Phillies former prospect Sixto Sanchez dominating in Miami
The Phillies may forever regret trading Sixto Sanchez to the Marlins
While trading Sixto Sanchez was necessary to acquire J.T. Realmuto, it must be hard for the Phillies front office to stomach watching what the righty is doing in Miami.
The Marlins called up Sanchez after a majority of their roster went out with COVID-19, and now Sanchez is leading a playoff contending Miami team with dominant stuff.
On Wednesday night, Sanchez spun seven innings of magic, giving up only six hits and two runs on five strikeouts.
Sixto Sánchez twirled seven strong innings tonight. pic.twitter.com/zdfpBOpE1V
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 3, 2020
Unfortunately for him he was credited with a loss after the Marlins put up only one run on Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Blue Jays. Still, through three starts Sanchez’ ERA is down to 2.37 and he’s struck out 19 batters in as many innings.
Given where the Phillies rotation is now with Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler at the top and the pair of Zach Eflin and Spencer Howard continuing to develop, having Sanchez at the back of the rotation would have made the rotation extraordinary not just this year, but for many years to come.
Miami now has the 22-year-old under team control for years at a minimum salary, allowing them to someday become competitive in the free agent market to rebuild an offense that used to feature Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Dee Gordon.
The Phillies obviously made the right move to acquire Realmuto, who is playing like an MVP candidate in 2020. That decision may look worse if Realmuto does not re-sign with the Phillies after this season.