined appearances and toss a total of 90 innings.
Chacin made one start in the minor leagues before coming up in the 5th starter role with the Atlanta Braves. While his ERA wasn’t stellar with Atlanta, he made 5 starts, tossing 26 2/3 innings, striking out 27.
The Braves flipped Chacin after those 5 starts, moving him to the Los Angeles Angels for a little-known towering lefty reliever named Adam McCreery. McCreery has made big strides with the Atlanta Braves pitching development system, and the 6’9″ lefty reliever has shown so well that the Braves added him to the 40-man roster last fall.
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Anibal Sanchez could be similar to Chacin in 2018 for the Atlanta Braves, gaining a potentially valuable trade piece in the end for Atlanta.