The Washington Nationals’ busy offseason continued on Thursday evening, as they agreed to a deal with veteran right-hander Anibal Sanchez.
After missing the postseason in 2018, the Washington Nationals have been one of the most aggressive teams in the league this winter. Patrick Corbin is their most prominent offseason addition thus far, but Mike Rizzo and co. have been busy rounding out the roster.
After trading Tanner Roark during the winter meetings, it appeared that the Nats would be acquiring another starter sometime in the near future. The Nats finally got their man on Thursday, as they reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with Anibal Sanchez.
Sanchez, who will be 35 on Opening Day, is coming off of an excellent bounceback season with the Atlanta Braves. After three straight years with an ERA around 5, Sanchez returned to dominating. Despite signing a minor league deal two weeks prior to Opening Day, the veteran right-hander pitched to a 2.83 ERA in 136.2 innings.
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Much of Sanchez’s resurgence can be attributed to his ability to induce soft contact. In 2018, he had the lowest hard-hit rate of all qualified pitchers. Whether this is sustainable remains to be seen.
The Nats are banking on Sanchez being able to repeat his dominant 2018 campaign, but there is some cause for concern. His BABIP was relatively low at .255 and his FIP was nearly an entire run higher than his ERA, which suggests he may have been the beneficiary of some good luck. He is also into his mid-thirties, which is worrisome for any pitcher.
Although there is some risk involved, the Nats are a perfect fit for Sanchez. With a stacked front-end of the rotation, they do not need him to be an ace. If he can eat innings and be an average starter every fifth day, he will not hurt the team. Anything more is a bonus.
The Nats also signed Sanchez’s former battery-mate Kurt Suzuki earlier this winter. Last year, Suzuki caught a majority of Sanchez’s starts, and the two seemed to work well together. With Suzuki behind the plate, Sanchez pitched to an impressive 2.82 ERA.
Finally, the Nats saw first-hand what Sanchez is capable of. Last year, while pitching for their division rival, he had a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings against the Nats. He also has a 2.11 ERA in 10 starts at Nationals Park throughout his career.
How much of an upgrade Sanchez is over Roark remains to be seen, but Sanchez is a decent replacement. The Nats believed Roark was trending in the wrong direction and was going to earn around $10 million in arbitration. They thought they could do better, but Sanchez has his own problems. He is older than Roark, less durable, and only marginally cheaper.
Mike Rizzo rarely misses on pitchers. Signing Anibal Sanchez to a multi-year deal comes with some risk, but it is a worthwhile investment for the Washington Nationals.