Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects – #38 Ricardo Sanchez Scouting Report
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.