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Aníbal Sánchez gave up four hits, a walk, and two earned runs in two innings on the mound last time out, with mistakes behind him driving his pitch count up to 39 pitches, ending his second outing of the Spring earlier than planned.
“I liked what he did,” Davey Martinez told reporters after Sánchez’s start against Houston’s Astros, as quoted by MASN’s Pete Kerzel.
“He didn’t have his great stuff, but as we know of him, he figures ways to get outs. And he did that well. The one inning, we missed a couple of fly balls we should have caught, and he just got through it.”
Martinez said in an MLB Network Radio interview this week that he was a fan of the decision to sign Sánchez to a 2-year/$19M deal this winter, coming off a bounce-back 2018 season in Atlanta for the 35-year-old, 13-year veteran.
“I’ve always been an Aníbal Sánchez fan,” the second-year skipper told Jim Bowden and Steve Phillips.
“Even prior to his Atlanta days ... this guy comes out every five days, and he might not have his best stuff, but he’s going to figure out a way to get you out, and that’s what I love about him.
“He competes, he knows himself better than anybody, and he’s got 5-6 different pitches he’s going to throw at you to get you out.”
Sánchez takes on the Miami Marlins tonight, facing off against the team he debuted in the majors for back in 2006.
The game is being broadcast on MASN and 106.7 the FAN in D.C. at 6:35 PM EST live from West Palm Beach.
#Nats vs #Marlins at 6:35 PM on @masnNationals/@1067theFan: Trea Turner SS; Adam Eaton RF; Anthony Rendon 3B; Juan Soto LF; Ryan Zimmerman 1B; Brian Dozier 2B; Kurt Suzuki DH; Yan Gomes C; Michael A. Taylor CF; Aníbal Sánchez RHP
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) March 9, 2019