It was a long and winding road, but Tony Sanchez has finally made it to PNC Park.
After a stellar career at Boston College, where he was a finalist for the Johnny Bench award, the Miami native was selected fourth overall in the 2009 MLB draft, becoming the highest draft pick in Eagle history. Widely panned by the Bucco faithful as a blue-light special and ranked as a late first-rounder on projectability by the baseball services, the FO differed. Their scouting people had no consensus past the top two picks, pitcher Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Dustin Ackley, and the catcher was third on their board.
The Bucs didn't believe anyone past Strasburg and Ackley would be worth a fat bonus, and they had plans to allocate the draft budget to collecting overslot prep arms. In hindsight, they did pass on Zack Wheeler, Mike Minor, Mike Leake, Shelby Miller and Mike Trout, but they did get a highly ranked catcher, a premium position, who came with some offensive questions but a fairly complete defensive package.
The club had a pre-draft deal worked out with Sanchez and he signed three days after being selected for $2.5M, about slot. Because of the quick contract, he got to see considerable pro playing time, getting 175 AB in three different levels and hitting .309.
After that early success, he missed most of the 2010 season with a
broken jaw after getting hit by a pitch. When he returned in 2011,
he struggled at Altoona and capped the year with an off-season bar brawl. Starting 2012 with the Curve again, he hit for a decent average (.277) with just gap power. Sanchez was promoted to Indy, where his average dropped to .233, but he banged eight homers. He couldn't quite find a happy medium at the dish.
This year, he seemed to find that warm and fuzzy place with the Tribe, hitting .288 with 10 homers and landing a spot on the International League All-Star roster. The Bucs had him on the taxi squad for a day in May in a meet-and-greet. He got a little more action in June, playing a couple of games in AL parks as a DH. He collected his first hit in his first at bat, doubling off the Angels' Joe Blanton and infamously gluing the ball to the scoreboard. Then it was back down.
Mike McKenry was having some serious trouble with his stick, and the hue and cry was raised for Sanchez to join the bench about that time. The Bucs again went against the flow, opting for him to get regular at-bats and innings in AAA, something he wouldn't see in Pittsburgh behind Russ Martin.
Ironically, just as The Fort's bat began to heat up, a hard slide into second tore his meniscus, and he was out for the year following surgery. So at age 25, Tony Sanchez arrived for his first extended stay in the show.
Time will tell how his bat will play; the hardest transition between the minors and MLB is hitting just twice a week instead of every day. His receiving has been as advertised so far. Four wild pitches in 27 innings is high, but we think that will work out as he gets used to the Bucs' penchant to bounce sliders as chase pitches. He did have a very good effort yesterday, blocking three balls in one at bat with runners aboard. No one has tried to steal against him yet (he started twice against St. Louis, which doesn't run, and yesterday with LHP Liriano on the hill), so his arm hasn't been put to the test.
His pitch selection looked fine. Brandon Cumpton's best game came with his regular battery mate behind the dish. Tony also worked a lot more off speed stuff when he caught Vic Black, so it looks like when he gets familiar with the pitchers, as he was with Cumpton and Black, that he'll have his own tweaks to add to the game planning. Beside the calling the game, Sanchez showed the unpublicized ability to frame pitches, pulling in a couple of calls per game.
We like that he's serving as Martin's understudy. We see a lot of similarities in the athleticism, defense and attitude, making Russ a simpatico role model and tutor. Of course, it's too soon to tell what path Tony Sanchez will travel. We can already see in his brief appearances that he's not out of place catching in the show, so his bat will be the difference maker. He's ready, even if his stick isn't, to join the legion of good glove guys that make a pretty nice living in the majors.
But you know who he's cloned as a hitter in his minor league career? Yep, his mentor, Russ Martin. In five farm seasons, Tony had 1,628 PA with a line of .272/.366/.422 and 34 HR; Russ spent five seasons in the minors, getting 1,587 PA with a line of .281/.391/.419, banging 33 homers (and that's with a year in the PCL). So that's the other road he could follow - and that would end up a pretty good path for Sanchez and the Pirates.
Showing posts with label tony sanchez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tony sanchez. Show all posts
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Monday, January 17, 2011
A Little Birdie Told Me...
An interesting tweet from C Tony Sanchez today: "Heading home for my last break till ST and getting my LASIK procedure done."
The LASIK job is kinda a surprise to us; we weren't aware of him wearing contacts, although that was entirely possible. We wonder if the pair of beanings he suffered in 2010 or his .206 Arizona Fall League average with 21 K's in 68 at-bats drove him to the doc...maybe both?
Anyway, it's usually not a very complicated medical procedure. LASIK has a 95% satisfaction rate, and its biggest complication is "dry eye," which has haunted Brian McCann. So let's hope it's a quick trip to the shop and Tony Sanchez will be 100% for his first MLB camp.
The LASIK job is kinda a surprise to us; we weren't aware of him wearing contacts, although that was entirely possible. We wonder if the pair of beanings he suffered in 2010 or his .206 Arizona Fall League average with 21 K's in 68 at-bats drove him to the doc...maybe both?
Anyway, it's usually not a very complicated medical procedure. LASIK has a 95% satisfaction rate, and its biggest complication is "dry eye," which has haunted Brian McCann. So let's hope it's a quick trip to the shop and Tony Sanchez will be 100% for his first MLB camp.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
#7 - Tony Sanchez
Tony who? Oh no, not Danny Moskos all over again! Don't those cheapskate Pirates ever learn? Those reactions and worse hit the chatboards when prior to the draft, it was leaked that Tony Sanchez would be the Bucs pick at the number 4 spot.
The suits explained that they weren't going to get the day's big kahunas, Steven Strasberg or Dustin Ackley, and the rest of the young guns were pretty well jumbled together, with Sanchez being the fourth player on their list. The fact that the team was top-heavy in catching with no real minor-league prospects played into the decision, too.
They also leaked their grand strategy of getting an affordable guy and putting the rest of the cash into the other rounds; Keith Law of ESPN said behind a pay wall that the Pirates had a deal cut with Sanchez before the draft.
Well, he may have been right. Sanchez was drafted on a Tuesday, and signed on Friday, for just above slot at $2.5M, which was the third-largest bonus in Bucco draft history. No Pedro-like drama; he was shipped to Class A West Virginia to start his career after quick tune-ups at Bradenton and State College, and the Pittsburgh draft board filled up with players picked over-slot.
Sanchez's 2009 line at Boston College was .346/.445/.614 in 228 at-bats, with 14 homers, 63 runs, and 51 RBI, to go with a rep as a good glove guy with the ability to handle a staff. His 19 throw-outs led the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sanchez ended up as one of the three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award for the best college catcher. He was rated by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and ESPN as the top college catcher available in the draft, as well as the best overall defensive catcher and having the best throwing arm of any college catcher, and was considered a mid-to-late first rounder.
The only major concern was his physical shape (shades of Ronny Paulino!) Sanchez got down to fighting weight by joining Jarad on a Subway diet and hitting the gym. He dropped 40 pounds by the time he was a senior, and his conditioning never became an issue.
Sanchez made the trip to West Virginia at the end of June, and handled a wooden bat and Class A competition with ease. He ended up with a .316/.415/.561 line in 155 at-bats in West Virginia, with seven homers, 46 RBI and 29 runs.
Sanchez was promoted to Lynchburg at the end of the season, where he took over as the starting catcher for the Hillcats' Carolina League Championship team.
In his first year as a professional, Sanchez finished with a combined .309 batting average with seven homers, eighteen doubles, 48 RBI, and 33 runs. He's already the #3 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, according to Baseball America.
Sanchez, 21, came touted as a plus defender, and gave no signs of that being puffery. His arm is OK (average strength, though he did toss out 30% of the base-stealers last year), and he does a good job of blocking balls and framing pitches. The Miamian also, from all reports, works diligently on the pre-game plan with the coaches and pitchers, and has a good rapport with the staff.
He's also considered a solid citizen on the field, a guy that plays hard and plays right, a stereotypical catcher.
The questions about Sanchez center around his bat. He's patient, consistently drawing over 10% walk ratios, but he strikes out a bit, around 20%, and is supposed to be a sucker for the hook. Sanchez has some pop, with 15 homer potential, but his average doesn't project to be anything special.
So far, so good, in that regard. Still, he was a major-college player in low Class A for most of the year, and it's yet to be shown if his stick can handle the pitching at higher levels.
He'll start the year at High Class A Bradenton. How quickly Sanchez will advance in the system is on him; there's no one to block him in the minors, especially with Steve Lerud and Robby Diaz gone. And that should tell you how highly the suits regard him.
(Next - #6 Daniel McCutchen)
The suits explained that they weren't going to get the day's big kahunas, Steven Strasberg or Dustin Ackley, and the rest of the young guns were pretty well jumbled together, with Sanchez being the fourth player on their list. The fact that the team was top-heavy in catching with no real minor-league prospects played into the decision, too.
They also leaked their grand strategy of getting an affordable guy and putting the rest of the cash into the other rounds; Keith Law of ESPN said behind a pay wall that the Pirates had a deal cut with Sanchez before the draft.
Well, he may have been right. Sanchez was drafted on a Tuesday, and signed on Friday, for just above slot at $2.5M, which was the third-largest bonus in Bucco draft history. No Pedro-like drama; he was shipped to Class A West Virginia to start his career after quick tune-ups at Bradenton and State College, and the Pittsburgh draft board filled up with players picked over-slot.
Sanchez's 2009 line at Boston College was .346/.445/.614 in 228 at-bats, with 14 homers, 63 runs, and 51 RBI, to go with a rep as a good glove guy with the ability to handle a staff. His 19 throw-outs led the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sanchez ended up as one of the three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award for the best college catcher. He was rated by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and ESPN as the top college catcher available in the draft, as well as the best overall defensive catcher and having the best throwing arm of any college catcher, and was considered a mid-to-late first rounder.
The only major concern was his physical shape (shades of Ronny Paulino!) Sanchez got down to fighting weight by joining Jarad on a Subway diet and hitting the gym. He dropped 40 pounds by the time he was a senior, and his conditioning never became an issue.
Sanchez made the trip to West Virginia at the end of June, and handled a wooden bat and Class A competition with ease. He ended up with a .316/.415/.561 line in 155 at-bats in West Virginia, with seven homers, 46 RBI and 29 runs.
Sanchez was promoted to Lynchburg at the end of the season, where he took over as the starting catcher for the Hillcats' Carolina League Championship team.
In his first year as a professional, Sanchez finished with a combined .309 batting average with seven homers, eighteen doubles, 48 RBI, and 33 runs. He's already the #3 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, according to Baseball America.
Sanchez, 21, came touted as a plus defender, and gave no signs of that being puffery. His arm is OK (average strength, though he did toss out 30% of the base-stealers last year), and he does a good job of blocking balls and framing pitches. The Miamian also, from all reports, works diligently on the pre-game plan with the coaches and pitchers, and has a good rapport with the staff.
He's also considered a solid citizen on the field, a guy that plays hard and plays right, a stereotypical catcher.
The questions about Sanchez center around his bat. He's patient, consistently drawing over 10% walk ratios, but he strikes out a bit, around 20%, and is supposed to be a sucker for the hook. Sanchez has some pop, with 15 homer potential, but his average doesn't project to be anything special.
So far, so good, in that regard. Still, he was a major-college player in low Class A for most of the year, and it's yet to be shown if his stick can handle the pitching at higher levels.
He'll start the year at High Class A Bradenton. How quickly Sanchez will advance in the system is on him; there's no one to block him in the minors, especially with Steve Lerud and Robby Diaz gone. And that should tell you how highly the suits regard him.
(Next - #6 Daniel McCutchen)
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Tony Sanchez File
Name: Jorge Anthony "Tony" Sanchez
Born: May 20, 1988
Height / Weight: 6-1/220, R/R
Hometown: Miami, Florida
High School: Miami Killian
College: Boston College
Class: Junior
Scouting Reports: ScoutingBook:
Stats: Sanchez hit .346 in 2009 with 51 RBI, 14 home runs and 19 doubles his junior season at Boston College, and threw out 19 base runners, tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference.His college line is a.317 batting average, with 49 doubles, 24 home runs and 124 RBIs in 161 games.
Awards: He was named as one of three finalists for the 2009 Coleman Company -- Johnny Bench Award, which is presented annually to the top college catcher. He was also recently named to both the All-ACC First Team and the Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team.
Hype: Sanchez was rated by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN as the top college catcher available in the draft, as well as being the best overall defensive catcher and having the best throwing arm of any college catcher.
Draft Day Yada: Despite the offensive numbers and Sanchez's highly regarded defensive abilities, the selection was unconventional. In most pre-draft rankings, Sanchez had been listed as the best catcher available, but also as a likely late first-round or sandwich pick.
The Pirates passed on a number of promising pitchers to nab Sanchez, like Aaron Crow. He was part of a plan to draft a deep class rather than a top-heavy one, and so the ability to sign him at slot value was important to Pittsburgh.
The suits wanted to conserve cash to spend on later picks, many of whom were high school kids signed to major college programs. Whether that's a worthwhile plan or not is about three or four years from us knowing yet, but it will involve more than Tony Sanchez.
Status: Signed Friday, and the 21-year-old catcher will report to Pirate City in Bradenton to participate in a few days of minicamp. He'll then join the low Class A West Virginia team, where Sanchez will assume starting duties behind the plate.
Off-the-Wall Note: Sanchez employed Jared's now-famous Subway diet, eating a turkey and tuna sandwich with lettuce, onions and honey mustard on wheat bread at least five times a week, as he dropped nearly 30 pounds during college.
Born: May 20, 1988
Height / Weight: 6-1/220, R/R
Hometown: Miami, Florida
High School: Miami Killian
College: Boston College
Class: Junior
Scouting Reports: ScoutingBook:
A native of Miami, Jorge 'Tony' Sanchez is an offensive-minded catcher in the style of Matt Wieters (though with less power) or Buster Posey (but with less defensive prowess). He does show enough skill to stick at catcher, though, and his bat is legitimate: He hit .346/.443/.614 at Boston College in 2009. He's seen as nearly major league ready today.MLB.com:
College catchers are always a premium commodity and Sanchez has emerged as one of the better options in this year's group. He's a solid catch-and-throw guy behind the plate, with good overall defensive skills. He also can swing the bat some, with a little power, giving him an intriguing all-around package. He's struggled with conditioning in the past, but he seemed driven to get himself into shape. The benefit has been an outstanding junior season that will probably move him off the board early on Draft day.
Stats: Sanchez hit .346 in 2009 with 51 RBI, 14 home runs and 19 doubles his junior season at Boston College, and threw out 19 base runners, tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference.His college line is a.317 batting average, with 49 doubles, 24 home runs and 124 RBIs in 161 games.
Awards: He was named as one of three finalists for the 2009 Coleman Company -- Johnny Bench Award, which is presented annually to the top college catcher. He was also recently named to both the All-ACC First Team and the Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team.
Hype: Sanchez was rated by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN as the top college catcher available in the draft, as well as being the best overall defensive catcher and having the best throwing arm of any college catcher.
Draft Day Yada: Despite the offensive numbers and Sanchez's highly regarded defensive abilities, the selection was unconventional. In most pre-draft rankings, Sanchez had been listed as the best catcher available, but also as a likely late first-round or sandwich pick.
The Pirates passed on a number of promising pitchers to nab Sanchez, like Aaron Crow. He was part of a plan to draft a deep class rather than a top-heavy one, and so the ability to sign him at slot value was important to Pittsburgh.
The suits wanted to conserve cash to spend on later picks, many of whom were high school kids signed to major college programs. Whether that's a worthwhile plan or not is about three or four years from us knowing yet, but it will involve more than Tony Sanchez.
Status: Signed Friday, and the 21-year-old catcher will report to Pirate City in Bradenton to participate in a few days of minicamp. He'll then join the low Class A West Virginia team, where Sanchez will assume starting duties behind the plate.
Off-the-Wall Note: Sanchez employed Jared's now-famous Subway diet, eating a turkey and tuna sandwich with lettuce, onions and honey mustard on wheat bread at least five times a week, as he dropped nearly 30 pounds during college.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
And It's Tony Sanchez...
Hey, Pittsburgh shouldn't have half the drama of last year's first-round soap opera signing. C Tony Sanchez, 2009's top pick from Boston College, is ready to play, and at slot, too.
Some think the Pirate suits had the bones of an agreement reached with him over dinner a few days ago. Could be; we won't quibble much with the choice or the philosophy behind it. Everything we read about this draft pretty much said it was a free-for-all after the RHP Stephen Strasburg and 1B/OF Dustin Ackley.
Sanchez, 21, a junior form Miami, FL, is a 6-1, 220 pound RH catcher who is supposed to have spectacular defensive skills. He hit .346 with 14 HR and 51 RBI this year; in his college career, he batted .326 with 24 HR and 124 RBI. And Sanchez can run a little, too; he's not a plodder. So he's a kid with a good mitt, some pop, and pretty productive with guys on base.
The drawbacks are that he can't hit a hook, his weight could be a problem down the road - he weighed over 250 pounds at one point of his BC career - and he was ranked as a late first round selection by Baseball America coming into tonight, although he was said to have picked up some love in the past couple of days.
The MLB.com report on him:
The obvious question is that after the Nate McLouth trade, does the presence of Sanchez, Jason Jaramillo, and Robby Diaz grease the skids under the oft injured and 28 year-old Ryan Doumit?
Or is it just a best player available pick in a position that the Bucs are shallow at, organizationally? Time will tell; the suits have made no bones about stockpiling players for some flexibility.
Pittsburgh has three more selections to go in tonight's lottery; 49th in the second round to replace 2008's Tanner Scheppers non-signing, 53rd in the second round, and 84th in the third.
Some think the Pirate suits had the bones of an agreement reached with him over dinner a few days ago. Could be; we won't quibble much with the choice or the philosophy behind it. Everything we read about this draft pretty much said it was a free-for-all after the RHP Stephen Strasburg and 1B/OF Dustin Ackley.
Sanchez, 21, a junior form Miami, FL, is a 6-1, 220 pound RH catcher who is supposed to have spectacular defensive skills. He hit .346 with 14 HR and 51 RBI this year; in his college career, he batted .326 with 24 HR and 124 RBI. And Sanchez can run a little, too; he's not a plodder. So he's a kid with a good mitt, some pop, and pretty productive with guys on base.
The drawbacks are that he can't hit a hook, his weight could be a problem down the road - he weighed over 250 pounds at one point of his BC career - and he was ranked as a late first round selection by Baseball America coming into tonight, although he was said to have picked up some love in the past couple of days.
The MLB.com report on him:
College catchers are always a premium commodity and Sanchez has emerged as one of the better options in this year's group. He's a solid catch-and-throw guy behind the plate, with good overall defensive skills. He also can swing the bat some, with a little power, giving him an intriguing all-around package. He's struggled with conditioning in the past, but he seemed driven to get himself into shape.In the last 72 hours, he vaulted the injured Kyle Gibson and pricey Aaron Crow to the top of the Bucco list. And he fits into the theory that in a deep but not star studded draft, it's better to pick a player that will leave some loot for later picks.
The obvious question is that after the Nate McLouth trade, does the presence of Sanchez, Jason Jaramillo, and Robby Diaz grease the skids under the oft injured and 28 year-old Ryan Doumit?
Or is it just a best player available pick in a position that the Bucs are shallow at, organizationally? Time will tell; the suits have made no bones about stockpiling players for some flexibility.
Pittsburgh has three more selections to go in tonight's lottery; 49th in the second round to replace 2008's Tanner Scheppers non-signing, 53rd in the second round, and 84th in the third.
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