It's time for the Miami Marlins to make a difficult decision

Back in 2019, the Miami Marlins made a big trade, but should've made another one. The trade brought The Fish a seemingly ace of the future in Sixto Sanchez. The events that transpired after are leading us to the tragic situation now. Are you ready to go down memory lane and look at what should, or even will happen in the near future?

It's the end of the line for Sixto Sanchez on the Miami Marlins

Sixto Sanchez was a top prospect with the Philadelphia Phillies, so when the Miami Marlins acquired him it looked pretty promising. Sixto made his debut in 2020 and produced a 3.46 ERA/3.50 FIP, with 7.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, in 7 games and 39.0 innings pitched. It looked like he was well on his way to being the ace of the staff at that point.

Unfortunately, injuries kept him from pitching in the Majors for three years. Yes, three years. He finally returned this season as a relief pitcher, but ha snow transitioned back to starting games. He's currently sitting on a 6.41 ERA/4.56 FIP, with 5.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9, in 12 games and 26.2 innings pitched. He had a 98.8 fastball velocity in 2020, but it's now down to 94.6 in 2024.

The big problem with Sixto is that he can't even pitch long outings anymore. Will he be stretched out to pitch longer? I guess it's possible, but is it even a good idea with his health issues over the last few years? Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is already calling Sixto's performance "unacceptable". I've been saying to put him back in the bullpen, why not give his spot to the likes of Roddery Munoz instead?

It should be clear by now that Sixto Sanchez is done as a starting pitcher. The only safe thing is to keep him in the bullpen, with the hope that he can become a shutdown reliever. If he isn't going to get better, then the best thing to do is to move on from him. That means trying to trade him, and if there's no solid offers, just non-tender him. I feel bad for him, but the Miami Marlins need to win and he's hurting the team.