Sixto Sanchez is throwing off the mound, showing off his usual triple-digit fastballs _ both a four-seamer and a sinker _ to go along with his above-average changeup as he faces some of the Miami Marlins' top hitting prospects at their alternate training site in Jupiter.
Another pitch is in the works to round out his arsenal.
Sanchez, the Marlins' top prospect and the No. 22 overall prospect across MLB according to MLBPipeline, said Sunday he has started to throw a curveball instead of his slider over the past few weeks since team practices resumed.
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The pitch itself is still a work in progress, but it's the latest element of Sanchez's game that opposing hitters will have to deal with when he gets his chance to make his MLB debut _ one that could come at some point during this shortened, 60-game season that starts Friday for the Marlins.
Manager Don Mattingly and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. have said the team isn't ruling anyone who is part of the 60-player roster pool out from potentially landing on the big-league club this year.
"We have to stay open-minded," Stottlemyre said this week. "We're going to be able to expand our roster, and there are going to be some guys given an opportunity that maybe in a (normal) regular season wouldn't have been given that opportunity."
Sanchez, the 6-0, 21-year-old righty from the Dominican Republic, is taking that to heart.
"I've been working hard. I've been working for this moment," Sanchez said through a translator. "In the Dominican Republic, I was working to make sure I was at my best. Then when I came back I was ready to go. Just waiting for my moment."
He's in a better place now than he was before the three-month hiatus caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Sanchez, the headliner on the Marlins' return from the J.T. Realmuto trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, didn't see action in Grapefruit League games. He was out of shape. The Marlins had to wean him back into baseball activities, limiting him to mostly drill work and bullpen sessions.
"In spring, I wasn't ready," Sanchez said. "I was a bit overweight. ... I was able to lose some weight and get to 225. Now, I feel great."
Sanchez is full go now and is competing against his fellow top prospects in the organization during simulation games at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex. It's the closest thing to live games that Sanchez and the rest of the Marlins players not on the active roster will get this year since the minor-league season was canceled.
Sanchez already threw one game, with his second start scheduled for Monday.
"It's not the same," Sanchez said, "but I just try to do the best job that I can. I focus on locating pitches and getting my work in. It's definitely not the same when you're facing your own guys but you still have a job to do."
Sanchez threw 114 innings last season and posted a 2.53 ERA in 18 Double A starts. He held opponents to a .225 batting average with the Jumbo Shrimp and struck out 97 batters compared to just 19 walks. This was one year removed from being shut down after 46 2/3 innings due to right elbow inflammation.
