Philadelphia Phillies acquire J.T. Realmuto for four pieces

Sixto

While Jorge Alfaro may be the major leaguer going to Miami in the return, the top overall player involved in this deal is certainly right-hander Sixto Sanchez.

While the Phillies may have one of the best scouting departments in Latin America, developing those Latin arms they snag has not gone well so far, so this could be a bonus for both Sixto and the Marlins. Sanchez is a 6′ pitcher from the Dominican Republic who will turn 21 in late July of 2019.

While 19 for the majority of the 2018 season, Sanchez pitched at high-A Clearwater when he wasn’t facing injury. He made just 8 starts, tossing 46 2/3 innings, but those innings were impressive, to say the least, as he posted a 2.51 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and an 11/45 BB/K ratio.

Sanchez is blessed with a power sinker that he can run into the upper 90s with seeming ease, and he pairs that with a four-seamer that touches 101. His power slider and change both locate very well in the zone.

If anything, Sanchez suffers a bit from what I’ve seen as an organizational focus from the Phillies at lower levels to feature the fastball heavily. While he may have an elite fastball, he is more control than command right now, so he hits the zone hard, but often he’ll miss within the zone, allowing him to get hit hard.

As long as the Marlins are patient here, they could have an ace. I had Sanchez ranked #19 overall in my top 150 prospect rankings, and he’s been around that ranking with other major rankers as well (#13 Baseball America, #27 MLB Pipeline, #23 Baseball Prospectus).

Now let’s take a look at the rest of the Marlins’ return…