Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects – #38 Ricardo Sanchez Scouting Report
Atlanta Braves Left Hander Ricardo Sanchez
Who Is He?
Sanchez was signed by the Angels out of Venezuela for a reported $550K bonus as the #27 ranked international prospect in that season’s international pool (according to Baseball America) in 2013. The Angels brought him stateside to start his career in the Arizona Rookie League. He appeared in 12 games, making 9 starts and throwing 38 2/3 innings. He threw to a 3.49 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and 22/43 BB/K ratio.
Next: Sanchez's scouting report
The Braves acquired Sanchez for Kyle Kubitza and Nate Hyatt last offseason, and they were aggressive with the young lefty, pushing him to low-A Rome, where he made his first start with the Braves on his 18th birthday. His lack of polish was evident throughout the season, and he struggled through injury as well, ending the season with a final line of 10 starts, 39 2/3 innings pitched, a 5.45 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 21/31 BB/K ratio.
Ricardo Sanchez Scouting Report
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I wanted to get a chance to see a bit of Sanchez after he got on his feet, so I looked at his last four starts of the season before he was shut down for the season. Over those four starts, Sanchez went 1-3, with a 4.67 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and 12/15 BB/K ratio over 17 1/3 innings.
Sanchez is listed as 5’11 and 170, and that might actually be stretching it in height, though the weight is likely right on or even a few pounds under. Though he’s reportedly grown since his signing, his uniform sits huge on him, though that could be partly due to personal preference in fit as well. His motion in the first game I saw was very possibly his best game of the season, and it was consistent with Sanchez starting with one foot on each side of the rubber, then when he goes into his mind up, he works off of the first base side. In that good motion, he has a solid kick and drive with a 3/4 motion that has a bit of an exaggerated follow through with his back leg that leaves him out of position to field for a bit, but Sanchez does move quickly off the mound.
However, when he is not going well, Sanchez frequently tries to generate pitch movement through his arm, and you’ll see his arm slot move from an almost perfect 3/4 slot when he’s going well to a range between 5/8 and 7/8 as he slips below and above the 3/4 mark. While his landing spot stays fairly consistent, his leg kick does get shorter when he’s trying too hard to generate movement rather than simply letting the natural movement come from his motion, which also then relies more on his arm. Needless to say, from a quick viewing, this strikes me as very problematic for future injury unless it’s quickly corrected.
Sanchez comes with a three pitch mix currently, utilizing a fastball that sat from 92-96 in the games I viewed, a change up in the in the 81-85 range, and a curve that ran 70-74. His fastball is able to be located to both sides of the plate, and he really doesn’t have any fear using it against any hitter. The pitch is a bit straight as he locates it to the left-handed side of the plate but it has some glove side tailing action as he goes to the right-handed side of the plate. In general, his fastball doesn’t have a ton of movement to the pitch, so he relies much more on his location of the pitch than on movement of the pitch. The curve ball is absolutely filthy, incredibly nasty with its break being more 12-6 when he’s throwing to righties and 11-5 to lefties. The change up is a work in progress, and much like the fastball, it’s highly reliant on location due to a lack of movement in the pitch. He struggles with the pitch more due to an obvious speed difference in his arm action when throwing the change right now, which makes the change fairly easy for a batter to pick up.
Next: 2016 outlook
One of the more impressive things about Sanchez is that he’s not afraid of any hitter. In the starts I saw, he faced multiple guys who were having very solid seasons coming into the games, and he never backed off of any of them, challenging every hitter. He is ultra-competitive on the mound, which really is his undoing as well right now. His inconsistency in his motion is more due to frustration and attempts to overcompensate and create movement on his fastball and change up than to physical issues, which is a big positive because it’s much easier to work with a guy’s focus and comfort on the mound than it is to overhaul his mechanics.
Ricardo Sanchez 2016 Outlook
Because he missed time with injury last season and only made 10 starts, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Braves returned Sanchez to Rome this season to start the year. Heck, Sanchez didn’t face a single batter the entire season last year who was younger than him, and it’s possible he’ll be the youngest guy on the field in most games still next year repeating the level, so it’s not going to hurt his development by any means to spend more time in Rome. The Braves have such a glut of arms in the levels above him that getting consistent starts in Rome is probably the best spot for Sanchez anyway.
I would really like to see the Braves address the issue that Sanchez has with the lack of movement in his pitches. Not that he needs to add movement to his fastball and change up, because with excellent location, they can play just as well as a fastball with a wicked break, but the only pitch with built-in movement in his arsenal currently is the curve ball, and as good as it is, if that’s all you have to worry about moving on you, as a hitter, you can sit back pretty comfortably in the batter’s box. I honestly never got a look at Sanchez’s hands, so I cannot make a good wager as to what pitch would fit within his ability to handle it, and at his still-growing size, that is something to take into consideration, but I would think that something that had a little more heat would be good, just so hitters weren’t so easily able to identify the fastball due to it being the only thing truly hard out of his hand. So, perhaps something like a cutter, sinker, or a split finger would be a solid fourth pitch for Sanchez to add in to really allow him to take off.
Next: Braves Top 100 Prospects Updated
While many may look at my ranking of Sanchez and believe I am quite down on him or look at his stats and believe that he struggled terribly last season, neither is fully true. I believe the Angels did Sanchez a disservice by pushing him the way they did, and I honestly believe the Braves did the same to him last season. He has an incredible amount of maturity on the mound, as displayed by his willingness and ability to locate pitches to both sides of the plate to attack hitters rather than simply letting fly with his killer curve ball at every opportunity. He’s also 18 years old. Kolby Allard is =all of four months younger than Sanchez, and I’d be very impressed if he worked his way to Rome even by midseason, let alone by the end of the year, and Sanchez very well will have moved himself to Carolina before Allard had 10 professional starts under his belt.