How much has one start changed your opinion on Aaron Sanchez?

[BTS]

Welp

[John_Havok]

pwned

[Boxcar]

Looks like you ran out of money there brah

[Stoneyen]

Aaron Sanchez is currently 21st in WAR for pitchers this year (interestingly tied with Estrada and Stroman).

 

That puts him ahead of pitchers like Tanaka, Smyly, Matz, Gio...ect.

 

3.20 ERA

3.33 FIP

1.2 WAR

[L54]

Aaron Sanchez is currently 21st in WAR for pitchers this year (interestingly tied with Estrada and Stroman).

 

That puts him ahead of pitchers like Tanaka, Smyly, Matz, Gio...ect.

 

3.20 ERA

3.33 FIP

1.2 WAR

 

Incredible. We are all witnesses.

[Jimcanuck]

he needs to pitch a no-no, then I'm a believer

[GD]

he needs to pitch a no-no, then I'm a believer

 

Perfect game. No no would be meaningless since he'd probably walk 7.23 guys

[dineke]

he needs to win a couple of cy youngs to make me a believer

[jaysblue]

If Sanchez continues at this pace, what do you think his value is on the trade market during the offseason? Especially considering there are hardly any elite arms available via FA.

[Cyborg]

Interesting game yesterday. He only had 8 whiffs but got them at the right time.

[RealAccountant]

I think Sanchez might be really good, really good.

[RealAccountant]

Really Really good.

[Stoneyen]

Really Really good.

 

He still has the occasional baffling 4-0 walk where he's not even close, but the reduction in walk rate is real. The curve was looking nasty tonight, but I don't remember too many swinging strikes. Still a great start!

[Cyborg]

He still has the occasional baffling 4-0 walk where he's not even close, but the reduction in walk rate is real. The curve was looking nasty tonight, but I don't remember too many swinging strikes. Still a great start!

 

11 whiffs. Pretty decent. 7 on the curve.

[glory]

I'm a believer. Sanchez proving me wrong and I love it.

[Inklink]

He still has the occasional baffling 4-0 walk where he's not even close, but the reduction in walk rate is real. The curve was looking nasty tonight, but I don't remember too many swinging strikes. Still a great start!

 

As long as it's competitive.

[nextyear]

I think Sanchez has been incredible except for one bad game in Toronto this season.

 

I enjoy seeing him pitch as a starter, but I think he will help the team more if he goes back to the bullpen and can be used when he is needed most.

[jays4life19]

As a guy who thought he should only be used as a ROOGY. Esp. when we needed a ground ball double play...i'm starting to come around.

K% Up, BB% down, SwSt% up (although not great but meh). 79 xFIP-, 3.26 SIERA over 65 IP as a starter.

He just may stick as a starter.

 

 

[Caper]

I wanted him gone. I thought he would even be bad in relief this year.

[THANOS]

If he ever solidifies that CH he could be something real special. A Slider to righties could be a nice pitch for him as well.

[Grant77]

I wanted him gone. I thought he would even be bad in relief this year.

 

Lots of people thought that. Definitely one of the dumbest things to ever come out of this forum considering neither the stats nor the scouting supported it in any way.

[Spanky99]

Lots of people thought that. Definitely one of the dumbest things to ever come out of this forum considering neither the stats nor the scouting supported it in any way.

 

lol

[crazy47larry]

i'm gonna run counter to everyone & everything and say that Sanchez is not this good, is overrated, and is going to get exposed. to use a similar example he reminds me of tony cingrani. they both rely predominantly on their fastball with their secondary stuff lagging behind. and when i say 'rely on their fastball' i mean thats basically all they throw. right now Sanchez throws a non-fastball roughly 25% of the time. if he faces 25 batters a game (super rough estimate of 18 outs + 6 hits + 1 walk) and throws 100 pitches that is literally 1 pitch per at bat that is not a fastball. unless he changes his approach and trusts his secondary pitches more i believe it is only a matter of time until he gets exposed. he's got a sweet fastball but that only can get you so far for so long.

 

... there i said. let me have it.

[dineke]

bartolo colon's been pumping fastballs for 50 years

[metafour]

i'm gonna run counter to everyone & everything and say that Sanchez is not this good, is overrated, and is going to get exposed. to use a similar example he reminds me of tony cingrani. they both rely predominantly on their fastball with their secondary stuff lagging behind. and when i say 'rely on their fastball' i mean thats basically all they throw. right now Sanchez throws a non-fastball roughly 25% of the time. if he faces 25 batters a game (super rough estimate of 18 outs + 6 hits + 1 walk) and throws 100 pitches that is literally 1 pitch per at bat that is not a fastball. unless he changes his approach and trusts his secondary pitches more i believe it is only a matter of time until he gets exposed. he's got a sweet fastball but that only can get you so far for so long.

 

... there i said. let me have it.

 

He reminds you of a guy who averages 91.8 mph on his fastball and has a career 36% GB percentage? Sweet comparison.

[crazy47larry]

He reminds you of a guy who averages 91.8 mph on his fastball and has a career 36% GB percentage? Sweet comparison.

 

tony cingrani really is a small part of the point i made, just a useful example. sanchez reminds me of a 1 pitch thrower who isnt mariano rivera or any other insane RP.

[burlingtonbandit]

After his start tonight Sanchez is 17th among Pitchers in WAR. Lol everyone before the season was writing him off saying he shouldn't be a starter but he's been the team's best starter and looks like a legit #2 starter.

[crazy47larry]

bartolo colon's been pumping fastballs for 50 years

 

i googled 'brooks baseball bartolo colon' to check his pitch usage just to make sure (his 2-seam was always sick btw).

 

result 1 = colons brooks baseball player page

result 2 = colons wikipedia page

result 3 = fangraphs article titled 'bartolo colon isnt a one pitch pitcher http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/bartolo-colon-isnt-a-one-pitch-pitcher/

 

i found that more amusing than anything. hes a great counter example though. he throws a ton of fastballs, is a SP, and doesnt suck.

[metafour]

tony cingrani really is a small part of the point i made, just a useful example. sanchez reminds me of a 1 pitch thrower who isnt mariano rivera or any other insane RP.

 

Cingrani sucks because his walk rate is atrocious and his fastball isn't elite enough to make up for it. Cingrani gives up lots of HRs...Sanchez doesn't (in fact he's the complete opposite). Cingrani gives up hard contact....Sanchez doesn't. Sanchez can induce groundballs even when he puts guys on base, Cingrani can't do that. He puts guys on base and then gives up HRs. Apart from both throwing tons of fastballs, there is no comparison.

 

What exactly are opposing hitters going to do to "figure out" Sanchez? Are you assuming that everyone doesn't already know that he's going to throw fastballs 80+% of the time? Its not like he's fooling hitters because they're stepping into the box and expecting him to throw offspeed pitches repeatedly. It is quite apparent that hitters simply can not hit his fastball well at all. I was saying this repeatedly even back when you all thought he sucked. So what do you do as a batter? Don't swing and hope he walks you? OK, but he's clearly been ironing out his control and is starting to punish batters who just stand there. His fastball is so good, that even when batters make contact it is typically an easy out for the defense. His fastball is so good, all he really needs to do is stay within the zone to have success.

 

The part you're missing is that he's not just throwing a regular fastball repeatedly. He's mowing batters down with an elite pitch. A pitch that everyone knows is coming, yet still cant handle.

[Hipfan]

Have to say I was on the fence, at best, about Sanchez before the year began, but he seems to be erasing all the doubt and has made some big strides this year. Getting the BB down has been huge for him; assuming his walk rate is not a mirage and he continues to develop his secondary pitches, he could be something special. As it stands now, he is a solid mid-rotation starter, and it's nice to see him continually get better.