Marlins Minor Leagues: Sixto Sanchez to debut on April 26

By David Levin | Apr 7, 2019

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 10: A baseball sits on the field before the game between the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 10, 2016 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Sixto Sanchez, the Miami Marlins top minor league prospect, is set to debut with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on April 26 at home against Tennessee at the Baseball Ground of Jacksonville.

Miami Marlins fans won’t have to wait much longer for the debut of their top minor league prospect, Sixto Sanchez. The pitcher is slated to appear in his first game in the Marlins organization at Jacksonville on April 26 against Tennessee.

Marlin Maniac will be there for the debut and will have live coverage of Sanchez’s start. The right-hander is regarded as the 27th overall prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com. Sanchez, who was the centerpiece of the deal that sent catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia, has been in Jupiter at the team’s Spring Training complex on an extended camp to work on building strength in his throwing arm.

"“Sixto is in his throwing program,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said on Sunday. “Once we acquired him, we sort of started him from day one, so we knew exactly where he was, and we could do the things delivery-wise that we wanted to get accomplished with him.”"

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The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp already have a solid nucleus of starters on manager Kevin Randel’s staff, including Robert Dugger and Jordan Yamamoto, who were at the team’s Spring Training complex at Roger Dean Stadium.

The Marlins are willing to move slowly with Sanchez, who dealt with elbow inflammation while at Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2018, logging 46 2/3 innings and going 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA in eight starts.

Sixto Sanchez is slated to go five innings in his first appearance for Jacksonville. The Shrimp are also expected to use a six-man rotation, which should also help keep his innings down as he continues his progression to full strength on the mound.

"“Part of his throwing progression is he will throw competitive innings in extended,” Hill said.“He’s been great. He’s worked through his throwing progression. He’s off the mound now, and he’s being built up to ultimately join the Double-A rotation at the end of the month.”"

The scouting report on Sanchez is if he is healthy, he could be one of the best, if not the best pitcher in Minor League baseball.

The Marlins made sure he was part of the deal for Realmuto right before the beginning of Spring Training.

"“He might appear undersized at six-feet tall, but he’s deceptively strong, with an athletic and repeatable delivery,” MLB.com explains. “Sanchez throws both a two and four-seam fastball, the former thrown with a lot of sink to get ground-ball outs and the latter cranked up to triple digits at times. Not only can Sanchez maintain velocity deep into starts, but the fastball also plays up because of movement and his plus command of the pitch.”"

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